The PayTag stickers that Commonwealth Bank, Coles and bankmecu have offered their customers as a way of turning their smartphones into contactless payment devices could be set up to allow users to select payment options from among the accounts of different financial institutions.PayTag has emerged this year as an interim step in the development of near field communications capability in smartphones. Developing an "embedded" solution is proving to be a complex and lengthy process and PayTag is filling the gap.PayTag is a sticker that users attach to their iPhone or Android phone. The sticker houses an antenna that links the banking application in the phone to the payment terminal. With PayTag, the phone works in the same way as a contactless payment card.The device works on any point of sale terminal that accepts contactless cards. The same $100 maximum limit on purchases applies.Under current arrangements, users can only pay from an account offered by the institution that issues the sticker.However, Visa Australia and New Zealand's head of emerging products and innovation, George Lawson, said PayTag had the potential to be configured so it could work across institutions.But, Lawson said, he did not expect to see this happen because PayTag is an interim solution that might not survive once an embedded NFC solution is developed.However, he said, he expected more financial institutions to issue PayTag, and if the development of "full-blown proximity" was delayed for a long time it was possible the PayTag system could undergo some development.Lawson said the number of contactless payments was continuing to grow quickly. There are 20 million contactless payments going through the Visa network in Australia each month."Thirty per cent of face-to-face payments are contactless now," Lawson said.