Visa Europe has begun the first trials of its iPhone NFC system, which allows customers to make contactless payments, Computerworld has reported.
The trial comes as rumours suggest the next version of the iPhone will come built with an NFC chip, along with a new Apple program that will see devices handed out to retailers to accept payments.
Visa Europe’s program, which involves attaching a device to an iPhone in order to make NFC payments, with a local bank participating in the trials.
This plan could be a precursor to a payment system set to debut at WWDC along with the iPhone 5. Such a system is rumoured to use iTunes accounts to handle payments.
Patrick Stafford is a freelance journalist and a former deputy editor of SmartCompany.
