Dubai, April 4 (WAM): Mashreq, a leading financial institution in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), has launched a new mobile payment solution called Tap n Go that is expected to redefine the world of mobile payments.

This UAE'a first near field communication (NFC ) sticker solution, the Tap n Go sticker makes low-value purchases exceedingly simple by converting any mobile phone of any generation into a credit card that can then be used to make contact-less payments at thousands of retail outlets in the UAE and abroad.

The newly launched Tap n Go is already accepted at over 4000 merchants and growing in the UAE.

"Today spells the first day in the demise of the credit card as we know it in its plastic avatar here in the GCC if not in the EMEA (Europe, the Middle East and Africa) region," Farhad Irani, head of retail banking group at Mashreq, said at the launch Thursday.
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"A first of its kind created to deliver delightful convenience and enhanced control with just a tap of the phone. No signature, no PIN, no paper! I wish every citizen of the UAE many smart and happy moments with Mashreq's Tap and Go revolution," he added.

The sticker is powered by the latest NFC technology that helps it to communicate wirelessly and securely with payment terminals, allowing transactions to be processed instantly.

The sticker needs to be simply fixed to the phone and it is ready for use, exactly like a credit card. All purchases less than 100 dirhams (around $27) require no signature.