Manufacturer handsets given green light for use as Visa mobile payment devices

Manufacturer handsets given green light for use as Visa mobile payment devices

NFC-enabled smartphones from Samsung Electronics, LG Electronics, and Research In Motion (RIM) have been approved for use with Visa payWave, Visa’s mobile application for payments at the point of sale.

Visa and Visa Europe today announced that the Near Field Communication (NFC) enabled smartphones from these manufacturers have been certified for use with Visa’s mobile application for payments at the point-of-sale, Visa payWave.

The Samsung Galaxy SII, LG Optimus NET NFC, and the BlackBerry Bold 9900 and 9790, as well as BlackBerry Curve 9360 and 9380 have been added to the list of Visa compliant payment products available for commercial deployment by financial institutions.

All the new devices certified by Visa host the Visa payWave application on a secure SIM card and feature NFC technology, the short range communications standard that enables mobile phones to securely transmit payment information to a contactless payment terminal.

Pushing consumer adoption forward

“The players are now in place for mobile payments to become a reality,” said Sandra Alzetta, Head of Mobile Business Unit and Innovation, Strategy, at Visa Europe.

“We are working with our member banks, mobile network operators and key handset partners to ensure that future payment technologies are as easy, intuitive and secure as card-based transactions are today. Today’s announcement plays a significant role in getting those new technologies into the hands of the consumer.”

Visa said its certification of these smartphones paves the way for mobile device manufacturers, mobile operators and retailers to partner with financial institutions to offer Visa mobile payment functionality to consumers globally.

Managing the certification process

Visa payWave on mobile devices is compatible with existing contactless (NFC) payment terminals already installed at retail outlets worldwide, enabling Visa account holders to use their enabled phone to pay by waving it in front of a compatible payment terminal in order to pay.

Visa has a compliance testing process for both mobile devices and the secure elements that host the Visa payWave mobile application. The process includes extensive technical, security and usability testing with respect to the Visa mobile payment functionality. This is designed to help ensure reliable and secure Visa transactions, which are compatible with the global standard for chip-enabled payments, and establishes a required signal range and security for all mobile (NFC-enabled) Visa payment devices.

“Today’s announcement is another example of the momentum we are seeing behind NFC as an industry standard for mobile payments,” stated Nick Holland, senior analyst Yankee Group. “Yankee Group predicts that the value of NFC-based transactions will grow significantly, from $27 million (£17.5m) in 2010 to $40 billion (£25.8bn) in 2014.”