News from the Wire

ViVOtech awarded key patent for NFC mobile phones

Monday, February 16, 2009 — 15:57:29 (EST)

Santa clara, Calif., Fe. 16, 2009 -- Silicon Valley-based ViVOtech, the leading infrastructure provider for Contactless and Near Field Communication (NFC) mobile payments and promotions, announced today that it has been awarded a key NFC related software patent by the United States Patent and Trademark Office. Patent number 7,469,151 was awarded on December 23rd 2008. It covers a broad range of methods, systems and products for over the air (OTA) provisioning of credit, debit, prepaid, loyalty and other payment or non-payment cards into mobile phone devices through wireless networks or the internet.

“This patent is an important milestone for the company and its partners and customers. It demonstrates ViVOtech's focus on driving innovation to deliver the next generation of consumer payments" said ViVOtech's CEO Michael Mullagh. “ViVOtech has a strong patent portfolio patents - and additional patents covering several different aspects of mobile payments, promotions and marketing are pending."

This most recent patent covers several key features of ViVOtech’s over the air provisioning infrastructure software including:

• ViVOtech’s unique methods and system for the provisioning of credit, debit, prepaid, loyalty and other payment or non-payment cards into NFC mobiles
• Provisioning of a card could either be initiated by a card issuer through a “push” message or initiated by a consumer through mobile phone
• Consumer self-authentication to enable secure payment cards download into an NFC mobile instantly, anytime, anywhere through mobile networks
• A two-server architecture that allows an issuer to utilize a dedicated server in its own premises or operated by a third party on its behalf, and for this server to work with control/configuration server software run by a mobile network operator (MNO) or by a trusted server manager (TSM) on behalf of an MNO
• Ability of an issuer to provision their branded image, customer support information and other relevant information from their plastic cards to the card holder’s mobile devices providing a unique card issuer brand and look and feel on the mobile screen.
• Ability to allow the first time provisioning of a single payment or loyalty card one at a time, as well as, existing users to provision multiple cards when switching mobile phones.

“ViVOtech since its inception has focused on market driven innovation,” said Mohammad Khan, President and Founder. “This tradition is continued with the unique features covered by this patent which we believe will provide major benefits to consumers, banks, payment service providers, retailers, retail marketers, wireless carriers, and our partners.”

ViVOtech will be showcasing its mobile phone payment and promotion solutions at the Mobile World Congress (former 3GSM), February 16-19 in Barcelona, Spain Booth# 2Z8 Hall 2 - inside Enterprise Zone.

About ViVOtech

ViVOtech (www.vivotech.com ) is the market leader in Near Field Communication (NFC) mobile payments, promotions and over the air (OTA) provisioning infrastructure software, transaction management software, NFC smart posters, and contactless terminals. These innovative solutions allow millions of consumers to make contactless payments with radio frequency-enabled credit/debit cards, fobs and NFC mobile phones. ViVOtech's products are used by the most prominent retailers all over the globe and today the company has shipped over 470,000 contactless terminals to more than 35 countries worldwide. In 2009 ViVOtech received the prestigious Frost and Sullivan North American Smart cards Product Line Strategy of the Year Award. In 2007 & 2008, ViVOtech has been named #1 in ABI Research’s Contactless & NFC Reader Ranking Report. ViVOtech’s investors include Alloy Ventures, Citi, Draper Fischer Jurvetson, DFJ Gotham, First Data, Miven Ventures, Motorola Ventures, NCR, and Nokia Growth Partners.

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Source: Company press release.