Bank of New Zealand tests NFC

BNZ and Vodafone have begun a three month NFC payments pilot in New Zealand. The small scale trial involves some 44 BNZ and Vodafone staff who will be issued with Samsung Galaxy S II NFC phones. Visa and payments processor Paymark are also taking part in the trial. "What we're testing here is the viability of a true mobile wallet that will eventually allow people to replace multiple pieces of plastic with functionality embedded inside their phone," says BNZ's Paul Tait. "It's going to make smartphones even smarter."