Visa Europe is trialling the 02 Wallet in the UK to examine the use of mobile phones to make purchases, access events or be used as Oyster cards for travel around London - simply by touching the phone to a reader.

The six-month trial - which involves more than 500 people from the 02 customer base - takes place across selected sites in London until the end of May 2008 to see which services and functions consumers would like from their phones.

During phase one of the trial, 225 people will be given a Barclaycard Visa pre-paid card loaded on their handset, enabling them to use it to make cashless payments for less than £10 at retail outlets in London that currently accept Visa payWave contactless transactions. During phase two, from February, possible developments include PIN capability, purchases for more than £10 and reloadable/credit funds capability.

The announcement comes after Visa Europe showcased a range of innovative payment solutions at an exhibition in Paris last month.

Apart from the mobile phone payment technology, other highlights included Visa payWave, which eliminates the need for the card to come into physical contact with the merchant terminal; and multi-application cards, which combine features like debit plus credit.

[http://www.visaeurope.com]

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