Operators Orange, Telefonica Moviles, T-Mobile and Vodafone have formed a new association to drive interoperability amongst mobile payment solutions, joining a crowded market.
Orange, Telefonica Moviles, T-Mobile and Vodafone today announced that the four operators have signed an agreement to form a new Mobile Payment Services Association aimed at delivering an open, commonly branded solution for payments via mobile phones. Designed to work across all operator networks, the solution will work across country boundaries and will according to its founders seek to complement existing industry solutions - of which there are already quite a few.
For customers, the operators say they aim to provide the opportunity to purchase a wide range of digital and physical goods and services with their mobile phones using an easy, secure solution. Merchants and merchant acquirers will on their side benefit from a standard set of interfaces, and gain access to a potentially huge international customer base.
Should the four operators reach their goal of their standard becoming the industry's preferred one, benefits are also obvious for software and solution vendors which will no longer have to target multiple fragmented solutions. Additionally, operators will be presented with a standard way of integrating their relationships with merchants, merchant acquirers and content providers, as well as establishing inter-operator payment solutions.
In addition to the four founding members, 3, debitel, KPN Mobile group, O2 and TMN have expressed interest in joining the Mobile Payment Services Association, and the four founding members are also inviting other operators to participate. The aim is to make the new initiative available to the largest possible number of mobile phone users.
The Mobile Payment Services Association will be headquartered in London, England, and will be managed by a newly appointed CEO, Tim Jones, and a board on which each of the founders will initially have equal representation.
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