78% of us want to pay by phone

The O2 Wallet trial, which we mentioned in our podcast on 6th December, has revealed that nine out of ten trialists were happy using Near Field Communications (NFC) technology on a mobile phone - and 78% would be interested in using contactless services if they were available. Interest in combining the London Transport Oyster card with a mobile phone was particularly high, with 89% of trialists saying they were interested. The trial, which ran for 6 months with 500 London triallists, combined a Nokia 6131 mobile phone with Oyster and credit cards. [Press release]

Londoners to start paying by phone next year

Some London shoppers will soon be able to use their mobile phones to pay for purchases. Several hundred Barclaycard customers will be issued with customised Nokia handsets next year. These phones will be compatible with Barclaycard's “OnePulse” card technology, enabling users to pay for purchases up to £10 simply by putting their phone on a special reader. The mobiles will use the contactless communication system that’s been created for Transport for London's Oyster travel card. [Source: Guardian.co.uk]