Hong Kong's Bank of East Asia is to introduce mobile contactless payments in the first quarter of 2014.
The BEA i-Pay device plugs into the earjack of any mobile phone to make payments with a single tap at a reader of any MasterCard PayPass merchant.
Earlier this month, Israeli vendor On Track Innovations (OTI) announced that a consortium of banks in Hong Kong, Taiwan and Macao had signed for its Wave device, which plugs into the audio-jacks of smartphones, enabling them to make NFC payments. The vendor did not name the participating banks at the time.
I-Pay is compatible with all Android/iOS phones, and all mobile networks. Customers can keep track of their spending using their mobile, with details of the latest 10 transactions available via the BEA App.
Hong Kong's Octopus Group, Citibank and Hang Seng Bank have each announced plans to introduce NFC mobile payments in the territory in recent months.
Vincent Hui, general manager and head of personal banking at bank of East Asia says: "BEA is the first bank in Hong Kong to provide a mobile payment service that does not restrict customers to a particular type of smartphone or network."
A series of interactive games will be launched on BEA's Facebook pages, BEA JOY and BEA Fun, to promote the service, with fans and selected cardholders given the chance to try the app ahead of the commercial launch.