Is your phone "MasterCard PayPass Ready?" This may be a question punters start to ask as MasterCard introduces its new certification for devices compatible with its PayPass NFC contactless payment system.
Initially, MasterCard has chosen to certify 17 handsets, with more to come in the near future:
- BlackBerry Bold 9900 / 9790
- BlackBerry Curve 9360 / 9380
- HTC One X
- Intel Smartphone Reference Device
- LG Viper 4G LTE
- LG Optimus Elite
- Nokia 603
- Nokia Lumia 610 NFC
- Samsung Wave Y
- Samsung Galaxy Mini 2
- Samsung Galaxy S Advance
- Samsung Galaxy Nexus (GT-i9250)
- Sony Xperia S
- Sony Xperia P
- Sony Xperia sola
"In the near future, millions of phones will ship with NFC technology embedded within them. The new PayPass Ready identifier will help consumers make informed device purchasing decisions by providing a visual mark that indicates devices are certified to make simple, smart and secure payments via the MasterCard PayPass network," said Mung Ki Woo, group executive, Mobile at MasterCard.
Both Nokia and RIM have confirmed that they will be actively using the new brand identifier in advertisements to promote their devices.
With NFC payments in their infancy, with various potential standards and approaches in the works, it's good to see MasterCard taking the initiative in an attempt to standardise and push forward on clear certification that consumers can work by when purchasing a new handset.
