GSMA, Samsung, et al trial NFC payment at Mobile World Congress 2010
At this year’s Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, GSMA, Samsung, Telefonica and Visa, with Giesecke & Devrient, Ingenico, ITN International and La Caixa, collaborated across industries to give Congress attendees an opportunity to experience SIM-based NFC mobile payment.
The participating companies provided more than 400 NFC handsets to guests for use at the Congress. The Samsung Star NFC handsets contain Telefonica SIM cards from O2 pre-loaded with EUR60 airtime credit as well as a La Caixa Visa Mobile Payment Application.
Participants used their NFC phones to pay for food and drink under 10 euros at more than 30 merchant locations around the Congress. Purchases above that amount require a pass code, which the participant keys into the handset before presenting it to the terminal. The transactions are authorized online, with funds deducted from a La Caixa Visa account.
According to GSMA, the goal of the pilot was to raise awareness of NFC technology in anticipation of the commercial launch of SIM-based NFC handsets in the very near future.