UK bank NatWest is to test mobile payments by equipping 1,000 customers with NFC-based cases that can be fitted to certain iPhone models. Apple devices do not have NFC functionality, so the covers, which contain an NFC chip, can fit onto an iPhone 4 and 4S to enable users to make payments. However, the case does not fit onto the larger-bodied iPhone 5. Participants in the trial also need to download the bank’s TouchPay app to use the service.

Separately, the same bank has had a setback with mobile payments following its decision to suspend its GetCash mobile app after thieves defrauded some customers. The app, which was launched in June this year, enables users to withdraw up to £100 at a time, as many times as they want in a single day, so long as they don’t exceed their personal limit with the bank. Users identify themselves with a six-digit PIN sent by the app. The PIN can be entered at an ATM within three hours of the user receiving it to withdraw money. However, some customers have been defrauded by thieves when using the system, hence its withdrawal by NatWest.