NFC World is reporting that London's metropolitan transportation authority, Transport for London (TfL), has confirmed it is deploying contactless readers throughout the system to allow NFC-enabled phone users to "swipe and go" by next year.

"We are now in a position to say that if people come along with a contactless credit or debit card application on their mobile, we can accept it as an NFC payment in 2012," Brian Dobson, manager of technology and systems for TfL's Future Ticketing Project, told NFC World.

According to the NFC World article, transaction speeds have been a concern for TfL in order to keep congestion down. At this point, it is unknown whether NFC-enabled phones will meet the system's strict guidelines for transaction speeds; however, the TfL is moving ahead based on assurances from NFC proponents that the phones will meet the requirement.

The article says deployment of the new readers began last month on London's 8,000 buses. TfL will begin replacing 20,000 readers across the London Underground once the bus deployment is completed.

London is a hotbed for mobile payment activity. Earlier this year, Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd and Visa Inc. announced their partnership to bring NFC to venues of the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic games. Also, Vodafone Group Plc recently introduced a system allowing customers riding in London taxi cabs to pay their fares using their cell phones using SMS text messaging.