The BlackBerry Bold 9900 and BlackBerry Curve 9360 smartphones have been announced as the first SIM-based NFC smartphones to be certified by MasterCard Worldwide as PayPass-approved devices.
It means that any bank issuing MasterCard PayPass credit or debit cards will be able to deploy MasterCard PayPass-enabled accounts to the SIM card of these smartphones.
France Telecom-Orange - which already operates phone-based NFC payments in the UK and France - will be adding both handsets to its product portfolio, although no banking partners have yet been confirmed.
Vincent Barnaud, Director of Contactless Services at France Telecom – Orange, said “We are happy to offer the BlackBerry Bold 9900 and BlackBerry Curve 9360 as part of the Orange range of mobile NFC devices. We are committed to actively marketing NFC devices, and these new smartphones will help accelerate the adoption of mobile NFC services secured by an Orange SIM, including mobile payments. We have a strong partnership with RIM, and look forward to working together on more NFC initiatives in the future.”