MasterCard has unveiled a pilot project in Poland that enables merchants to use only an NFC-enabled smartphone to accept contactless payments, according to a press release. 

MasterCard is working with Elavon, Polskie ePłatności and Mobeewave on the project. Mobeewave earlier partnered with Connect&GO to introduce an Android mobile app that enables merchants to accept a contactless payment.

MasterCard expects to start the pilot this fall and and have it run until summer of 2018. The first stage will involve 200 small and micro businesses from all over Poland, with the number expected to grow to 500.

In the pilot phase, the limit for each transaction accepted by a mobile device will be PLN 50 (US$14), which is the contactless payment limit in Poland without the need to enter a PIN.

The pilot is aimed at small and micro merchants that have traditionally taken cash payments.

"MasterCard is committed to enable every connected device to accept payments – and I am delighted that Poland is the first country where this latest innovation in payment technologies is being tested," Bartosz Ciołkowski, country manager of Poland for MasterCard, said in the release. "Poles have proven many times that they are open to innovations in trade and finance, and Poland needs such solutions on its way to become a cash-lite economy."