Pay with the wave of a mobile phone

Etisalat and Emirates NBD bank are piloting the first joint mobile near field communication (NFC) payments project in the MENA region, which will enable UAE customers to make payments by waving their mobile phones at the point of sale.

The contactless technology makes the mobile phone a means to pay for purchases at a store or transportation service, which would then be charged to bank cards and would typically, be low-value payments.

“The introduction of Mobile NFC services is a great way to simplify the consumer payment experience through its ease of use and convenience,” said Abdulla Hashim, VP of enterprise solutions at Etisalat.

The Mobile NFC technology operates within a fourcentimetre range with the advantage of a personalised PIN to make transactions more secure. Customers wave their mobile phone at the point of sale machine to make an instant payment.

According to a 2007 report from analyst firm, Frost & Sullivan, one third of all mobile phones will be NFC equipped within five years. Other international banks are piloting this technology in Malaysia, France, Singapore, Korea and USA.