Orange UK and Barclaycard have signed a mobile payment deal that will enable customers to use their handsets to pay for goods or services at retailers by passing their phones against a reader. A statement from Orange UK notes that both companies claim the partnership marks the “biggest revolution in payments since plastic cards were introduced over 40 years ago.”

Using Near Field Communication (NFC) technology, the service will initially be used for items costing less than £10. Both companies plan to extend the service to include ticketing, transport and rewards. “There has been a lot of talk about mobile payments and now it’s going to become a reality for our customers,” said Antony Jenkins, CEO of Barclaycard. “I believe that all our UK customers will be able to use their mobile phones to pay for everyday items within three years.” Meanwhile Tom Alexander, CEO of Orange UK, said: “Today you pay for things by cash or on your credit card. Tomorrow, you’ll use your mobile to buy the things you want, whether that’s on the high street or the Internet.” The co-branded service will be open to both companies’ combined customer base of 28 million, and will later support mobile alerts, servicing capabilities and new banking applications. MasterCard will provide the payment capabilities for the transactions. Last November industry association the GSMA called for full NFC functionality to be built into commercially available handsets from mid-2009. A number of mobile operators around the world have already conducted NFC trials, including a high-profile effort from O2, and silicon giant Qualcomm has added support for NFC technology to certain chipsets in its product portfolio.