Barclays announced that it will launch its own contactless payment app for Android users in the UK.
Contactless Mobile, which rolls out in June, detects whether a customer's Android device supports NFC and has Barclays credit or debit cards associated with it, according to Engadget.
"Giving customers the choice about how to make everyday payments while making it really easy for people to use our services is why we've designed this new contactless payment functionality which will sit at the heart of our already popular mobile banking app," Ashok Vaswani, CEO of Barclays UK, said in a statement.
Eligible customers can then make payments of up to 30 pounds by waving or tapping their smartphone against a retailer terminal without opening the app, entering a PIN or scanning a fingerprint. However, for purchases of up to 100 pounds, customers do need to type in their PIN number.
The service will work at 400,000 contactless locations in the UK, including London's transport network, TfL, CNET reported.
"It's all there, in one place, ready to go with no need to enter card details, delivering a brilliant experience in an instant," Vaswani said.
"Barclays Contactless Mobile is the latest in a series of digital innovations we have launched that allow customers to 'Pay it your way!' — carrying out day to day transactions in the ways that suit them and we hope that it will help customers become more confident using digital solutions and new technologies," he added.
The past few years have seen the rapid rise of contactless card payments, with increasing numbers of contactless cards in wallets and even more contactless terminals in shops and restaurants, according to the Guardian. Financial services company like Visa state that three billion contactless transactions have been made throughout Europe in the last year, three times as many as the previous year.
More and more consumers are upgrading to devices that have the necessary near-field communication technology.
Contactless Mobile's rollout will be "phased over a number of days" when it is released in June, Barclays said. The company will let customers know as soon as the app is available for download.
