Payment Wonks Launch SimpayPayment Wonks Launch Simpay

LONDON -- The Mobile Payments Services Association (MPSA), founded by Orange, Telefónica Móviles, T-Mobile and Vodafone to drive interoperable mobile payments, today announced its new brand name and corporate identity - Simpay.

The new brand distinguishes the company as a separate entity from its founding members and should position the brand strongly in the consumer segment. It also highlights the evolution of the mobile phone from being purely a communications device to being an essential lifestyle tool that enables payments.

Simpay's overall objective is to create an open and interoperable framework for mobile payments. Transactions facilitated by Simpay would include low-priced items where the purchase is debited from a mobile user's operator account, such as buying an MP3 music file, downloading a game or paying a parking meter. Higher-value purchases via mobile payment would also be possible. In this instance, Simpay would enable payments using credit and debit cards to complete transactions such as travel bookings, theatre tickets and gift orders.

Tim Jones, CEO of Simpay said: "We are confident the Simpay brand will be easily identifiable in our key markets for its convenience and reliability. Our aim is for you to see it on music websites, when making a flight booking or even when paying a bus fare. The announcement of our name and brand is a key milestone in our development and firmly establishes us on the mobile payments map."

The launch of Simpay includes the announcement of the key management appointments of Simon Richards as Chief Operating Officer, who joins from Alpheus Solutions, which he co-founded, Jim Wadsworth as Chief Marketing Officer, from Vodafone and Edward Cooke as Chief Financial Officer, from Orange. Combined, the team has a wealth of successful experience in the mobile commerce and telecoms sector to apply to this venture.

In a separate release:

Simpay, formerly the Mobile Payments ServicesAssociation (MPSA), founded by Orange, Telefonica Moviles, T-Mobile and Vodafonein February 2003 to drive interoperable mobile payments, today announced theappointment of Simon Richards as Chief Operating Officer, Jim Wadsworth as ChiefMarketing Officer and Edward Cooke as Chief Financial Officer. Further keyappointments include Mark Gordon as Head of Brand & Communications. The newappointees work under Tim Jones, CEO of Simpay.

Simpay’s objective is to create an open framework for mobile payments. Combined,the team has a wealth of successful experience in the mobile commerce, financialservices and telecoms sectors to apply to this venture.

As Chief Operating Officer, Simon Richards will be responsible for the successfullaunch of new mobile payment solutions and for developing Simpay’s operationalcapability. He will also play a key role in the design of the mobile payments frameworkby working closely with m-commerce solution providers. Before joining Simpay, Simonwas a director of Alpheus Solutions, an international IT consultancy specialising inservices to financial institutions and mobile telecommunications providers. Prior to cofoundingAlpheus, Simon worked at Citibank, Price Waterhouse and Goldman Sachs,where he led the Equities Technology Group in Frankfurt and was responsible for thebank’s Crest implementation.

In his role as Chief Marketing Officer, Jim Wadsworth will be responsible for definingSimpay’s overall marketing strategy, for the products and services it offers, and for therecruitment of merchants acquirers and content providers. In his role as Head of m-Commerce at Vodafone UK, Jim was previously responsible for the range of productsand services provided to the 3rd party content provider and merchant communities inthe UK. In particular, he led Vodafone UK’s m-commerce strategy and productdevelopment, which resulted in the successful launch during 2002 of the industryleadingVodafone m-pay cards and m-pay bill offerings. He was also closely involved inthe preparatory work prior to the announcement of the creation of the MPSA. Prior tojoining Vodafone, Jim was at NatWest Group, in a range of strategic and marketingroles.

Edward Cooke has been appointed as Chief Financial Officer and will be responsiblefor the strategic business development of Simpay. Prior to joining, as Finance Directorof Orange, he was responsible for OrangeVentures. Edward has over 25 years ofexperience as a management consultant, having worked with companies such asKPMG Management Consulting, where he was a partner for six years. He has alsobeen director of a number of private and publicly quoted companies.

Mark Gordon, appointed Head of Brand and Communications, has 20 years experienceof developing and launching well-known consumer brands. Prior to joining Simpay,Mark was Branding Director at T-Mobile International, where he was responsible for thebranding of its mobile portal. Previously he was General Manager, Northern Europe,for Disneyland Paris from 1997 to 2000. In the early 1990s Mark was Head ofMarketing at Mondex International.

Tim Jones, CEO of Simpay said: “With this highly experienced team on board todevelop and bring to market our solutions, I am confident that we will unite mobileoperators, financial institutions, merchants and content providers to maximise theopportunity presented by m-commerce.”

Simpay