Barclaycard has signed an exclusive three-year contract to combine Visa with the Oyster travel card, paving the way for contactless payments in London.
TranSys, the consortium that delivers the Oyster smartcard for Transport for London (TfL), has issued the licence and the first cards will be available early in the new year.
The new Visa card will include Oyster chip-and-PIN functionality and allow users to pay for low-value goods.
Cardholders will be able to pay for items by waving the card over a contactless reader in participating shops. The first trial will be conducted in London in early 2007 and full rollout will take place later in the year.
A Barclaycard spokeswoman says the deal puts the firm and its customers at the forefront of the developing technology.
‘We expect the use of contactless technology to grow rapidly,’ she said. ‘Our customers will benefit from quicker and more convenient purchases.’
The payment method could be used for values of less than £10 at fast food outlets, coffee shops, newsagents, off licences, bars, pubs and for parking facilities.
TranSys has been in discussions with a number of third parties regarding the licensing of Oyster, including mobile phone and watch manufacturers.
Ovum analyst Graham Titterington says Oyster initially planned to offer contactless payments, but cost and technical setbacks forced it to abandon the scheme.
‘It is a very good deal for Barclaycard. It is the first development in this field and is a three-year exclusive agreement, after which if the technology is proven could lead to greater consumer acceptance,’ he said.
What do you think? Email us at feedback@computing.co.uk
Further reading
Post your comment
Send an email to the Computing editor at feedback@computing.co.uk
del.icio.us
digg this
reddit!
Scheme has already delivered important benefits but first phase is 18 months late 04 Jul 2008
Storm approaching email market as clouds gather on SaaS provision 04 Jul 2008
Retailer suffers from web downtime for the second time in a month 04 Jul 2008
More news
Cutting fuel costs and improved services high on airline’s agenda 03 Jul 2008
Formula 1 team uses a virtual private network to exchange strategic data with its UK factory 02 Jul 2008
Experts warn that changes could tempt new cyber-squatters 02 Jul 2008 More in depth
Advertising Marketplace
- Enterprise Accounting Solutions
- Business Intelligence Solutions
- Enterprise Content Management (ECM)
- Supply Chain Management
- Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP)
- Project Management Solutions
- Customer Relationship Management (CRM)
- Security Solutions
- Systems Management
- Networking and Communications Solutions
Featured jobs
More job opportunities