The new program will allow merchants to accept transactions through smartphones in store.
It has just been announced that Iceland will be taking its first steps into the mobile payments world, as the Valitor card issuer has entered into a partnership with the Point electronic transaction solutions provider, for a software that will let merchants accept transactions through contactless Visa cards and smartphones through PayWave.
This will make it possible for consumers to leave their wallets at home and use smartphones to check out.
This new mobile payments option in Iceland will be using the contactless standard established by PayWave from Visa. The software represents the first time that consumers in Iceland will be able to use their smartphones for making purchases in store instead of using regular credit cards. The technology will receive VISA Europe certification, and has already been approved under the PayWave standards, said Valitor.
It is believed that this is a meaningful move ahead for Iceland mobile payments.
According to Sigurhans Vignir, the executive director for corporate solutions at Valitor, “This is a major step towards establishing contactless payments in Iceland.” He also went on to say that “With this development in place, we can prepare merchants with a pilot phase where Valitor will initiate contactless card and smartphone payments in cooperation with all card issuers in the country, as well as with two of the country’s largest network providers Siminn and Vodafone.”
Valitor has said that the mobile payments software is still in its testing phase. It is currently undergoing trials but will become available through Point using VeriFone point of sale terminals.
This may be the first time that the technology has entered into Iceland, but mobile payments are slowly but surely beginning to make their mark in countries all over the world. Consumer adoption does remain limited, so far, but at the same time, many hurdles that have held it back are being overcome.
This has allowed a growing number of consumers to become aware of the mobile payments services that are available to them and to test them out for the first time. As steps such as the latest in Iceland are taken, more opportunities to try the transactions are opening up for consumers.
