Westpac has today upped the ante on mobile contactless payments, taking the wraps off a solution which will allow users of compatible Android handsets to use all their Westpac debit and credit cards via a simple tap of their mobile phone on contactless payment terminals.
Having concluded an internal trial, Westpac will release their updated mobile banking application which allows Westpac customers to pair their Westpac-issused debit and credit cards with the mobile application, and using the handset’s NFC hardware, make payments at any contactless terminal. This is in contrast to the previous solutions which banks have experimented with in Australia, including NFC stickers, add-on cases and specialised SIM cards, and is certainly much more user friendly and easily accessible.
Westpac’s rollout will begin early in 2014, and will be available to all new and existing customers via the Westpac mobile banking app. This app will allow customers to check their transaction history and account balance, and make payments, all from within the one application. As you can see from the images above, supplied, the process looks pretty simple.
We’re certainly excited by this development in the mobile payments space, and look forward to other banks following this lead.
