MasterCard certifies PayPass to top mobile manufacturers

Avid users of NFC are getting a new treat from MasterCard. It’s been a long time coming, but MasterCard has finally certified some of the world’s top mobile manufacturers to use its NFC payment system. Among them are Samsung, Nokia, RIM, HTC, LG, Intel and Sony. Using PayPass, mobile users from any of the aforementioned manufacturers can now enjoy the benefits of mobile wireless payments. A “MasterCard PayPass Ready” branding will indicate that a particular device is fully supported by MasterCard. The first two companies reported to sign up for the stamp of approval are RIM and Nokia.

As with the rest, we have no idea as when they received the branding. But we know that new devices from the newly-approved companies mentioned above are now certified. Four BlackBerry smartphones – Bold 9900, Bold 9790, Curve 9360 and the Curve 9380 –  have been certified and HTC’s flagship One X and Samsung’s Galaxy Nexus have been approved as well. Mung Ki Woo of MasterCard said that millions of phones in the near future will ship with NFC technology embedded within them. “The new PayPass Ready identifier will help consumers make informed purchasing decisions by providing a visual mark that indicates devices are certified to make simple, smart and secure payments,” the exec added.

Gene Ryan Briones
Categories: Cellphones
Tags: NFC