A small mobile-phone Near Field Communication payment trial is under way in Slovenia designed to test consumer use of MasterCard and Maestro contactless payments, Inside Contactless announced today.
Inside is providing the NFC chip for the phones. Slovenia-based Banka Koper is holding funds in the accounts.
Initially, about 50 consumers are participating in the trial, a spokesperson for France-based Inside tells PaymentsSource. They are being given mobile phones made by Germany-based Sagem Orga that operate on the Mobitel wireless network.
Participants may make payments with the phones by tapping them on contactless readers, and they may retrieve coupons and advertisements when they tap the phone against a “smart poster” containing a chip.
Singapore-based Cassis International is providing the software to load, activate and personalize the payment application via the mobile phone network.
The trial will run through June, Inside says.
