According to a report by Bloomberg, Sprint Nextel Corp. is finally making its mobile payment plans public. The report says that Sprint is actively working on a service that will allow customers to use their phones as a payment method at the point of sale using near field communications (NFC).

The story says that Sprint is looking to make the service available as early as this year. 

Sprint is the only major wireless carrier not participating in Isis, a mobile payment network launched last year by Verizon Wireless, T-Mobile USA and AT&T Mobility. Isis isn't expected to be processing payments before 2012.

Kevin McGinnis, vice president of product platforms for Sprint, told Bloomberg that Sprint is collaborating with several card brands and handset manufacturers on the effort

"We intend to make this an open solution where consumers can use their phone in a variety of physical locations," said McGinnis. "Because we're allowing other brands and other institutions to participate, they can also tell their consumers that this is available on Sprint."

McGinnis also told Bloomberg that Sprint is not looking to take a percentage of each transaction processed. Instead, Sprint would share in revenue generated by coupons and advertising.