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Visa Inc. selected Malaysia as the site of the card company's first commercial Near Field Communication launch because of that country's history of early embrace of new payment technologies, according to CardLine Global sister publication American Banker. Visa is working with Maxis Communications Bhd, the country's largest mobile operator, on the service that enables consumers to buy Nokia phones off the shelf and download Visa's payWave contactless application to them (CardLine Global, 13 April). The country has a fairly dense population of contactless merchant acceptance locations, including 1,800 sites where consumers can use Visa's payWave contactless payment application. Consumers likely will use the mobile payment feature in coffee shops, supermarkets and convenience stores, says Pam Zuercher, vice president of production innovation for Visa. Consumers can make contactless transactions of up to approximately US$42 (32 euros).
