Samsung, Visa plan NFC handset for 2012 Olympics
31 March, 2011
category: NFC
Samsung has announced plans to introduce its new Samsung Olympic and Paralympic Games mobile handset with mobile payment technology from Visa.
The handset will enable consumers at the London 2012 Summer Games to make contactless mobile payments at more than 60,000 merchant locations. To make payments, customers simply select the Visa mobile contactless application, select pay and hold the phone in front of a contactless reader at the point of purchase.
To kick off the initiative, Samsung and Visa are giving their Olympic handset to sponsored athletes. The partners also plan to make the handset available for consumers to purchase through mobile network operators and other distributors. A Visa-enabled SIM card will be required for use with the device in order to make purchases at contactless retailers.
The partners say they plan to use the Games as a springboard for launching mobile payments in the UK and beyond.
Visa mobile payments are currently being rolled out in countries across the globe including Australia, Canada, Czech Republic, Brazil, France, Hong Kong, Italy, Malaysia, Poland, Singapore, Spain, Slovakia, Switzerland, Turkey, the UK and the United States.