Chunghwa Telecom has chosen Gemalto to supply SIM-based security for a proposed NFC mobile payments trial.

Taiwan’s leading mobile operator is to run an ambitious trial involving four local banks as well as MasterCard and handset vendors HTC, Samsung and Sony.

According to an announcement, the trial will enable Chunghwa’s “full user base” to make payments at over 20,000 MasterCard PayPass point-of-sale readers across the country at locations such as supermarkets, department stores and taxis.

The trial supports multiple credit and prepaid cards, as well as loyalty cards, coupon and ticketing.

The Taiwanese operator’s strategy is unusual because it is pursuing a dual approach to its mobile payments rollout, using both NFC and QR codes.

However, a report in Focus Taiwan said Chunghwa has delayed a service that enables users to scan QR codes at the point of sale with their smartphones, as a means of payment.

Back in April the operator said the service would launch “as soon as June” but now it is not expected to debut before the third quarter, according to the report.