Trial to begin next month

Bank of America and Visa have announced a joint plan to trial a smartphone payment system to make purchases in the New York area starting next month. While this technology has been used for some time in countries such as Japan, it would be the first time that this technology has been implemented in the US on this basis. The system like others would rely on small NFC (near field communications) chips in smartphones.

This development follows news that Apple may be developing NFC iPhones. The method being adopted by Bank of America and Visa appears to be very similar. It's not expected that Apple would take part in any of the current trial.

NFC is already very popular in Japan for purchases in stores and in transportation, and it may gain similar acceptance in Europe with plans from Nokia and others to make NFC standard in their phones next year.

By Electronista Staff