Visa Europe and Wireless Dynamics Inc. are teaming up to offer a mobile contactless payment service for iPhone users in the U.K., employing a system that closely resembles what Visa Inc. is testing in the U.S.
Visa Europe launched the service in collaboration with YapiKredi Bank AS of Turkey and Turkcell, Turkey's largest mobile operator. IPhone users in Turkey may make purchases with the Apple Inc. phones at more than 40,000 terminals able to accept contactless payment in that country.
The card company set it sights on Europe because contactless payments there are gaining momentum, especially in the U.K., where banks have issued roughly 12 million contactless cards and 80% of all contactless transactions in the region occur.
In the U.K., Visa Europe is testing its contactless mobile payments service with Fidelity National Information Services Inc. and Coventry Building Society.
Visa Europe gave few other details of the partnership and did not say when the service will officially roll out to a wider audience of U.K. consumers. The partnership was announced Jan. 25.
Wireless Dynamics, a Canadian provider of near-field communication and radio frequency identification technology, will provide iPhone users with a clip-on accessory called iCarte, which is available through banks or mobile operators.
The iCarte accessory has an antenna that communicates with Visa's payment application and an embedded chip that can securely access the Visa Mobile card and multiple Visa accounts, a Visa Europe spokeswoman said.
Visa Europe plans to deploy the service this year in other European countries, including Italy, France, Poland, Spain and Switzerland.
The deployment is similar to what Visa Inc., which is not directly involved with Visa Europe's operations, has established in the U.S. through a partnership with DeviceFidelity Inc. to bring mobile contactless payments to existing handsets using microSD chips.
Because of these similarities, the partnership between Visa Europe and Wireless Dynamics is a bit of a surprise, said Todd Ablowitz, president of Double Diamond Group LLC in Centennial, Colo.
"It is very easy to get excited by mobile payments, and the industry is seeing all the pieces line up," Ablowitz said.
