Garanti Bank and MasterCard Worldwide have launched an NFC (near field communication) mobile payment service in Turkey.

Garanti Bank and MasterCard partnered with Gemalto N.V., an Amsterdam, The Netherlands, digital security firm, and Avea, an Istanbul, Turkey, mobile phone provider. The companies are offering "BeaverTail," an NFC antenna-equipped SIM card and mobile payment service.

The service involves attaching a floppy antenna to a mobile phone SIM (subscriber identity module) card inside the phone, which enables mobile phone users to make contactless payments using credit and debit cards. Cell phone owners also can use MasterCard's PayPass card to pay for rides on mass transit. In addition, Avea will download digital coupons to mobile phones for gifts and shopping discounts as part of the rollout of the NFC service. Avea sells the adapted SIM cards.

Garanti Bank launched the service to attract younger customers, said Mehmet Sezgin, CEO of Garanti Bank.

Turkish banks are very innovative in adopting new technologies, said George Peabody, director of emerging technologies at Mercator Advisory Group in Maynard, Mass. "It's a growing economy, and they (banks) are not afraid to be innovative," he said.

Garanti Bank, which is based in Istanbul, is Turkey's second-largest private bank. MasterCard is based in Purchase, N.Y.