MasterCard Canada trials NFC based m-payment

MasterCard Canada is testing NFC-enabled phones with PayPass capability on Bell Mobility's wireless network. The four-month trial is the next major step in bringing contactless payments via mobile phones to the Canadian market.

During the closed trial, PayPass enabled phones will be used to make secure purchases at any merchant location in Canada that accepts MasterCard PayPass (MPW 74, 102). The technology enables a secure, fast transaction whenever the phone is ‘tapped' against a PayPass enabled POS terminal. MasterCard will be testing secure over-the-air (OTA) provisioning of payment card credentials and the security of transactions made using mobile phones.

"MasterCard is leading the transformation of mobile phones into secure contactless payment devices with numerous PayPass-enabled phone trials and rollouts underway in regions around the world," says Nagesh Devata, acceptance development and new products, MasterCard Canada. "One of the benefits of this technology is that little if anything must be done by the consumer to use their mobile phone as a payment device. We expect this initiative to have a significant impact on the way services are paid for at the point of sale in the future."

In this trial, the PayPass application is stored inside the NFC-capable mobile phone's built-in secure area. Users have individual control of the payment application in the phone's secure area and the application can be password protected so that a lost or stolen handset cannot be used to make payments.

"This is an important step in the progression of mobile commerce in Canada," comments Almis Ledas, VP corporate development, Bell Mobility. "We will be using this trial to validate the technology's ability to meet Canadians' high expectations for security, simplicity and convenience and will share our findings through our existing partnership with the other wireless carriers."

According to a 2007 survey, nearly nine in ten Canadians (88%) are very interested in a payment method that would cut the time it takes to complete transactions.