Contactless Mobile Payment System Trialed At MWC 2010

The idea of contactless payments using your mobile phone is very appealing. The payment system would let you walk into a store and hold you phone near a payment terminal rather than reaching for your wallet or credit card. Samsung, Telefonica, and Visa are working with several other companies at MWC to offer visitors a trial of mobile contactless payments.

The participating companies in the trial are giving out 400 different Samsung Star NFC handsets to visitors to the show. Using the handset the participants will be able to pay for food and drinks at the show. The trial devices are loaded with a €60 airtime credit and a La Caixa Visa Mobile Payment App.

Participating food vendors at the show will have contactless terminals at their booths where the user can hold the NFC phone to pay for items. Purchases under €10 need no pin number while purchases over €10 will require a pin to be entered before the transaction is charged.