09 July 2012 ~ 0 Comments

T-Mobile and MasterCard to provide NFC mobile payments

Mobile payments really are looking like they will be the future as T-Mobile have recently jumped on board. They will be partnering with MasterCard all over Europe to provide an NFC mobile payment solution that will hit Europe later this year. The idea of making use of the newish NFC technology is that it will allow your mobile phone to work similarly to an Oyster card – to make a payment whether for a tube journey, burrito or new laptop, all you need to do is touch your phone to the payment pad. Buy things really will be as quick and simple as that.

Overall, T-Mobile’s parent company, Deutsche Telekom, has almost 100,000,000 mobile users in Europe and they will release their version of mobile payments in Germany and Poland to start with before rolling out to the rest of the continent. They will be working closely with ClikcandBuy who hold the necessary payments license. The combination of MasterCard’s financial expertise and the might of the T-Mobile brand will create a strong partnership that bodes well for the future of mobile payments. At a press conference, Deutsche Telekom’s Thomas Kiessling said:

With MasterCard we have a well-known and experienced partner generating growth in this important market segment. We want to build a comprehensive ecosystem around mobile payment, helping Telekom to realize its strategy of being the first choice for customers regarding connected life and work.

Of course, T-Mobile aren’t the first network to get involved in mobile wallets. Back in March, we reported on Telefonica, who own O2, buying Boku who are an up-and-coming mobile payments company. Before that, they had already announced that they would soon be launching a money transfer app that will be compatible with all UK banks and even other mobile networks. Vodafone is another network that is early to the mobile payments game. Earlier this year they partnered with the other credit card giant, Visa. The technology hasn’t yet found its way to customers in the UK but their idea is that you can swipe your Visa payWave mobile to simply make payments of up to £15. Higher-value purchases simply require a PIN code. So Everything Everywhere, O2 and Vodafone all have make their stakes already. It’s not yet clear will how Three Mobile aim to get involved in mobile payments.

This recent announcement is very exciting though. For the time being, T-Mobile are going to amongst the leaders in this area and their deal with MasterCard makes them one of the bigger partnerships worldwide. While it looks like nothing will be available in the UK until 2013, we will certainly be intrigued to see what happens next.

What you think of this partnership? Are you keen to get started making NFC mobile payments? Or do you think there’s no point? And what do you think of the security implications?

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31 March 2012 ~ 2 Comments

O2 invests in mobile wallets

O2 owner Telefónica has recently invested in mobile payments company Boku. Telefónica has not commented directly on how much they have invested but said it was less than £7 million. Boku has now raised a total of £22m in funding, including funds from New Enterprise Associates, Andreeson Horowitz, Benchmark Capital, DAG Ventures, among others.

Telefónica has explained that the investment is a ‘significant development’ as O2 becomes closer to launching its mobile wallet services, and Boku will become Telefónica’s preferred mobile payment system. Telefónica will be embarking on a global partnership with Boku to improve the overall payment experience of their future mobile payment system

Telefónica chairman and CEO, Matthew Key, has said:

Payments are going mobile and we want to be at the forefront of this trend. Boku has quickly established itself as a true innovator in the mobile commerce space and this investment gives us access to their tools, infrastructure and knowhow, ideally complementing our own mobile payments expertise. We are also embarking on a global partnership with Boku to enhance our operator billing capabilities and the overall payment experience through our future mobile wallet services.

The ‘mobile wallet’ is an interesting idea, and we’ve already seen advances from other companies in this mobile payment system.

Boku’s CEO, Mark Britto has said:

Payments is an industry that requires scale, and in the three years since Boku launched we’ve grown rapidly to partner with more than 250 mobile network operators, processing transactions in 67 countries all over the world.

With a vision on such a scale as this, Boku has demonstrated why their services would be perfectly fitted for a mobile wallet system for Telefónica.

Previously O2 had a payment system using ‘Load & Go’ cards, which was powered by NatWest. This was then closed in anticipation of the ‘O2 Wallet’, which was announced for launch in the second half of 2011, since then it has been delayed to further improve the service. It wouldn’t be unlikely to see Boku involved in the ‘O2 Wallet’mobile payment system in the near future.

What do you think? Would you use a mobile wallet system? Do you think it’s the future of mobile payments?

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25 March 2012 ~ 0 Comments

O2 plan on launching money transfer app

O2 have announced that they are planning on launching a money transfer app for mobile phones. O2 are currently testing the app and hope for its release to be within the next three months. The app will allow users to link their mobile number with their bank account and make money transfers by sending SMS messages, similar to Barclay’s Pingit service.

O2 are allowing this service to be used by all UK banks and mobile networks, whereas Pingit is only available to Barclays customers. Ronan Dunne, chief executive of O2 has said the following:

We have loads of people in a closed user group who are already using it. What we are just doing is building and testing all of the scaling, so that when we go to market we can be prepared for an onslaught of demand.

He has also given details about the procedures to setting up this service. They have applied for an e-money license and have their provisional approvals. They will also partner with Visa and have all of the credentials you would expect from somebody launching this service.

The biggest fear of money transfer apps is privacy concerns; however Mr. Dunne said he did not anticipate any problems as the system will be properly secured. Along with Vodafone’s imminent ‘mobile wallet’ service, smartphone payments are suddenly becoming very real.

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