Germany's Volkswagen Bank and Visa Europe are handing out plastic NFC-enabled iPhone cases to 500 customers for a contactless mobile payments trial.
Beginning this month, pilot participants with iPhone 4s and 5s will get iCarte cases built by Wireless Dynamics that contain NFC antennas. Volkswagen says that Android payments will follow next year.
In conjunction with an app, the case will enable users to make low-value payments at the point-of-sale by tapping their handset against contactless readers. Customers can choose in the app whether they want to authenticate all payments with passcodes or only amounts higher than 25 euros.
Ottmar Bloching, GM, Visa Europe, Germany, says: "The future of payment is contactless and mobile. Smartphones are becoming more and more popular and will naturally be used as payment instruments."