Telefónica Digital and Research In Motion have announced an NFC-based mobile wallet. It’s called the ‘Telefonica wallet for BlackBerry’ and currently supports the BlackBerry Bold 9900, BlackBerry Curve 9360 and BlackBerry Curve 9380, all of which have NFC connectivity and run the BlackBerry 7 operating system.
The wallet will initially be launched in Spain to 350 employees at Telefónica’s HQ. Participants will be able to pay in participating retailers by tapping their BlackBerry smartphones against a reader and will also be able use their smartphone to enter the headquarters as an alternative to using a security pass. The company plans to extend the project to more Telefónica employees around the world.
Matthew Key, Chairman & CEO of Telefonica Digital, said “We are getting ever closer to the point where our customers will be able to take the contents of their wallets and put them on their mobiles. Trials such as this are important to ensuring a great customer experience and we look forward to seeing the launch of commercial wallet services in several markets next year.”
Earlier this year, Telefonica-owned O2 UK said it planned to launched a mobile wallet service under the ‘O2 Money’ brand by the end of 2011.