Orange is planning to launch contactless payments in the second quarter of this year. The new payment system will be installed in the UK, France, Spain and Poland and when in use, will allow NFC equipped smartphones to be used as a mobile wallet to pay for items.
The first device to be made compatible with the service will be the Samsung Wave 578 although NFC and the services wont be just restricted to this particular device. Orange will launch more devices on its network over the coming months and years.
By the end of 2011, Orange plan that half of all smartphones launched will actually have NFC technology built in. As they are heavily pushing this system out across Europe, we expect that they will do all they can to ensure that new smartphones have the needed technology to connect with the electronic payment systems.
The press release also makes mention of the transport system in parts of France being connected up with this technology. Orange will be aiming to make this main stream over the coming years. Of course, Google Android 2.3 and 2.4 are both geared up for NFC payments. We just hope that the system will be open enough that devices on other networks will be able to connect up when needed.
Via: IntoMobile
Speak Your Mind
You must be logged in to post a comment.