Research in Motion has announced that MasterCard Worldwide has certified two of its NFC-enabled BlackBerrys to run MasterCard’s PayPass payment application, and mobile operator France Telecom-Orange is interested in introducing the phones for NFC payment and other services.
RIM said the BlackBerry Bold 9900 and BlackBerry Curve 9360 are the first NFC-enabled smartphones that MasterCard has certified for PayPass running on SIM cards.
The certification helps clear the way for such mobile operators as Orange to introduce the phones for payment in such countries as the United Kingdom and France, where the telco has launched NFC services. Update: Etisalat, the United Arab Emirates’ largest telco, has also said it plans to introduce the Bold 9900 for PayPass-based NFC payments with an unnamed bank or banks this year. End update.