Catalan bank offers m-payments via NFC stickers

The home of the world’s largest telecoms event is aiming to stimulate the adoption of contactless mobile payments after Catalan bank la Caixa announced it will roll out a contactless payment system in Barcelona, based on TAP Visa stickers for mobile devices. The bank forecasts that 200,000 customers will be using the system by February, when the Mobile World Congress 2013 event will be held.

Rather than using near-field communication chips (NFC) built into handsets, the TAP sticker attaches to the back of mobile devices (or anything for that matter) and is designed to provide secure data transfers. Inside the sticker is an (Europay, MasterCard, Visa) EMV NFC chip containing all the data required to complete payments in an encrypted manner.

The bank is also offering a guarantee to its customers using the service, offering protection against fraudulent activity that is beyond their control. La Caixa has also developed a free application to accompany the launch and customers will also receive an SMS reporting all transactions completed using the contactless TAP Visa.

The bank said it will begin rolling out the contactless TAP Visa system in December 2012, with 5,000 customers taking part in the first stage of the project. In January TAP Visa sticker distribution will gradually be extended, and the bank aims to reach 200,000 users with the service by February.

Since the contactless system was launched in Barcelona in January 2012, more than one million transactions have been completed using TAP Visa, according to la Caixa .