Payments network Visa has today launched what it claims is the world’s first commercial Visa mobile payments service for point-of-sale transactions using Near Field Communications (NFC) technology. The scheme is being rolled out in conjunction with Maybank, Malaysia’s largest bank and Maxis, the country’s largest mobile operator with over 11 million subscribers. It will allow users to pay for goods and services using NFC contactless technology by ‘waving’ their phone over an electronic reader. Visa already uses the technology in its payWave contactless credit or debit cards. “The launch of Visa’s first commercial NFC program in Malaysia is based on Visa’s experience gained from undertaking extensive pilot activities around the globe and is something Visa plans to replicate in other places around the world,” said Elizabeth Buse, global head of product at Visa.

The service launches today on Nokia 6212 handsets embedded with an NFC chip. Maybank Visa cardholders are able to download their Visa payWave credit card account details to the phone over-the-air via Maxis’ mobile network. Around 1,800 merchant outlets – mostly around the capital, Kuala Lumpur – have been equipped with the special point-of-sale readers. The contactless chip embedded in the device will also power a number of additional functions, including a contactless transit application that enables Malaysian commuters to pay for charges while using metropolitan transit systems, bus terminals, highway toll gates and car park facilities at more than 3,000 contactless payment touch points throughout Malaysia. Maxis has branded these mobile payment services under the name Maxis FastTap. Visa is currently piloting a similar scheme in nearby Singapore in conjunction with Citibank Singapore, a local bank, and MobileOne (M1), a mobile operator.