NFC payment rollout in Australia

Australia’s largest bank, the Commonwealth Bank of Australia, is adding multiple mobile phone-based payment options to its range of mobile banking services.
March 13, 2012 Read time: 1 min
RSSAustralia’s largest bank, the 3841 Commonwealth Bank of Australia, is adding multiple mobile phone-based payment options to its range of mobile banking services. Giesecke & Devrient (G&D) is providing the technology to allow secure contactless payments using mobile phones featuring Near Field Communication (NFC).

In the first phase, Commonwealth Bank is giving iPhone 4 and 4S owners the opportunity to transfer their MasterCard PayPass details onto their smartphone. Since the iPhone does not currently feature an NFC chip for contactless payment, a special cover with a secure element has been developed for iPhones to enable NFC data transfer. The iPhone cover, which can be ordered through Commonwealth Bank, is hooked up to the iPhone data interface and automatically communicates with the “Commbank Kaching” app installed on the iPhone. In the next phase, this set of mobile payment functions will also be made available to Android users.

Over the last few years, Commonwealth Bank has pioneered the deployment of contactless technology in Australia. It has supplied the bulk of its customers with contactless dual interface cards which are accepted for making payments at over 42,000 locations in Australia.
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