Malaysian mobile operator Maxis is to launch a NFC-enabled attachment for its iPhone users so that they can make mobile payments. The operator will offer the iCarte device, which is manufactured by Wireless Dynamics, in conjunction with a free payments app that is already available in Apple’s iTunes store.  The NFC-enabled iCarte device will be “coming soon” according to a marketing campaign launched by Maxis, reported by local website SoyaCincau. The set-up will enable Maxis’s iPhone-bearing users to pay for public transport and parking as well as certain retail purchases. In addition the marketing campaign points to a partnership with local bank CIMB as their payments partner.

The website also notes that Maxis has recently said it will be expanding its NFC presence with the launch of more handsets supporting the short-range wireless technology. The operator was a pioneer of NFC in 2009 but its FastTap service has suffered from a lack of handsets.  The use of the iCarte case, which fits over a handset, is a means to retrofit devices such as the iPhone 4 S that are not NFC enabled. However the device will have only “a limited commercial launch”, according to NFC Times.