O2 today launched a trial of 500 people of its O2 Wallet service, involving Near Field Communications (NFC) technology on Nokia (NYSE: NOK) 6131 handsets. It’s a comprehensive trial of the technology, covering:

-- Travel on the Tube, buses and trams in London, using the handset like an Oyster contactless payments card.
-- There will be “smart posters”, which contain embedded tags which serve as shortcuts for services enabled through the handset by tapping the phone on the poster.
-- The Barclaycard payment application in the O2 Wallet will allow purchases of 10 pounds or less at retailers including Books Etc, Chop’d, Coffee Republic, EAT, Krispy Kreme, Threshers and YO! Sushi. They’ll also be able to check available funds and locate retailers close to them that accept the payments.
-- The phone will also allow entry into the Blue Room at The O2 event location.

The trial will run from today until the end of May 2008, and select participants will have £200 put on their handsets for the payments.