Credit cards get RFID makeover from MasterCard

MasterCard has taken the wraps off its latest RFID-enabled credit card.

The OneSMART PayPass card will use both Chip and PIN and RFID technology to enable contactless payments - used in the same way as the London Underground Oyster card.

The card is now ready for trialling at banks and shops, the company said. MasterCard is hoping the touch-and-pay system will take off in retailers where speed is of the essence - fast food restaurants or at motorway toll booths, for example.

A reader located on a retailer's till captures the card holder's details, with the card holder then approving the transaction in the same way they would with a Chip and PIN card, although for micro-payments - buying a 99p burger and the like - tapping in a PIN or signing a receipt can be skipped.

While RFID bank cards are a relative novelty in Europe, use is more commonplace in the US and Japan.

Some Mobil petrol stations and McDonalds in the US are now carrying RFID credit card readers.

MasterCard is also hoping to take contactless payments beyond the plastic and recently announced it's working with Motorola to create a handset that can be used to as a credit card.

The technology that will be used to power the system - RFID spin-off NFC (near field communications) - has also been tapped up by fellow handset maker Nokia, which has announced an NFC shell for one of its mobiles.

Nokia, however, foresees a future for NFC as a consumer nice-to-have, with applications including swapping business cards electronically between phones.