Nokia, Cingular, Citibank and MasterCard have announced their mobile banking service trial will launch in New York City next year and last 3 to six months, according to the service's website. Interestingly, the service is not just for contactless payments via near-field communications, as previously reported, but also includes downloading entertainment content via smart posters displayed around the city. The mobile payments service works via PayPass. You can expect the television news to be on top of this trial calling out the opportunity for thieves to use readers to duplicate the PayPass information and steal from the user. The companies have a whole page on safety concerns here. If you are a Cingular subscriber, a Citi credit or Citibank Debit MasterCard with PayPass user and live in New York, sign up here.
For more details on the trial:
- take a look at the NYC Mobile Trial's homepage