UK phone network Orange and Barclaycard announced Monday that Samsung Galaxy S3 would be the first Android smartphone to feature Quick Tap contactless mobile payment technology starting Wednesday.

All new and upgrading customers of Orange Samsung Galaxy S3 with a UK MasterCard, Visa debit or credit card will be able to use Quick Tap, enabling them to make mobile contactless payments nationwide. They can load funds of up to £150 ($238.5) onto their Quick Tap account and can make payments for up to £20 by tapping their phone on NFC payment terminals and tills across the country.

"Getting up and running simply involves downloading an app and activating the secure Barclaycard service. Customers who activate the service between 5th September and 5th October 2012 will also receive £50 free to spend using their phone," said Orange in a statement.

"Contactless mobile payments are a secure and convenient alternative to cash and cards, and we are pleased to be the first network brand in the UK to offer its customers such an innovative service," said Simeon Bird, director of propositions at Orange UK.

Samsung Galaxy S3 with Quick Tap will be available at Orange shops, at www.orange.co.uk and via Orange telesales from Wednesday on Pay Monthly plans. Customers will receive unlimited minutes, texts and 1GB of data for £36 a month.

In May last year, Orange and Barclaycard launched Quick Tap as the UK's first contactless mobile phone payments service. It uses a secure SIM-based approach to mobile payments and requires users to have a Quick Tap enabled handset.

Quick Tap was launched with a special version of Samsung Tocco Lite, running Samsung's own proprietary operating system (Bada), the Next Web reported.

According to Orange, currently 100,000 locations support QuickTap that include the likes of McDonalds, M&S, Co-op Food, Prêt a Manger and EAT.

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