Orange and Barclaycard launch co-branded contactless credit card

Orange and Barclaycard have unveiled a co-branded credit card offering a wireless payment system using Near Field Communications (NFC).

The card is the first fruit of the two firms' collaboration on contactless payment systems first announced last year.

Visually the only hint of any difference from an ordinary credit card is the wireless signal logo printed on the front, though with all new Barclaycards already featuring NFC technology anyway, wireless payment for small-price items is already a reality.

The key to the Orange Credit Card's appeal, however, lies more in the collaborative services it offers thanks to the meeting of its makers.

Any payment made using the card automatically trigger's an SMS notification to the user's mobile phone. In addition, your monthly credit card bill, along with weekly balance and credit limit details, will come courtesy of Orange, and international card roaming and blocking can be set up via text message.

As with other wireless payment cards, users can make fast wireless payments of any items under 10 in retailers with the supporting technology.

Orange and Barclaycard first announced their intention to team up on contactless payment technology in March last year.

At the time, the pair said the primary goal was to work on a mobile phone-based payment system utilising NFC, with Barclaycard chief executive Antony Jenkins predicting at the time that phone-based payment systems would be the norm "within three years."

For now, the co-branded credit card will have to do, but Orange vice-president Marc Overton claims it is nonetheless "exciting step in the journey to the future world of consumers paying for everyday goods on their mobile phone".