Visa’s mobile application allowing payments with Near Field Communication (NFC) technology gain more grip in the smartphone market. Handsets from Samsung, LG and Research in Motion (The Samsung Galaxy SII, LG Optimus NET NFC, Blackberry Bold 9900, Blackberry Bold 9790, Blackberry Curve 9360 and Blackberry Curve 9380) were added to the list of Visa compatible devices.
After Visa certification was awarded, the device must host specially designed application, Visa Paywave, on a secure card. As Sandra Alzetta, Visa Europe head of mobile business unit and innovation, explained the market is now ready for NFC payments to be implemented on a wider scale. “The players are now in place for mobile payments to become a reality. We are working with our member banks, mobile network operators and key handset partners to ensure that future payment technologies are as easy, intuitive, and secure as card-based transactions are today,” she detailed for The Enquirer.
As DigiTimes previously predicted, 2012 will be the year when smartphone with NFC support will reach to the main stream. Although Apple missed this trend with the latest iPhone, the major rival Samsung already won the consumers’ hearts with NFC enabled smartphones. Visa announced last year that they will partner with Samsung for 2012 Olympics NFC payments.
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