The trial, lead by the GSMA, sees more than 400 Samsung Star NFC handsets containing Telefonica SIM cards from O2 developed by Giesecke & Devrient pre-loaded with EUR60 airtime credit as well as a La Caixa Visa mobile payment application, given to guests.

Participants can pay for food and drink up to a value of EUR10 by holding their mobile phone against Ingenico contactless terminals at over 30 participating merchants at the Congress.

Purchases above EUR10, up to EUR75, require a passcode which the participant keys into the handset before presenting it to the terminal. The transactions are authorised online, with funds deducted from a La Caixa Visa account.

Michael O'Hara, chief marketing officer, GSMA, says: "Mobile operators have been requesting SIM-based NFC handsets for some time now and it's great to see such progress in this area. Now that the handsets are coming, we can expect to see a number of commercial launches of mobile SIM-based NFC services this year."