Westpac trialling NFC-enabled mobile payment scheme

Westpac has in the last few days been testing out their Android mobile payment app. They have invited 100 individuals – from Westpac staff and business partners – to begin trialling the app.

With the addition of NFC-enabled payment, Westpac is doing what CommBank failed to – utilize the NFC features of Android.  The Westpac Bank’s Android application does what we have all been waiting for. It allows you to make payments with your NFC enabled phone simply by touching it to a PayPass terminal. After entering you bank card details it will engage with your account and allow you to make transactions directly.

Axel Boye-Moller, Westpac’s head of mortgages, cards and merchants said:

Effectively, we put the Westpac Debit MasterCard details [of the customer] into the SIM card of the phone which means it can be used anywhere that contactless payments are accepted.

How about security though? Westpac have got you covered there too. Boye-Moller said on the matter:

If someone loses their phone, for example, we can cancel the details on the phone without cancelling the plastic card that the customer uses to access that bank account.

Westpac Bank seem to be quite enthused about the mobile scene as a whole, too. While this will be their first major app, it looks to be taking the wood over the CommBank’s Kaching app and setting new heights in mobile banking.

Developing mobile products and services for our customers is a top priority. We put mobile at the forefront of any new product development that we do.

Well CommBank, you may have all those huge ad campaigns and you may thing you CAN do just about anything. But, we have news for you. This time you just can’t – I’m sorry.

Source: iTWire