Digital security company Gemalto has announced that its SIM card embedded with a Near Field Communication application has been certified by MasterCard. It's the world’s first SIM-embedded app that complies with MasterCard's mobile NFC spec.

Gemalto's now preparing to launch the service in the UK with a global financial institution and a mobile operator.

Mark Bridge writes:

A report in The Independent says Apple won't be putting a Near Field Communication chip in the next version of the iPhone. Although Apple is thought to be working on its own NFC service connected to iTunes, it's said to be "concerned by the lack of a clear standard across the industry".

On the surface, that phrase doesn’t make sense.

A new report from Juniper Research forecasts that one in eight mobile phone users worldwide will either have a 'mobile ticket' delivered to their phone or will buy a ticket using their phone by 2015. That's over 750 million users, compared with 230 million people today.

The next two years are expected to see mobile ticketing become mainstream, with mobile barcode boarding passes and cinema tickets leading the way.

The Transport for London network - which includes Bus, Tube, Docklands Light Railway, Tram and London Overground rail services - is upgrading its card readers this year to allow travel and payment using a contactless bank card. Travellers currently need to buy tickets or use a pre-paid 'Oyster' card.

Although the news doesn't specifically involve mobile payments, it's expected that any NFC mobile payment service would also be compatible.

A group of mobile network operators have committed to launching commercial Near Field Communications services in select markets by next year.

Although the technology is best known for enabling mobile payments, NFC can also be used for other services such as mobile ticketing, mobile couponing, information exchange and access to buildings or vehicles.