Handset makers have already developed a breathtaking array of services for their latest phones -- from TV news, weather forecasts, music videos and video phone call capability.
Now, mobile phones will soon double as payment tools, too, thanks to the nation's "near field communication" (NFC) consortium, which will make the M-Taiwan (mobile-Taiwan) dream come true less than a year after it was established in November.
At a press conference yesterday, the consortium announced that 100 specially-designed handsets from BenQ Corp (
Forty of the 100 phones, worth around NT$5,000 each, will be distributed free of charge to interested individuals for trial use, according to a statement by the Taipei Smart Card Corp (
The phones will feature smart chips compatible with the EasyCard system used in Taipei's mass rapid transit (MRT) system.
The chips will allow users to make payments at 1,800 sensor devices in buses, MRT stations and public parking lots throughout the city.
The next stage will seek cooperation with mobile service providers to integrate chips with Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) cards in handsets, in order to permit banking functions such as adding value, checking one's balance and even using a handset as a debit or credit card.
"This kind of chip will be developed and manufactured by the end of the year to prepare for commercial launch early next year," said Shih Mu-piao (石木標), spokesman for the state-run Chunghwa Telecom Co (中華電信), a member of the 12-partner consortium.
This means that as long as consumers get the new chips combined with an electronic wallet, they can use any handsets which support the NFC technology -- be it 2G or 3G -- to make payments, he said.
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