A five-month pilot project in which near field communication
(NFC) equipped Nokia 6131 mobile phones were used as a
multi-payment service incorporating credit card and transport
payments has been hailed as a resounding success by trial
participants and its technical backers, led by Malaysian mobile
service provider Maxis Communications.

“Maxis and our partners pushed the global boundaries in mobile
payment even further by achieving a world’s first in combining
credit card and transport payment functions into an integrated
application during these trials,” said Maxis COO Jon Eddy
Abdullah.

The pilot project, in which 100 people took part, was conducted
in Malaysia and measured the technical capabilities of NFC-enabled
payment methods and the user acceptance of the service. The project
brought together Maxis, Malaysian bank Maybank, Visa International,
mobile phone manufacturer Nokia, Touch ‘n Go (the electronic toll
collection operator on all Malaysian highways), and RapidKL, a bus
and rail public transport company.

Trial participants were able to use the Nokia 6131 for payments
at merchants with Visa payWave contactless readers and at more than
3,000 Touch ‘n Go and RapidKL terminals nationwide. According to
Maxis, the responses from trial participants were “very positive”,
especially with the convenience, ease of use and speed of using NFC
at payment terminals.