Visa Europe and RBS bring mobile contactless payments to UK Apple iPhone users

TouchPay service launches for first 1,000 RBS and NatWest customers with Apple iPhone 4 and 4S models

London, 2 October 2012 - Working with Visa Europe, RBS and NatWest today launched TouchPay, a mobile contactless payments service for Apple iPhone 4 and 4S models powered by an NFC-enabled (Near Field communications) protective cover accessory. Initially available to the first 1,000 customers who registered to experience the speed and convenience of mobile payments, TouchPay will be made available to all RBS and NatWest customers who have Apple iPhones in the near future.

Interest in participating in the trial program has already been incredibly high, with more than 9,000 RBS customers registering to participate over a period of three days.

Ben Green, Head of Mobile at RBS, comments: “TouchPay has proven incredibly popular and shows that our customers want more flexible and convenient ways to pay. Delivered alongside our updated mobile apps, the TouchPay service means that our customers need only carry their smartphone with them to make payments and manage their finances wherever they are.”

To use the service, customers simply attach the cover to their Apple iPhone 4 or iPhone 4s and follow the on-screen instructions to download the TouchPay app from the Apple App Store. Once the activation process is complete, users can use their smartphone for transactions of £20 or less at mobile contactless-enabled retail outlets without entering their PIN and can also track their spending through the TouchPay application.

Sandra Alzetta, Senior Vice President and Head of Mobile at Visa Europe, says: “A key industry challenge in bringing mobile contactless payments to consumers is finding ways to enable existing smartphones that do not offer NFC technology. Services like TouchPay show how NFC-enabled accessories for smartphones can deliver the future of payments today and help hasten mainstream adoption.”

iCarte, the NFC-enabled cover used for the TouchPay service, was developed by Wireless Dynamics, Inc., a Visa Europe technology partner.

About Visa Europe

In Europe, there are 445 million Visa debit, credit and commercial cards. In the 12 months ending September 2011 those cards were used to make purchases and cash withdrawals to the value of €1.7 trillion. 14% of consumer spending at point of sale in Europe is with a Visa card, and almost 80% of that is on Visa debit cards.

Visa Europe is owned and operated by more than 3,700 European members and was incorporated in July 2004. Visa Europe is independent of global Visa Inc., with an exclusive, irrevocable and perpetual licence in Europe, while both companies operate to ensure global interoperability. As a dedicated European payment system Visa Europe is able to respond quickly to the specific market needs of European banks and their customers - cardholders and retailers - and to meet the European Commission's objective to create a true internal market for payments.

Visa enjoys unsurpassed acceptance around the world. In addition, Visa/PLUS is one of the world's largest global ATM networks, offering cash access in local currency in over 200 countries.

For more information, visit http://www.visaeurope.com/