Although the company has yet to announce which Android handsets will be compatible, only the latest models include the required ‘near-field communications’ technology.
‘Quick tap’ is a system that allows transactions of up to £15 each to take place simply by waving a phone near a reader, which can also be used for contactless credit cards. The maximum amount will rise to £20 in June, and more than 15 million such contactless cards are already in circulation in the UK. Retailers including Subway, McDonalds and Prêt a Manger are amond the 70,000 outlets that accept the technology. Data about their use, however, is not public. By 2013 there is expected to be over 130,000 places across the UK where people can make contactless payments as the technology extends into brands such as Tesco, Waitrose, Boots and Co-Op.
Other similar applications, such as Barclays' PingIt, link bank accounts directly to handsets, and are expected to also drive the adoption of 'mobile banking'.
The Orange system links a user’s handset to their ‘Quick Tap’ account, which can be loaded with up to £100 in one go and can stroe up to £150 in total. Last month, researchers raised concerns about the security of the contactless technology, but Barclaycard stresses that all transactions are covered by their fraud protection guarantee.
Via a new part of Quick Tap called ‘Open Load’, credit or debit card holders from any bank will be able to use the service.
Jason Rees, Director of Mobile Payments and Ticketing for Orange UK, said Quick Tap bringing Quick Tap to Android, the UK’s fastest growing mobile operating system, would make it far more popular than it is today, when it is available only on the Samsung Tocco and Samsung Wave 578 handsets. “When combined with the ability to use it with credit or debit cards from all the major UK banks, then even more people will be able to experience the simplicity and convenience of shopping with their phone,” he said.
The first Quick Tap compatible payments handset which uses the popular Android operating system will be announced in the forthcoming weeks, Orange said.
YouGov research, commissioned by digital payments provider Intelligent Environments, claims 42 per cent of smartphone users want to use their phones as mobile wallets. Owners of the Apple iPhone are keenest, but significant proportions of BlackBerry and Google phone users want to take advantage of it too.
