Visa tests iPhone NFC in Poland

The payments network has partnered with BRE Bank’s mBank and MultiBank divisions to test the use of Apple iPhones equipped with an iCarte NFC accessory.

BRE Bank
BRE BANK: "35% of all log-ins to MultiBank are from Apple handsets"

Visa Europe and BRE Bank have announced an NFC pilot project in Poland.

Participants in the project will be given an iCarte clip-in accessory to attach to their third generation iPhone, or an iCarte case to use with their fourth generation device. Once they have downloaded the companion Visa Mobile application and associated the device with their bank card, they will be able to make payments of up 50 zloty (€12) without needing to enter their PIN.

The first stage of the project, which will run for three months, will see the mobile payment services made available to BRE Bank‘s MultiBank and mBank customers and employees. After the initial deployment, invitations to test the solution at a second stage will be sent to those who entered a competition via the banks’ websites.

“Poland has a rapidly maturing contactless payment infrastructure covering 35,000 enabled retailer point of sale terminals, so consumers are already benefiting from faster contactless payments,” says Visa Europe. By the end of 2015, this is expected to grow to more than 200,000 points of sale. “The project will also assess how solutions such as the iCarte accessory can bring mobile payments to older smartphones that are not equipped with NFC technology, which is a key barrier for the industry.”

“We are launching the mobile payments pilot for holders of iPhone devices because it is from these devices that our clients log into our transaction service most frequently.”

“Contactless payments using devices such as the iPhone are fundamental to Visa Europe’s strategy for robust development of mobile payments,” explains Visa’s Gosia O’Shaughnessy. “By testing contactless mobile payments on a project basis such as this, we can perfect the technology to offer ultimate customer ease of use and convenience.”

“We are launching the mobile payments pilot for holders of iPhone devices because it is from these devices that our clients log into our transaction service most frequently,” adds BRE Bank’s Paweł Kucharski. “Our statistics show that as much as 35% of all log-ins to MultiBank are from Apple handsets. At mBank, too, this proportion is high, running at 20%.

“The solution provided by Visa makes it possible to learn the new form of payments for a growing number of users, and simultaneously it adds another important functionality to the popular iPhone.”

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