BlackBerry BoldTM 9900 and BlackBerry CurveTM 9360 are the first SIM-based near field communication (NFC) smartphones to be certified by MasterCard Worldwide as PayPass-approved devices.
Research In Motion, the manufacturer of BlackBerry says its devices gained approval from MasterCard as they fulfil ‘functionality, interoperability and security requirements’.
B2B brands will be able to utilise the short-range wireless technology at sales events where users can make purchases by swiping the device near an NFC reader. Any MasterCard PayPass-issuing bank globally will be able to deploy PayPass-enabled accounts to the SIM card of these smartphones.
Mung Ki Woo, group executive, mobile at MasterCard Worldwide, commented, “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.
“The availability of NFC on popular BlackBerry smartphones is an important milestone for the mobile contactless payments business.”
