"Thousands" of Vodafone UK staff are currently pilot testing the mobile network operator's Vodafone SmartPass mobile payments service at the carrier's campus in Newbury, Berkshire.

"This trial builds on the partnership we signed with Visa in 2012," Vodafone has told NFC World. "The objectives of the trial are to test customer behaviours and to build advocacy within our own employees for m-payment services."

"There has been a lot of talk about m-commerce over the years, but it's only recently that it has started to become reality. We see this as entering this space at the right time, both for us and our customers. We're learning a huge amount about m-commerce behaviours at the moment and we have some exciting plans for the future."

"The objectives of the trial are to test customer behaviours and to build advocacy within our own employees for m-payment services."

Vodafone Australia has been testing SmartPass since last November. A version of the service has also been on trial in Italy since October 2012.

The worldwide partnership deal between Vodafone and Visa, signed in 2012, is designed to enable the carrier's subscribers around the world to pay for goods and services using their mobile phones instead of coins and banknotes and is expected to use NFC in developed countries.