Touchless mobile payments are now available to select Circle users.
The bitcoin wallet and payment service has integrated near-field communication (NFC), enabling users to transact with its Android App wherever bitcoin and NFC are accepted.
Circle is a digital money platform that delivers streamlined, user-friendly functionality similar to that of traditional online payment tools like PayPal or Apple Pay, both key players in the fast-growing mobile payments movement.
A growing number of developers in the digital currency space are looking to NFC to simplify and speed up secure payments. NFC transaction volume in the wider payments world has been forecasted to triple to $72bn this year alone.
In November BitPay released a merchant app that allows customers to make contactless bitcoin payments at checkout by holding their smartphones or tablets over the point-of-sale device and tapping ‘send’.
Mobile apps by Mycelium and Hive are among other bitcoin wallets that offer contactless functionality.