ASB is to trial a mobile wallet in partnership with Visa called ASB PayTag.
ASB PayTag will work on both NFC (Near Field Communication) enabled smartphones, and non-NFC enabled mobile phones, ASB says. However, it will have to be used via NFC enabled payment terminals.
The bank says ASB PayTag is a Visa Paywave sticker containing an ASB contactless chip. As with contactless credit and debit cards, users don’t need a PIN number unless a payment being made is worth more than $80.
"With the sticker attached to any mobile phone, customers will be able to hold and pay in exactly the same way that the existing ASB Visa contactless (credit and debit) cards work, eliminating the need to carry a physical wallet," ASB says.
"The value of ASB PayTag is that it integrates seamlessly with ASB’s mobile banking app giving customers the ability to link the sticker to their preferred payment account. Customers have unprecedented levels of control, allowing them to self-select the account from which the payment is debited."
ASB is the latest financial institution to go public with a mobile wallet trial ahead of the expected "go live" of the Trusted Services Manager (TSM) project later this year. The TSM is effectively the common infrastructure to allow the secure provision of payment cards, loyalty cards and coupons to a consumer's NFC enabled smartphone.
BNZ, Visa and Vodafone said last September they were trialling a mobile wallet using NFC technology. In November finance company GE Capital and 2degrees announced their own mobile wallet trial. And Auckland Transport, Telecom and Westpac also ran a trial.
Russell Jones, ASB’s executive general manager for technology & innovation says an ASB PayTag pilot will launch in May, with a full commercial launch planned to follow in the third quarter of this calendar year.
"There’s no longer any need to carry a bulky wallet or even a physical credit card. The fact that ASB PayTag can be used with any mobile phone means that a wide range of customers can now turn their phone into a fully controllable, contactless payment device. It’s another example of the smartphone becoming the Swiss Army Knife of banking," says Jones.
"Planned improvements for ASB PayTag include the ability to turn the sticker on and off, putting control for enabling contactless payments in the hands of the customer," says Jones.
Below is ASB's explanation of how PayTag will work.
• Customers will need an ASB Visa debit card.
• Log in to ASB’s FastNet Classic internet banking, register for PayTag and nominate the card to make payments from.
• The ASB PayTag sticker will arrive unactivated in the post.
• Log-in to FastNet Classic or call the ASB Contact Centre to activate the pin for ASB PayTag.
• Place the ASB PayTag sticker on the outside of a mobile phone.
• Make payments by holding the ASB PayTag at NFC enabled payment terminals.
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