US banking giant Citi has teamed with MasterCard, Nokia, Vodafone and ViVOtech to pilot contactless mobile phone payments in the Indian city of Bangalore.
Participants in the 'Tap and Pay' trial can make credit card payments by waving their NFC-enabled mobile phones over contactless readers at the point of sale at participating merchants.
The bank says it is the largest ever marketplace pilot. Up to five thousand customers and 500 merchants are expected to take part.
To participate, customers need to buy the NFC-capable Nokia N 6212 classic phone pre-loaded with an application enabled with MasterCard's PayPass contactless technology. They can then download their Citibank MasterCard credit card onto the phone over the air.
Transactions require a PIN validation and payments are automatically charged to the customer's card account through the same network that processes traditional credit card transactions.
The pilot will also cover NFC-enabled interactive posters and mobile coupon redemptions.
N Rajashekaran, country business manager, global consumer group, Citi India, says: "We are very pleased to offer this breakthrough service to our cardholders in Bengaluru and bring to reality the convergence of the wallet with the mobile phone. Our goal is to ensure that Citi Tap and Pay successfully embeds itself into our customers' mobile lifestyles."