Coles supermarkets trialing mobile NFC payments
20 February, 2013
category: NFC, Smart Cards
The Australia-based supermarket chain Coles has announced that it will trial a mobile payments app that will enable Coles MasterCard customers to pay for their groceries using NFC-enabled smartphones.
TechWorld reports the trial is scheduled to run for three months, with Coles representatives revealing that the app could be available to the public within the year.
Coles MasterCard users will be able to purchase goods by waving their smart phones over a MasterCard PayPass reader. The mobile payments app can be used in any store that accepts MasterCard PayPass, but Coles customers have the added incentive of earning Flybuys points each time they pay.
The trial will include 60 participants armed with Samsung Galaxy S3 handsets running on the Android OS. Coles is partnering with GE Capital Australia, Gemalto, MasterCard and Vodafone Hutchison Australia to deliver the contactless payment solution.
The initial trial requires a Vodafone SIM card, but a Coles representative has revealed that there are plans to expand the app to support all mobile networks.