FIME, a provider of consulting services, certification and tools, has announced it is ready to accommodate additional market demand for contactless payment testing and certification services, according to a press release.

The company highlights that the entire contactless payment infrastructure will expand as a result of Apple's inclusion of NFC capabilities as part of the iPhone 6. This includes the terminal point-of-sale acceptance infrastructure as well as mobile devices and applications.

FIME NFC and Payment Vendors Business Line Manager Stéphanie El Rhomri said in the announcement, "Apple is great at showcasing the functionality of its offering and explaining to its user community how they will directly benefit. This level of hype around NFC, and the ability to make contactless payments using a mobile handset, will provide a significant boost to the NFC ecosystem."

While Apple's NFC capabilities were focused on the U.S. marketplace, the contactless payment infrastructure is growing globally. Many terminal vendors already have contactless payment-enabled POS devices deployed across a range of merchants, predominately accepting contactless payment cards, according to the announcement.

"Apple is the latest handset manufacturer to offer customers NFC capabilities," El Rhomri said. "Its endorsement of the technology will see many new, innovative players looking to enter this market. This will encourage the evolution of many pioneering solutions, yet it is important to highlight that Apple Pay is operating within the payments community and certain standards, such as EMV and tokenization, technologies where FIME is highly expert."