20th Jun 11
Mobile networks join forces over ‘wave and pay’
by Katie Naylor
Totally mobile: more operators join forced to make mobile phone payment a reality
Totally mobile: more operators join forced to make mobile phone payment a reality
The rise of UK consumers paying for products by using their mobile phones is likely to gather pace after the three biggest operators joined forces to introduce a mobile commerce venture.
O2, Vodafone and parent of T-Mobile and Orange, Everything Everywhere (EE), announced that they had joined forces to create a partnership which would enable users to pay for good by using their mobile phones instead of with cash.
The mobile phone industry has been dominated by “wave and pay” technology this year with companies including Research in Motion and Nokia revealing plans that their new phones would include Near Field Communications (NFC) technology. In May Google introduced its “mobile wallet” and has seen a positive response. Chief executive of EE Tom Alexander said that it was a vital stage in this technology’s development, adding that customers now have their expectations.
The “m-commerce platform” will create the technology for the mobile wallet and give a single contact point for marketing partners, retailers, banks and advertisers to come together to develop mobile versions of their products. Head of Telefonica UK Ronan Dunne said that the news had the potential to be an industry landmark.
The platform also hopes to attract advertisers, who are able to use the NFC technology to reserve marketing space and offer loyalty cards, coupons and other deals to consumers on the move.
CCS Insight’s founder Shaun Collins said that the co-operation between the mobile operators was long overdue and it means that contactless payment finally has a chance of being deployed He went on to say that until now it has been seen as just a good idea although the market place was too fragmented.
The joint business venture will now head for Europe in order to gain regulatory clearance, which may take as long as six months, although the operators are confident that they will be able to launch before 2011 comes to a close. They also said that the venture would be open to all participants in the industry.
However, the UK’s fourth-largest operator was far from happy after being excluded from the proceedings. Three’s chief executive Kevin Russell described it as a good move “directionally” in taking m-commerce forward, but added that as a core competitor he was more than just a little concerned that they have been left out of this joint venture.
Earlier in the year Orange joined forces with Barclaycard to provide the UK’s first commercial contactless payments. Mr Collins of CCS believes that in five years time most shoppers will use their mobiles to pay for anything less than £30.
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