Visa confirms the Samsung Galaxy S III as the Olympics phone for mobile payments

A leaked slide from the payment processing company indicated a special Samsung phone with NFC to be the centerpiece of Visa's mobile payment strategy for the Olympics.

It turned out in the ends that this phone is none other than the Samsung Galaxy S III, which Samsung was apparently rushed to announce and launch before the games begin.

Today VISA and Samsung confirmed officially they've teamed up, and will be providing limited edition Galaxy S IIIs with VISA's payWave app to sponsored athletes, who will be able to wave the phone and purchase stuff at thousands of locations across London, like taxis, retail stores, and even the Olympic Park itself.

The payWave app allows you to simply launch it and hold the phone near an enabled terminal, of which there are 140, 000 across the UK, without even requiring a passcode for purchases below 20 pound sterling.

Samsung I9300 Galaxy S III hands-on: First look

Introduction

Samsung very recently climbed to top as the phone vendor with most units shipped, but more importantly, it also became the maker with most smartphones shipped. They are a big player in the Android world, so with the announcement of their new droid flagship, fans of the OS should certainly take notice.

The Samsung Galaxy S III is the company's new Android flagship and it features a quad-core processor, a 4.8" 720p screen and an 8MP camera packed in a 8.6mm body (no chins this time).