Middle Eastern consumer finance outfit Dubai First and local telco du are teaming to launch the UAE's first contactless mobile payments pilot ahead of a commercial roll out later in the year.
The six month trial will involve around 250 Dubai First Platinum MasterCard customers in the Jumeirah Beach Residence area.
Trial participants will be able to download their credit card functionality to specially equipped mobile phones over du's network before using the handsets to make contactless purchases at retailers with MasterCard PayPass enabled terminals.
Ibrahim Al Ansari, CEO, Dubai First, says: "The launch of the NFC payment programme is a landmark in our efforts to bring innovation to credit card customers in the UAE. The programme will help us evaluate how customers use this new technology. We believe that mobile payments will play a major role in the future of credit cards."