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BlackBerry Bold 9900 and BlackBerry Curve 9360 Are World's First SIM-Based Smartphones to be MasterCard PayPass Certified

By Adam Zeis on 26 Oct 2011 08:46 am
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MasterCard PayPass

It looks like the NFC wheels are in motion for the BlackBerry Bold 9900 and Curve 9360. Both devices became the first SIM-based smartphones to be certified by Mastercard as PayPass approved, meaning we may not have to wait much longer to put that NFC feature to good use. Here's to hoping this is just the start of whats to come on the NFC front.

Press Release

WATERLOO, ONTARIO--(Marketwire - Oct. 26, 2011) - Research In Motion (NASDAQ:RIMM)(TSX:RIM) today announced the BlackBerry® BoldTM 9900 and BlackBerry® CurveTM 9360 smartphones are the first SIM-based NFC smartphones to be certified by MasterCard Worldwide as PayPass-approved devices.

The certification was granted on the basis of the BlackBerry® smartphones meeting the functionality, interoperability and security requirements of MasterCard. With this certification, any MasterCard PayPass-issuing bank globally will be able to deploy MasterCard PayPass-enabled accounts to the SIM card of these smartphones.

The ecosystem to allow customers to take advantage of the certified BlackBerry smartphones for NFC payments is already growing. France Telecom - Orange believes that mobile NFC has the potential to enable a new revolution in mobile by further connecting people's mobile digital world with the physical world around them. France Telecom - Orange is the first operator worldwide to have commercial NFC launches in two countries, UK and France, with trials in several European markets.

"We are happy to offer the BlackBerry Bold 9900 and BlackBerry Curve 9360 as part of the Orange range of mobile NFC devices. We are committed to actively marketing NFC devices, and these new smartphones will help accelerate the adoption of mobile NFC services secured by an Orange SIM, including mobile payments," said Vincent Barnaud, Director of Contactless Services at France Telecom - Orange. "We have a strong partnership with RIM, and look forward to working together on more NFC initiatives in the future."

Andrew Bocking, Vice President, Handheld Software Product Management at RIM said, "NFC technology is making smartphones even smarter and the MasterCard certification is a significant step forward in helping transform the way we use mobile devices for payments. We are working proactively with our carrier partners, banks, retailers and other industry players and we are excited to push the boundaries of how NFC can enable new mobile experiences for BlackBerry smartphone users around the world."

"MasterCard is proud to be the first to certify these popular BlackBerry smartphones for mobile payments, and offer consumers another simple, easy, safe and convenient way to pay. In card payments, MasterCard has long been a leader in the testing and certification of products - for the benefit of customers, issuers, merchants and acquirers. We are delighted to extend this leadership role into the mobile payments arena and applaud RIM's efforts to usher in the next phase of NFC adoption by delivering compliant devices to the market," said Mung Ki Woo, Group Executive, Mobile at MasterCard Worldwide. "The availability of NFC on popular BlackBerry smartphones is an important milestone for the mobile contactless payments business."

Topics: NFC BlackBerry Bold 9900 BlackBerry Curve 9360 PayPass News & Rumors

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Adam Zeis Adam Zeis 3031 (articles) 2790 (forum posts)
43 comments

mohawk apple

Great news

ianbordas

Sweet... except all my cards are VISA.. :/

Ian
Torch 9800 & PlayBook 64GB Wifi

sk8er_tor

Hopefully Visa Pay Wave will be soon!

TechieAttorney

This cpability already exists, albeit in an always on form and without the phone. Mastercard makes a little sticker that just happens to fit perfectly behind your battery door, even on my 9900.

https://www.citibank.com/us/cards/svc/cbna/content/jump-page/pymnt_tagswf/

Tsudeily

Is it safe to assume that the 9930 has been accepted as well?

ellioti

i thought the 9930 wasn't SIM-based?

MattBerry08

CDMA but world phone with a SIM card slot.

JayBlack40

Is this available for CDMA devices as well? Just checking cuz I'm on Verizon

dwaiss

my sprint 9930 has a sim card. I'm hoping this is available, or else why do I have a top of the line phone if it can't do top of the line things? We're already limited on apps, which is slowly coming around, but I'm not blown away at all.

bigbob417

I wonder if there will be a transaction ceiling, or will you be able to buy big-ticket items with your phone, too.

barrist

For my paypass MC, anything over $50 i have to give my signature.. not sure how much security that adds tbh.

123berryaddicted

I believe the limit is $50 for paypass - set by MC

JayBlack40

Is this available for CDMA devices as well?

q649

Rim+First... seems like a deviation from their reputation as of late.

Makes me wonder if I should be moving from Visa->Mastercard

bankersbanter

This now means I can pay for my Timmy's with my Blackberry... If only my drivers ID could be put on my phone I'd never need a wallet again...

mgm1979

a TRUE e-Wallet...bring it!

guerllamo7

I am so ready to dump my credit cards (meaning leave them at home in the safe) and use my phone.

Go BlackBerry.

I would love it if we could use it for our DL and maybe Insurance card at some point.

blackmoe

You really want to hand your phone over to the cop that pulls you over?

Jake Storm

Why not?
Nothing on my phone that I don't want the cops to see.

johnmarki

While this is good news, and certification is a huge step, I feel RIM needs to create their own NFC App similar to Google Wallet, and bring some banks /stores on board. I just dont have much faith in these banks and stores making an app for BlackBerry.

bankersbanter

I have faith, every executive team is lined with Blackberries, have RIM servers and is always looking for new ways to reach their customer base.

scalemaster34

Then why do so many organizations have apps for iOS and Android, but not BBOS???

tranceboy_johny

Great news !! Something that i have been looking forward to from quite a while now. But what about 9930 ? Does Crackberry have any news on that ?

bananagrams

Now the question is how soon can we expect to see implementation!?
I'm a exclusive Mastercard user and would love just pulling out my phone for paypass whenever possible!

kazn3r

so where can we download something to input our card? i think my PNCBank debit card is paypass, but a visa...ugh...

advil_yum

so when can I start using this? 6 months from now?

RealDeal83

Heck no, they haven't given an official release date. Once they do, add 6 months to that date and you might be close.

Liquid_Revolver

+ 10

I say about 2yrs from now

martinjdub

This shouldn't B allow in the US, Greese, Ireland and Italy...giving those guys more ways to spend money is just bad for biz!
Besides that point, innovative :)

TomCanuck

Excuse me? Wait much longer to put it to good use? I've been putting NFC to good use for a long time now.
http://crackberry.com/nfclauncher-first-nfc-app-blackberry-lets-you-laun...

*Edit* oh right, can't post links. Well look up NFCLauncher. Adam did a minor post about it. Lots more in for forums

ab0rt

I'm sorry but this means nothing. RIM needs to concentrate on the much more important things like hmmm, bringing out PlayBook OS 2.0! (They just pushed that off until Feb 2012.) Or encouraging developers to actually develop apps for their platforms and make them relevant. Good thing they're bringing out certification to be approved for NFC...that's really what's going to keep people on your platform RIM!

(I say this as a longtime - and current - BlackBerry user who also does own a PlayBook)

RealDeal83

Too bad the paypass readers never work.

JtotheV

As a PayPass virgin, I am curious to know, is there a fee associated with using the service? (from MC I mean)

sofakingcdn

I don't believe so from what I remember when I had one. I had one when it first came out thought

P-unit

Awesome, NFC is a great technology. Glad its finally getting leveraged.

El Platanero

I'm curious if this is also for the 9930. Not that it matters since I have visa, ha.

Keep the positive things coming to bridge the gap from now to Febuary.

Tom_Storm

Seriously...maybe this will work better. Awesome.

w0qj

1. If RIM/Blackberry can get a similar deal with Visa payWave it would be brilliant, able to pay on a global basis!

2. Even better yet, it would be brilliant if RIM/BlackBerry can enable local transport (usually Underground Trains) NFC payment.

eg: Oyster for UK, Octopus for Hong Kong, etc. etc.

THIS alone would entice folks into buying into buying/using BlackBerry smartphones again.

As for us, our BlackBerry pride would go waaaaayy up!!

randymc2641

From what I remember reading, Oyster Card was actually not NFC, it was a different technology. The NFC was like .02 seconds slower processing, and they said that would cause major problems.

BBPandy

Sweet... except all my cards are VISA.. :/