MOBILE POS: Ingenico's ISMP terminal wraps around an iPhone 4/4S or a iPod Touch

Mobile network operator Telefonica is to test a mobile point-of-sale device in the Czech Republic that enables payments to be made by NFC phones and contactless cards as well as standard 'chip and pin' cards; a "world first" says the carrier.

The iSMP mobile payment terminal is made by Ingenico and is certified for contactless payments by both MasterCard and Visa. The pilot will begin in September, with transaction processing performed by CSOB.

"Payment by credit card requires that a user puts their credit card into the device, which is connected to a phone via Bluetooth technology," Telefonica, which operates the O2 network in the Czech Republic, told NFC World.

"If the cards are contactless, payments are made by putting the contactless card near the device. NFC phones can also be used to make a payment by putting the phone near the device."

"The Czech market has approximately 320,000 companies, for which this terminal type is appropriate," says Josef Puczok, business development manager for NFC and financial services at Telefonica. "Most of these companies use a service from O2, our traders have thus direct contact with potential buyers of this product."