Next generation smartphones from RIM, Samsung and LG have earned Visa’s approval for use in the burgeoning mobile payments field.

The certification puts Canadian consumers “one step closer” to flashing their smartphones instead of their credit cards when paying at the till, said Visa Canada’s Derek Colfer.

Contactless payment uses Near Field Communication (NFC), which works kind of like an antenna to communicate signals from a credit card or a smartphone to a payment terminal.

Until recently, NFC smartphones haven’t been in the market for consumers to use, Colfer said.