Barclaycard has today launched Barclaycard PayTag, a new way for people to pay with their mobile phone. Millions of Barclaycard customers will be offered the chance to make payments with any mobile phone by simply sticking a Barclaycard PayTag to the back of their handset.

Barclaycard PayTag - available at no cost, and exclusively to Barclaycard Visa cardholders - is an extension of a customer’s credit card account. One third of the size of a normal card, it is simply stuck to the back of any mobile phone. Once attached, it can be used to make payments of up to £15, rising to £20 in June, by being held over a contactless payment terminal.

David Chan, CEO of Barclaycard Consumer Europe, said: “Today, we are offering the choice of mobile payments to millions of our customers at no additional cost to them. More than half of us say that the item we’re most lost without is our mobile phone, so we’re giving people the option of using them to make easy, convenient, everyday payments without the need to upgrade their current handset.”

The announcement comes as Visa predicts that the number of contactless point-of-sale terminals in the UK will rise by 50% to 150,000 this year. Major retailers that offer, or are introducing, contactless include Waitrose, McDonalds, Boots, WH Smith and Tesco. By the end of 2012, London buses will also accept contactless payments, followed by the Tube and the rest of the transport network in the Capital in 2013.

Barclaycard describes PayTag as being safe and secure, and comes with the same 100% fraud protection as any Barclaycard. An exclusive group of customers will be invited to receive their Barclaycard PayTag in the coming weeks, before they are offered to millions of Barclaycard customers later in the year.

“Barclaycard is developing a wide range of initiatives which will ultimately enable everyone to enjoy the benefits of mobile payments," said Chan. "Barclaycard PayTag is another milestone on our journey to make paying easier, and sits alongside other easy ways to pay with your mobile such as those we offer in partnership with Orange.”

Last week Barclaycard and Orange announced that credit or debit card holders from all UK banks would be able to load money onto Barclaycard’s mobile payments application, in the Quick Tap wallet. This will open up the opportunity for contactless payments to more Orange customers. Orange also confirmed that it would be making Quick Tap available on a range of Android smartphones, with the first to be announced in the coming weeks.

Research carried out on Barclaycard’s behalf predicts that £3 billion-worth of purchases will be made with mobile phones in the UK in 2016.  Barclaycard PayTag is designed to provide customers with the choice of simple mobile phone payments now, without having to wait to upgrade, and at no additional cost.

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