HEADLINE NEWS
Qatar: Bank and Telco Trial PayPass, with Plans for Expansion
Trial participants can tap to pay with a MasterCard PayPass application issued by Qatar National Bank that is preloaded on Qtel SIM cards and inserted into either of two BlackBerry models. If users don’t have the models, the BlackBerry 9900 or 9790, they could be issued passive contactless stickers storing PayPass. The stickers, which do not communicate directly with the handset, would be attached to the back of other phone models. The payment application is a prepaid account funded by a Qatar National Bank credit card account. Users can make payments of QR100 (US$27.46) or less by tapping alone. For higher amounts, they have to also enter a PIN code on point-of-sale terminal PIN pads.
The project is a trial, with the parties taking a “phased approach” to expanding it, according to MasterCard. There are still few point-of-sale terminals that support PayPass in the small Persian Gulf state, but Qatar National Bank has pledged to provide terminals in the country as part of the phased rollout. The targeted merchant locations will be cinemas and coffee shops food corners within large malls.
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