UK network Orange is determined to be the one to break through with contactless payments using smartphones in the UK, and has now added the hugely popular Samsung Galaxy SIII to its armoury.
The S3 will feature Orange and Barclaycard’s Quick Tap service, which utilises a chip inside the phone to make digital payments by tapping it on a terminal in various shops. The Galaxy SIII has an NFC (Near Field Communications) chip built in, which interacts with the payment terminals in store to authorise a payment.
Many will be sceptical of making a payment using a smartphone, with no pin code or signature required, and Orange has acknowledged this with a generous £50 of free money to try it out with. All you need to do is download the free Quick Tap app from the Play Store and start using it. Additional credit can be topped up via the app using a credit or debit card, so you’ll only ever be spending from the set amount that you add on.
Just like the Barclaycard PayBand for this year’s Wireless festival, the amount you can spend per transaction is limited to £20 as a security measure. You can also only top up to a maximum of £150, so your entire bank account can’t be emptied, should your phone end up in the wrong hands.
Orange customers who either sign up or upgrade to the Galaxy S3 with Quick Tap will be able to make quick and easy wireless payments in select stores including McDonalds, Pret a Manger, Eat, Subway, M&S, Little Chef, and even the M6 toll bridge – surely the queues would be cut in half if everybody could simply tap their phone and cruise through rather than fishing around in their pockets for coins!
Orange will be offering the Galaxy SIII with Quick Tap online and in stores as of September 5th, for both new and upgrading customers. Do you fancy joining the cashless revolution, or do you feel safer with physical money?
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