CIARA O’BRIEN

Irish payment technology firm 3V has signed a deal with Finnish telecoms company DNA to bring a virtual Visa payment card that can be used with smartphones to shoppers in Finland.

The DNA Täpäkkä card allows shoppers to pay by smartphone and online, with an application that works on iOS, Android and Windows Phone platforms.

“We want to bring the most attractive services to the Finnish public, and we’re now expanding our operations to cover services that can be paid for not only via the Internet but also by smart phone,” said Pekka Väisänen, Vice President for DNA’s Consumer Business.

3V’s chief operating officer Seamus Minogue described the new application as the next generation of card payments, and said Finland could become a forerunner in mobile purchasing.

The virtual card will be available to order from early autumn.

However, it is not yet certain if the technology will make its way to Irish users.