A limited-edition Samsung Galaxy S III will come preloaded with Visa’s contactless payment app, Visa payWave, and will be made available to athletes and selected partners during the Olympic Games.
Visa and Samsung announced the collaboration, which will allow authorized users to make quick, contactless payments at thousands of retail locations across London.
For security, transactions over £20 will require the user to enter a passcode.
The initiative uses near field communication (NFC) technology, enabling devices to communicate when they are close together. Industry research has forecast rapid adoption of NFC-enabled devices in the coming years, driven by the growing capabilities of smartphones.
Although NFC standards have existed since the early 2000s, it is the widespread availability of modern smartphones that has unlocked the technology’s consumer potential.
Samsung and Visa expect the Olympic Games to be an ideal platform to promote instant mobile payments and demonstrate how contactless transactions can become part of everyday life.
DJ Lee, executive vice president of Samsung’s Mobile Communications Business, said the Galaxy S III is well suited to showcase the convenience of Visa’s mobile payment solution at the London 2012 Olympic Games.
Sandra Alzetta, senior vice president of mobile at Visa Europe, said the move will “fundamentally change the way we pay,” noting that mobile devices are becoming central to how people manage money, shop and complete payments, and that cash usage is likely to decline as mobile payments grow.
Samsung unveiled the Galaxy S III at Earls Court in London, highlighting an ergonomic design and software features that aim to recognise voice and user intent.
The Galaxy S III is equipped with a 4.8-inch HD display, runs the Android operating system, and includes an 8-megapixel camera, combining handset performance with contactless payment capability to showcase mobile transactions at scale.