iTWire - Is it a phone? Yes, and it's a credit card

Is it a phone? Yes, and it's a credit card

By Stuart Corner
Friday, 31 August 2007 05:02

Telstra, NAB and Visa are planning Australia's first trial of contactless near field communications (NFC) technology in which the mobile phone's SIM card will also function as a contactless smart Visa card.

Users will be able to make credit card purchases simply by waving the phone near a reader at the point of sale. Telstra's cellular network will be used to activate or to de-activate the credit card, not to carry the actual transaction information.

The trial will start in early 2008 in Melbourne with 250 customers to be selected by NAB. About 30 store locations in Melbourne will be equipped with the readers. No information was available on the planned duration of the trial.

However, NAB executive general manager retail banking, Andrew Thorburn, said: "In the not too distant future we envisage NAB customers being able to walk into a shop, give their mobile a quick wave over a reader and simply walk out with their purchases."

Credit card functionality however is only one potential application for the technology. The SIM could carry multiple credit cards and/or loyalty, membership cards, marketing offers, public transport tickets and building access security cards.

"Instead of having a wallet or purse full of plastic cards, you could soon have them all supported on a single Telstra mobile phone, providing enhanced security and convenience," Telstra's Group managing director enterprise and government, David Thodey, said Telstra

Visa International executive vice president, Australia, New Zealand and South Pacific, Bruce Mansfield, said that Visa was participating in similar trials with financial institutions and telecommunications companies in the United States and Asia. "Visa expects the experience from those initiatives will be of great benefit to this partnership with NAB and Telstra, and will help ensure a smooth introduction in Australia."