Spain sees a new competitor emerge in the NFC industry

Orange Spain has announced that it is releasing an updated version of their Orange Cash payment service, which will now allow its customers to make contactless payments throughout Spain.

The updated payments system has been created in association with Visa Europe and German electronic payment provider Wire Card. The German firm have played a large part in getting the near-field communication (NFC) system off the ground.

The company has taken charge of the design, implementation and processing of financial processes, including the Visa Europe virtual cards that can be provided to all Orange Cash users.

‘‘In 2014, Orange launched a previous version of Orange Cash with different technological partners, schemes and functionalities for the end user. The new version of the service includes key enhancements for the end user including mobile payments and secure online payments,’’ said a spokesman for Orange Cash in a recent interview.

This is not the first time that Orange has attempted to release a NFC system within Spain. In 2013, Orange partnered with Vodafone attempting to allow customers to make online payments using a prepaid account.

‘‘Thanks to the new Orange Cash service, Orange customers can pay with their smartphones at every point of sale accepting Visa contactless, [with] more than 530,000 in Spain and 2.4 million in Europe,’’ the spokesman continued.

Orange Cash is now accepted in 45 per cent of establishments in Spain, including all major supermarkets and restaurant chains such as El Corte Ingles, Carrefour, Mercadona, Telepizza and McDonalds.

‘‘In addition, users can perform online payments securely through virtual cards generated automatically by the app, with virtual numbering valid for just 24 hours. Thus, the user avoids introducing the real data of his credit or debit card. The virtual card will be cancelled after those 24 hours,’’ explained the provider.

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