Hey, here's an idea: let's trial phone-based NFC payment systems. Then, let's trial them again. Then let's trial them a few more times -- but let's not actually launch them on a wide scale so that they're usable, and let's certainly make sure they're not marketed heavily enough to garner widespread consumer interest. That seems to be the attitude financial institutions, manufacturers, and carriers are taking in North America, where countless tiny trials have popped up and died across the US over the past couple years; now, Canada gets in on the action thanks to MasterCard with an adaptation of its PayPass system. The trial, which only (and inexplicably) runs from now until November, loops in Bell Mobility will allow users to pay for $1.29 red blobs sold in sterile, all-blue convenience stores where ghastly silhouettes roam in the background simply by tapping their issued handsets against MasterCard's already installed PayPass terminals. Can we please just get a trial that turns into a commercial product this time, or is that too much to ask?

[Via MobileSyrup]

We'd previously noticed that Cingular was collaborating with Citigroup on some sort of mobile payment system in New York City, though details were pretty slim for the picking at the time; now the carrier has come out with full disclosure on exactly what it is they have up their sleeves. Like its Atlanta trial last year, the New York program involves Nokia handsets fitted with NFC (near-field communication) guts -- though for the sake of the trial participants, we hope Cingular is offering something a little more up-to-date than the lowly 3220 this time around. Unlike Atlanta, however, Cingular has switched up their financial partner from Chase / Visa to Citi / Mastercard, giving users the ability to use their phone for payment anywhere Mastercard's PayPass system is accepted. Parties involved expect the trial to last a total of three to six months, at which point we should all have a better perspective on how folks feel about shedding cash by tapping their cellphones against various surfaces. Of course, Japan seems to like it just fine -- so why not us?