Germany’s Volkswagen Bank and Visa Europe are handing out plastic NFC-enabled iPhone cases to 500 customers for a contactless mobile payments trial. As of 2014, mobile payments will be available for Android based smartphones as well.
As one of the first banks in Germany Volkswagen Bank in cooperation with Visa Europe is offering a mobile payment solution as of September 2013. In a first testing phase, 500 clients of Volkswagen Bank will trial every day mobile payments with their iPhone.
During the pilot the innovative technology is available exclusively for iPhone 4/4S and 5. As of 2014, mobile payments will be available for Android based smartphones as well. The process has been tested intensively over the last months in order to perfectly adjust hardware and software components. The implementation of mobile payment is part of Volkswagen’s mobility strategy.
The customer activates a payment app, then holds the smartphone above the retailer’s terminal for an instant. The payment is processed in less than one second. The user can choose in the app whether he would like to authenticate all payments via passcode or only amounts higher than 25 Euros. The technical processing is realized with the iCarte – a plastic case for the iPhone that contains all payment relevant information as well as a NFC antenna (Near Field Communication).
Ottmar Bloching, General Manager of Visa Europe in Germany sees a large potential in this cooperation: „The future of payment is contactless and mobile. Smartphones are becoming more and more popular and will naturally be used as payment instruments.”
Source: Visa Europe
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