New Zealand to get another payments brand

New Zealand will get a further payments brand to promote the take up of contactless payments in the country.

Chris Bowman, corporate development manager at Telecom NZ, told the Cards and Payments conference in Melbourne yesterday banks and telecommunications companies will invest in the brand as part of the development of a trusted services model for contactless payments in New Zealand.

While banks and their partners in Australia grapple with developing a viable - and independent - model for mobile payments, the industry is taking a collaborative approach in New Zealand, coordinated so far under the aegis of its Paymark debt-card scheme.

The Paymark brand will not be used for near field communication-based payments, however.

Paymark and the banks have forged a joint venture with Vodafone New Zealand, 2degrees and Telecom New Zealand to launch a TSM.

The industry hopes to activate the service and roll out the new brand in the first quarter of 2014.