Orange UK has teamed with credit card provider Barclaycard to launch what they claim is the UK’s first nationwide contactless mobile payment service. Launched today, the NFC-based ‘Quick Tap’ service will initially be available on the Samsung Tocco Lite device, though Orange said that further devices will be supported soon. The two firms claim that 50,000 ‘high street’ stores nationwide will be able to accept the contactless payments, including Pret a Manger, EAT, Little Chef, Wembley Arena, Subway, Wilkinson and McDonalds. Barclaycard, Barclays debit or Orange credit card users can transfer funds of up to £100 onto the handset’s Quick Tap app, after which the phone is ready to make payments up to a maximum value of £15 per transaction. To support the launch, Barclaycard is providing Orange customers with £10 cash added to their account upon activation, and 10 percent cash back on all Quick Tap purchases made in the first three months.

Orange and Barclaycard have had a mobile payments partnership in place since 2009. Barclaycard and Barclays claim to be pioneers in this area, having over 11.4 million contactless credit and debit cards in circulation. Other firms involved in the QuickTap launch include MasterCard, which will provide its PayPass technology for use at point-of-sale, and Gemalto, which will provide Orange with the secure NFC-enabled SIM cards. Orange UK is part of the Everything Everywhere JV alongside T-Mobile UK. Orange parent France Telecom has previously announced plans to rollout NFC-based contactless technology across its European footprint.