O2 completed a trial of near field communications (NFC) technology, and reported that 78% of participants would use contactless services if they were available.
A report from Total Telecom also quoted the operator saying that nine out of ten people said they were happy using NFC technology on a mobile phone, with convenience, ease-of-use, and the status of owning an NFC-equipped device identified as key selling points.
The six-month scheme was carried out across London, and involved 500 existing O2 customers being given a Nokia NFC-enabled 6131 with O2's Wallet application preinstalled, the report said.
The application allowed the participants to integrate their credit cards and Oyster cards,contactless payment cards for use on London's public transport network, on the mobile handset to make cashless payments.
O2 said that over the course of the trial, 50,000 London underground journeys were paid for using O2 Wallet.