MasterCard and ANZ First to Launch PayPass Trial

MasterCard and ANZ First to Launch PayPass Mobile Contactless Payment Technology Trial in New Zealand

Auckland, New Zealand, 13 June 2011: MasterCard Worldwide and ANZ today announced their plans to conduct a trial enabling retail payments with a mobile phone. Utilising near field communication (NFC) contactless payment technology, this will be the first time this technology will be available for trial in New Zealand. The trial, which launched today, will see a select trial group of ANZ staff issued with either a contactless sticker or a memory card enabled with MasterCard’s contactless technology, PayPass.

The PayPass sticker can be attached to any phone type, while the microSD memory card will be inserted into Blackberry devices. This technology will allow participants to use their mobile phone to make purchases of up to NZ$80 by simply tapping the device in front any MasterCard PayPass terminal.

In addition to the 311,000 merchant locations already accepting PayPass throughout the world, ANZ will have MasterCard PayPass enabled terminals available at major merchant locations from July which includes Hell Pizza, St Pierre’s Sushi and Corporate Cabs. More merchants are expected to be announced over the coming months. These retailers will join Westpac Stadium and Eden Park, which were the first retail locations to introduce the technology in New Zealand.

Through the use of NFC technology, payment will be transmitted wirelessly and securely to the MasterCard PayPass terminal, providing the users with the convenience of being able to pay with their mobile phones, without needing to take out their wallets. MasterCard’s New Zealand Country Manager Albert Naffah said MasterCard were delighted to be collaborating with ANZ for this trial, and looked forward to rolling out the technology more broadly later this year.

“ANZ has a banking relationship with almost one-in-two kiwis, so they were a natural partner to trial this technology. Both MasterCard and ANZ are committed to helping drive innovation in the banking sector. Rolling out NFC technology will help us provide a new safe, secure and convenient payment option for customers,” said Mr Naffah.

“The future of payments is undeniably linked to the mobile phone. We’ve already seen the success of mobile phone payment technology overseas, and now we want to give New MasterCard New Zealand MasterCard and ANZ announce contactless mobile phone trial Zealanders the ability to experience this innovation that will add value and convenience to their daily lives.”

Kerri Thompson, ANZ New Zealand’s Managing Director, Retail, added that ANZ was thrilled to be the first New Zealand Bank to trial the technology. “ANZ has been deploying contactless technology into New Zealand for some time, with more than 10,000 PayPass enabled cards already issued to ANZ customers in New Zealand.

“We know that our customers want convenience, and this trial will introduce technology that will make consumers lives even easier.”

The NFC trial complements MasterCard’s Roadmap, a five-year plan designed to grow and reinforce the integrity of the payments system in New Zealand. It enforces a key commitment to merchants, cardholders and customer banks to facilitate the acceptance of payments in a quicker, safer and more efficient way.

“Contactless payments is set to be the future of payment systems,” Mr Naffah said. “It’s quicker and more convenient, and we believe it will be adopted by a large number of New Zealand retailers over the next few years.”

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