As part of the GSMA's 'NFC Experience' at this year's MWC, an app built by Telefónica Digital will enable the 3500 attendees to make payments using a Sony Xperia handset and a pre-paid card developed for mobile payments and issued by CaixaBank unit MoneyToPay.

The app will come pre-loaded with EUR15, allowing delegates to make payments at Visa terminals across the Fira Gran Via conference centre as well as 16,000 more around Barcelona and 700 taxis.

Sandra Alzetta, SVP, Visa Europe, says: "Contactless transaction numbers quadrupled across Europe in 2012 and will quadruple again this year...There is a natural evolution from contactless cards to mobile devices and we've seen a fantastic response from the markets where this kind of service is commercially available."

Visa rival MasterCard will also be onsite at MWC, running a day-long Mobile Payments Global Symposium, that will showcase the leaders and industry influencers driving the mobile payments discussion around the world via a series of regional panel discussions.