Vodafone Pay customers will also be able to use the service to pay to travel across the Transport for London (TfL) network as well as on National Rail services in and around London that accept Contactless and Oyster. Purchases of up to GBP 30 can be made at any contactless terminal and users wishing to spend more can do so using Vodafone Pay at participating retailers through the use of a PIN. Vodafone Pay can even be used to make a payment when the phone is switched off or out of battery life because the contactless SIM can connect automatically to the contactless terminal to make the transaction.

In order to keep track of payments, a notification is sent immediately to the cardholder, confirming that the transaction has been successful, whilst the application has a specific section showing transaction history, with details of the purchase, the place and the date including pending transactions. Vodafone Pay is part of the Vodafone Wallet app, where users can add and keep electronic copies of their store loyalty cards, coupons and vouchers, which can be redeemed at point of sale.

Under the agreement with PayPal, anyone who doesn’t have a PayPal account will be able to sign up for one directly from within Vodafone Pay. The launch of the new service comes just as Apple Pay, Android Pay and Samsung Pay have launched in the UK in recent months.