O2 has teamed up with Nokia to embed the Oyster swipe card used by London commuters into a mobile phone with a trial set to start next year.
The mobile phones will include a built-in RFID chip that allows users to pay for train tickets by swiping the handset over the Oyster card reader. The cost of the ticket would either be deducted from a top-up account linked to the phone, similar to pay-as-you-go mobile phone services, or be added to the customer"s monthly phone bill.
The Oyster card scheme has already been enlarged to include credit card functionality that enables small purchases in selected shops and Barclays is also working with Nokia and O2 to enable mobile phones to be used for the same purpose by integrating the swipe card functionality into the phones.