Not long ago, the BlackBerry Bold 9900 and Curve 9360 were approved by MasterCard as the world's first SIM-based smartphones to be PayPass Certified. Today, Visa has joined in and approved not only the Bold 9900 and Curve 9360, but the Bold 9790 and Curve 9380 for use as Visa Mobile Payment devices. This is a great example of how NFC can be put to use in a way that will make life easier and more efficient.

Press Release

Visa Certifies Smartphones for Use as Visa Mobile Payment Devices

NFC-enabled smartphones from Samsung Electronics, LG Electronics, and Research In Motion approved for use with Visa payWave, Visa’s mobile application for payments at the point-of-sale

SAN FRANCISCO - Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) and Visa Europe today announced that NFC-enabled smartphones from Samsung Electronics, LG Electronics, Research In Motion (RIM) have been certified for use with Visa’s mobile application for payments at the point-of-sale, Visa payWave. The Samsung Galaxy SII, LG Optimus NET NFC, BlackBerry® Bold™ 9900, BlackBerry Bold 9790, BlackBerry® Curve™ 9360 and BlackBerry Curve 9380 have been added to the list of Visa compliant payment products available for commercial deployment by financial institutions.

All the new devices certified by Visa host the Visa payWave application on a secure SIM card and feature NFC (Near Field Communication) technology, the short range communications standard that enables mobile phones to securely transmit payment information to a contactless payment terminal.

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