First Trials of Payment by Mobile Phone in Spain
May 27th, 2010
La Caixa, Telefonica and Visa launched the first Spanish mobile payment system in Sitges today, it involves 1,500 people and half a thousand shops and restaurants. With this new system, made possible by incorporating near field communication (NFC) technology in certain phones, payment is made by simply moving the phone near to the payment point, without the need to use any kind of card.
The project’s objective is to study the future widespread implementation of shopping using mobile phones. Due to the number of participants, the project is the most important experiment of its kind to take place in Europe so far. The use of NFC technology is already well established in other countries such as Japan.
In the case of Sitges, the payments are restricted to payments in shops, but the future system will also allow, for example, the use of your mobile phone for payments on public transport, access to restricted areas or as a library card.
The mobile payment is possible because the SIM card contained within a user’s mobile carries a Visa system that works like a standard debit or credit card. In fact, the customer can even select with which credit or debit provider they would like to make a payment with.
Kim Faura, director general of Telefonica in Catalunya, has highlighted the benefits of a technology which brings more convenience to payments, making them faster and having “the same security as a card.” It will be particularly useful when making minor purchases where commonly merchants do not accept credit card payments.
To participate in the test, 1,500 people have been provided exclusive Samsung mobile phones that include the NFC technology and have also been providing some minimal training. All participants met the requirements of being customers of La Caixa, having a Movistar mobile phone account and a valid Visa card. Further rollouts of the new system are expected soon.
