Vodafone Germany customers are testing NFC mobile payments using their Girocard — the most common debit card in the country — through Vodafone Wallet. The pilot began at the beginning of December and will run for seven months in collaboration with Kasseler Bank and Raiffeisenbank Baunatal.

“Each test participant receives an NFC smartphone with preinstalled Vodafone Wallet and an NFC SIM,” the mobile network operator says. “On this SIM card, the digital Girocard is securely stored in a special memory — the so-called secure element.

“To pay, customers simply place their smartphone briefly to the cash terminal in which the Girocard was inserted in the past. Within seconds, the purchase is safely and comfortably made and is debited as usual from the account.”

“In the test phase, knowledge about the application of Girocard mobile is collected on the smartphone,” Vodafone Germany adds. “[When and how] the digital payment card will be provided will be shown after evaluation of the results in the coming summer.”

“The test clearly shows that banks and retailers are very interested in new payment services,” says Vodafone Germany’s Frank Vahldiek.

Vodafone Germany demonstrated the first NFC mobile payment transaction made with a Girocard stored in a Vodafone Wallet at CeBIT 2016 in February.

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