Visa, Bank of America Test Cell Phone Payments

 Bank of America Corp, the largest U.S. consumer bank, and Visa the world's largest payment processor, plan to begin a test program next month that lets customers use smartphones to pay for purchases in stores.

The program, to run from September through the end of the year in the New York area, is the biggest step yet by the two companies toward creating a "digital wallet" with a host of financial capabilities built into the latest, most sophisticated mobile phones.

Major U.S. banks, technology companies and cellphone providers are jockeying for the lead in the technology, which some say could become a primary means of everyday purchases.

Mobile payments have been used for years in countries such as Japan, the United States has been much slower to adopt the technology.

Bank of America declined to say how many people would be involved in the pilot, and a company spokeswoman declined to comment on Visa's involvement.

Visa spokeswoman Elvira Swanson said the Bank of America pilot was not larger than the company's other mobile trials, but she said it could have a more powerful impact on the market than some previous pilots.

Verizon Wireless, AT&T, T-Mobile USA and Discover Financial Services are working on forming a joint venture aimed at offering mobile payments services.