Rivals AT&T, Verizon Wireless and T-Mobile USA may be looking to capitalize on the mobile payments space with a joint venture that would enable customers to pay for goods and services with their smartphones, according to a report from Bloomberg citing "three people close to the matter."

According to the report, the three major U.S. carriers will partner with Discover Financial Services and Barclays to test the system at stores in Atlanta and three other U.S. cities.

The new system would require new hardware at the point of sale (POS), as well as chips embedded in smartphones to complete the transactions.

AT&T and Verizon Wireless declined to comment on the report. T-Mobile USA was unavailable for comment before press time.