Australia’s Optus has introduced a mobile payment app that uses NFC and Visa payWave technology.

The Cash by Optus app was launched in collaboration with Visa and Heritage Bank. Optus claims it’s the first Australian operator to release such an app.

Nearly one million Optus postpaid customers already have compatible devices and can now download the app and pick up an NFC-enabled SIM, said Ben White, VP of mobile marketing at Optus.

He noted that because it’s compatible with many of the latest Android devices and can be linked to any Australian bank account, “we’ve got a huge opportunity to bring this technology to a lot of people”.

Cash by Optus works like a Visa prepaid debit card, allowing customers to load up to AUD500 ($435) and make contactless purchases under AUD100 at any of the hundreds of thousands of retailers that accept Visa payWave.

White said there’s currently more than 20 compatible Android smartphones available.

“As technology and communications converge, Cash by Optus is a natural evolution for Optus. This is our first step towards launching future contactless applications in areas like public transport. Australians never leave home without their mobiles, so it makes sense to build this technology into smartphones now,” White said.

In January Visa claimed there were already 40 Visa payWave for mobile programmes live in Europe.

Optus, a subsidiary of SingTel, is Australia’s number two operator with a 31 per cent market share.

According to VisaNet, Australians lead the world in contactless payments, with over 64 million Visa payWave transactions in September. More than half of face-to-face Visa transactions in Australia are made using Visa payWave.

Visa payWave technology uses the international EMV chip standard and provides some of the most widely adopted cryptographic security, Optus said in a statement.