Austria gets nationwide SIM-based NFC mobile payment service

Austrians can now make SIM-based NFC mobile payments using a new nationwide mobile payment service launched by Payment Services Austria (PSA) and supported by Austria Card. The launch of the Bankomatkarte Mobil system follows a successful trial in Linz, the third largest city in the country.

Mobile Maestro“Maestro cardholders in Austria are able to make payments just by waving their mobile devices in front of a contactless payment terminal,” Austria Card says. “Mobile Maestro will be available on Android mobile phones running version 4.1 or higher.

“The service can be used in the more than 250,000 PayPass outlets worldwide, including 35,000 contactless point-of-sale terminals in Austria.”

Consumers need to contact their mobile operator to get an NFC SIM card if they don’t already have one, then download the Bankomatkarte Mobil payment app and request a mobile bank card from their bank. Once authorised, the mobile bank card can be provisioned to the device and activated by the user.

“A secure element within the mobile phone holds all sensitive information,” the company adds. “The datacenter is hosted by Austria Card and is certified by Visa and MasterCard for mobile provisioning.”

“Mobile Maestro will set the next era in mobile payments, since it combines increased convenience with high security and will be made available to Austrian cardholders,” says Konstantinos Lagios, chief commercial officer at Austria Card.

“We are proud that we are the first to introduce a nationwide mobile payment scheme,” adds Rainer Schamberger, CEO at PSA.

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One comment on this article

  1. Not available on iPhone, but via Android, that paragon of security weaknesses. What boneheads. Oy!

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