Spanish mobile operator Telefónica and Research in Motion (RIM) have announced the launch of a contacless mobile payments pilot on NFC-enabled BlackBerry smart phones.
With the help of local banks and retailers, Telefónica will roll out BlackBerry smart phones equipped with the company’s “Telefónica Wallet” mobile app to 350 employees at its headquarters in Distrito Telefónica, Madrid, Spain.
According to Telefónica, the SIM-based solution is designed to replicate a physical wallet, allowing users to scroll through and select their different payment, ID, and access control cards. Once a card has been selected, the user is offered a range of options including making transactions, getting account balances, receiving confirmations from the bank, and so on.
Trial participants can used the wallet to pay for items with a simple tap of their phone at the register, as well as gain access to the Telefónica headquarters office.
The Telefónica Wallet can be used on several of RIM’s NFC-enabled smart phones including the BlackBerry Bold 9900, BlackBerry Curve 9360 and BlackBerry Curve 9380 - all of which run the new BlackBerry 7 operating system.
According to Julio Linares, COO of Telefónica, the partners are planning to extend the project to more and more Telefónica employees around the world. ![[end]](/resources/bullet/nfcnews-4.gif)
