ZAPA Technology Chooses ViVOtech to Provide Software Platform for NFC Mobile Loyalty and Gift Card Services

SANTA CLARA, Calif., Nov. 3 /PRNewswire/ -- ViVOtech, a leading software provider of Near Field Communications (NFC) mobile phone payments, Over-The-Air (OTA) provisioning of promotions and payment cards, mobile loyalty and smart poster applications, announced today that its loyalty and prepaid platform was chosen by ZAPA Technology for its mobile loyalty and gift card processing services for European retailers. The loyalty or prepaid accounts enabled by ViVOtech's mLoyalty platform and its secured contactless technology will first reside on a ZAPA TAG sticker that can be placed inside or outside an existing mobile phone. In the near future, customers will also be able to use NFC-enabled mobile phones to download their account information using ViVOtech Over-the-Air (OTA) provisioning software.

A primary innovation of the ZAPA Technology offered service is that a single ZAPA TAG can function as a loyalty card for multiple retailers. This will allow end users to benefit by no longer having to carry multiple retailer loyalty cards or stamped paper points in their wallets. The multiple retailer loyalty schemes are hosted centrally on ViVOtech's mLoyalty server software, and easily managed by ZAPA Technology to offer exciting new services in the future.

"ZAPA has chosen ViVOtech because of their experience in loyalty, contactless and mobile technologies. Our goal is to provide exciting new services enabled through real time and location based loyalty programs using NFC technologies", said John Nagle, CEO of ZAPA Technology. "With the ability to support multiple retailer programs in one ZAPA TAG, we expect to have great adoption for our program."

To make loyalty or payment transactions, consumers simply tap the ZAPA TAG, which is affixed to the back of the phone, against the ZAPA-branded contactless payment reader at participating retailers. They can then earn product-based loyalty, redeem coupons or collect loyalty points - all enabled by ViVOtech's mLoyalty platform. ZAPA is launching these services by seeding the POS infrastructure of strategic retailers and providing their customers with its tags.

"New innovative mobile services such a ZAPA TAG are the main drivers why retailers are expected to send mobile users over $3 billion worth of mobile coupons by 2011 according to Juniper Research," said Michael Mullagh, CEO of ViVOtech. "Targeted mobile loyalty programs using contactless and NFC mobile phones can produce a much higher usage and redemption rate than paper-based coupons, making it a much more powerful revenue growth tool for retailers."

The ZAPA system will also be available to retailers in the UK and continental Europe, providing them with an alternative to in-house contactless loyalty development. In addition to the mLoyalty platform, ZAPA Technology also uses ViVOtech's ViVOpay contactless and NFC readers at leading brand name retailers.

About ViVOtech

ViVOtech (www.vivotech.com) is the leading end to end enabler of next generation mobile payments, loyalty, and marketing solutions. ViVOtech provides Near Field Communication (NFC) mobile payment solutions, mobile marketing and loyalty applications software, Over-The-Air (OTA) provisioning infrastructure software, NFC smart posters, and contactless terminals. ViVOtech's products are used by most prominent retailers all over the globe; the company has shipped over 550,000 contactless and NFC payment terminals to more than 35 countries. In 2009, ViVOtech received the prestigious Frost and Sullivan North American Smart Cards Product Line Strategy of the Year Award. ViVOtech's investors include Citi, First Data Corporation, Motorola Ventures, NCR, and Nokia Growth Partners.

About ZAPA Technology

ZAPA Technology (www.ZAPAtechnology.com) has established itself as one of the leading providers of managed NFC solutions in Europe. ZAPA Technology is at the forefront of building the architecture required to establish an NFC community in Europe, bringing together the hardware and software components needed to deliver appealing, easy-to-use NFC services to the market.

ZAPA Technology is headquartered in Dublin, Ireland. The ZAPA Management Team includes senior personnel from the European retail and online & mobile payment and transaction processing industries, with vast experience in establishing and managing loyalty, gift, prepayment and top up solution & services.