AirPlus International and Deutsche Telekom this month began
piloting contactless payment on mobile devices enabled by near-field
communications. First reported by NFC World and confirmed by both companies,
the MyWallet program currently is available to Deutsche Telekom employees in
Bonn, Frankfurt and Hamburg, and will be rolled out in Germany to mutual clients
of AirPlus and Deutsche Telekom "in a few weeks," according to a
Deutsche Telekom spokesperson.
To use the service, clients' travelers download the MyWallet
application, currently available only for Samsung Android phones, and add their
corporate credit card. An AirPlus official in Germany said the company intends
to also offer the app on iPhone, BlackBerry and Windows devices.
MyWallet users can pay for business travel expenses wherever
MasterCard PayPass technology is accepted by waving their smartphones in front
of a card reader. MyWallet would include all corporate negotiated rates
associated with the user's account. "We don't limit the spend as long as
it's T&E and the [point of sale] has the technical infrastructure, meaning
NFC terminals," the AirPlus spokesperson said.
Users can add multiple credit or debit cards and loyalty
cards, and store tickets for travel, and cultural and sports events. MyWallet also could be used in some cases to
unlock rental cars and for keyless entry to buildings.
Clients also can add their mobile AIDA virtual card numbers.
The AirPlus official said the company plans to officially launch in about a
week its mobile AIDA solution, which it has been piloting since April in
Germany and the United Kingdom.