Not too long ago, a group of lucky Londoners got 200 British pounds, a 6131 NFC edition phone, and the opportunity to test out Nokia's near-field communication technology in their daily routines.

Now a couple of Spokaners (that's residents of Spokane, WA) are receiving some brand-spanking new Nokia phones in fields tests prepared by Nokia, Mastercard, and U.S. Bancorp. But no spending money this time.

Mastercard's contribution to the NFC war effort is the PayPass terminal, which reportedly has been accepted by a cool 80,000 merchants.

The trials bode well for the future of near-field communication in the USA, even though U.S. Bancorp seems to be the only company that actually plans to use the technology.

U.S. Bank pilots pay-by-phone program - bizjournals.com