Bankinter to test NFC payments in Madrid

Bankinter, the sixth-largest listed banking group in Spain, has announced an NFC payments trial with Visa which will allow customers to have more than one card set up on their mobile phone.

The bank, which also provides customers with mobile network services via its own Mobile Virtual Network Operator (MVNO) Bankinter Móvil, has integrated NFC functionality with its back office telephone and internet banking systems for the trial.

Participants will be able to store both a Visa credit and a Visa debit card on their SIM and will be able to make payments with their phone in various shops and restaurants in three locations around Madrid.

Through an application available on the phone, users can also view details of transactions, as well as choose which card they want to use to make a particular payment.

José Carbajo, country manager of Visa Europe in Spain, said: “Visa is working on this pilot project to make its mobile payment application a sign of its leadership in innovative ways of payment. Visa is committed to developing new products and value-added services that are more efficient and safer than cash, to benefit consumers, merchants and financial institutions.”

Last year, Bankinter joined with Madrid transport organisation Empresa Municipal de Transportes de Madrid (EMT Madrid) to launch an NFC bus ticketing trial in the city.

In the trial, the participants’ NFC phones acted as payments cards that could be reloaded over the air or via the internet.

The trial used a Trusted Service Manager (TSM) solution developed by Ericsson, which the latest payments trial will also use. Bankinter was responsible for handling the payments function, including managing the reloading of funds to the phones.

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