MasterCard and ANZ launch New Zealand’s first NFC payment trial

Bank staff have been given contactless stickers or NFC-enabled microSD cards to enable mobile payments using MasterCard PayPass as the card giant puts its Australasian roadmap into operation.

ANZ
ANZ: Bank staff testing NFC payments

MasterCard and ANZ have begun New Zealand’s first trial of NFC mobile phone payments.

A group of the bank’s staff have been given contactless stickers or microSD cards for Blackberry phones to enable them to make payments worth up to NZ$80 (US$65) using Mastercard PayPass.

PayPass terminals will be available at major merchant locations from July, including Hell Pizza, St Pierre’s Sushi and Corporate Cabs. These locations will join the Westpac and Eden Park stadiums, which were the first places in New Zealand to get the technology. More outlets are expected to roll out PayPass terminals over the coming months.

MasterCard’s New Zealand country manager Albert Naffah said the future of payments was “undeniably linked to the mobile phone” and said he looked forward to rolling out NFC.

“ANZ has a banking relationship with almost one in two Kiwis, so they were a natural partner to trial this technology,” said Naffah. “Both MasterCard and ANZ are committed to helping drive innovation in the banking sector. Rolling out NFC technology will help us provide a new safe, secure and convenient payment option for customers.

“We’ve already seen the success of mobile phone payment technology overseas, and now we want to give New Zealanders the ability to experience this innovation that will add value and convenience to their daily lives.”

The trial follows the announcement of MasterCard’s plan to make contactless payments a way of life in Australia and New Zealand over the next four years. The ‘MasterCard Roadmap’ is a comprehensive plan to “touch every point of the payment landscape” which sets out a series of targets for the roll-out of new products and services by October 2012, with all existing cards and terminals in New Zealand needing to have PayPass functionality by April 2014.

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