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Visa and Samsung have combined to offer a mobile payments application for the London 2012 Olympics and Paralympics.

More than 3,000 contactless terminals will be installed to allow prepaid, contactless payments, the e-payment company said in a statement.

The application is based on Visa's payWave technology that enables contactless payments at the point of sale.

Customers can make the purchase by just holding their phone in front of a reader.

The facility also enables customers to check their transaction history and their account balance.

"London 2012 is a unique opportunity to show the future of payments coming to life and leave a lasting legacy. The new mobile payment application is central to this showcase," Sandra Alzetta, head of innovation at Visa Europe, said.

"Samsung is thrilled to work with Visa to launch mobile payment services for the London 2012 Olympic Games. We believe that this showcase will motivate people to experience and adopt easy and safe payment through mobile devices," DJ Lee, executive vice-president and head of sales and marketing at Samsung's Mobile Communications Business.

Samsung London