The project will bring together Monitise's mobile money service, which has already been rolled out to consumers in the UK and North America, and Bell ID's technology smarts in chip card and application management.

Details are sketchy, but the companies say the approach "will create separate environments for both chip security and the management of consumer's financial accounts, therefore combining trusted card security with a proven, mass-market, consumer interface.

Alastair Lukies, Monitise CEO, says the challenge for the industry is to create a mobile payment service that offers "bank grade" security from the outset.

David Orme, CEO of Bell ID, comments: "Millions of consumers worldwide are already using their mobile phone to manage their money while on the move. Now, the challenge is to ensure that contactless payments from handsets are as secure and mass-market as mobile banking has already become."