Mobile Payment JV
- The three main British mobile operators have founded a joint-venture designed to develop mobile payment. Everything Everywhere, Telefónica and Vodafone entrust it with the mission to provide the required technology to generalise a mobile payment and marketing wallet.
- They opted for reproducing all the functions to be found in a physical wallet (payment, loyalty, identity) on the SIM card. Both announcers and merchants will be able to use it for promotional campaigns: ads and issuing of discount coupons. This service will be independent from the operator and cell phone brand.
- Establishing interoperability is central to the success of developing services, as various proprietary solutions struggle to have their shere. It will also depend on the involvement of other payment players, such as financial institutions or payment schemes. US-based JV Isis did not pay much attention to these matters and had to lower its ambitions.
- The issue at stake is all the more significant now that Smartphones are fashionable tools and the renewal of the installed park should be quicker than before. Time may have now come to make technical and business decisions at a worldwide level.
See December 2010 Watch