Nokia and MasterCard International will launch a trial in the Dallas-Fort Worth area of technology the companies say allows consumers to use their mobile phones to quickly and easily pay restaurants and retailers for purchases.
Slated to begin in the latter half of this month, the trial will be conducted at selected retailers and restaurants near Nokia's U.S. headquarters in Irving, including the Rockfish Seafood Grill, Corner Baker Cafe, Jason's Deli, Wolf Camera and Chevron.
Consumers who have Nokia's SmartCover phones equipped with MasterCard's PayPass technology can wave or tap the device over a special reader, and the payment is processed in seconds.
The system also allows retailers to send advertisements to consumers, with video and audio being used in the latter part of the trial via multimedia messaging service technology. Initially, short-messaging service technology will be used to deliver the ads.
The phones are equipped with a "contactless" chip, which is programmed with MasterCard payment-account information. When the phone is tapped or waved on the PayPass reader, information about the account is transmitted to a terminal, and the transaction is then processed.
This is the second stage of Nokia and MasterCard's trial of the technology. The companies say the first stage's results demonstrated that consumers liked being able to make payments with their mobile phones and that the messaging could be used "to create a win-win situation."
The second stage will involve a larger audience and broader range of retailers, the companies said.
Web sites: Nokia Mobile Commerce Messaging System, Nokia (NYSE: NOK), MasterCard International