In preparation for the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic games later this year, Visa Europe and Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. announced the launch date of the official mobile payments application today. The partners will be debu the app Feb. 27 – March 1 at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain.

The companies said the application is the first step toward realizing their partnership to bring NFC-enabled mobile payments to the London games.

"London 2012 is a unique opportunity to show the future of payments coming to life and leave a lasting legacy post-2012," said Sandra Alzetta, Visa Europe's head of innovation. "The new mobile payment application is central to this showcase." 

Alzetta said Visa Europe is working with a number of partners to put live mobile payment technology into consumer hands, including the recently announced certification of a number of major manufacturer handsets for NFC payments.

Visa and Samsung announced last year their intention to make mobile payments ubiquitous at the London Olympic and Paralympic games. The Olympic games run from July 27 to Aug. 12. The Paralympic games will take place Aug. 9 - Sept. 9.

The companies are hoping the event will introduce the convenience of mobile payments to the millions of visitors expected to attend the games.  

"We believe that this showcase will motivate people to experience and adopt easy and safe payment through mobile devices," said DJ Lee, EVP of sales and marketing for Samsung’s Mobile Communications Business.

The new mobile payment application uses Visa’s payWave technology to enable transactions at more than 3,000 contact point of sale terminals installed across event venues. A simple wave over the POS terminals will complete transactions under £15. Purchases above £15 will require a PIN to complete. 

The secure app also lets users view transaction history and check account balances.

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