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Feb. 24, 2014 – Visa and MasterCard said they're introducing two new technologies that will give card issuers and merchants more options in facilitating so-called contact-less payment systems into their mobile apps.

They said consumers will be able to use an app to conduct debit- and credit-card transactions by tapping a phone to a store's card reader. Card information will be stored on remote servers, not on the consumer's phone, according to a story last week by Associated Press.

The two technologies, announced separately on Wednesday, use a new feature in Google's Android operating system. Before, card information had to be stored on a secured part of the phone. Now, it can be stored remotely. A retail or banking app on the phone then retrieves what's needed to complete the transaction.

Visa and MasterCard are both targeting phones that have a wireless technology called near-field communication.

The technologies will be fully rolled out at the Mobile World Congress wireless trade show next week in Barcelona, Spain.