Vodafone to Enable NFC-Enabled Payments Across Europe

News Wire Feed Light Reading 3/30/2015

NEWBURY, UK -- Vodafone customers will soon be able to add bank cards to their Vodafone Wallet and use smartphones to pay for goods and services at contactless terminals, it was announced today. Following new agreements with Visa and Carta Worldwide, bank card payments via Vodafone Wallet will be enabled in European markets from the second quarter of 2015 onwards.

This service, which requires a Vodafone NFC SIM, will be supported on a wide range of Android smartphones. To use the service, customers will:

input their bank cards to the Vodafone Wallet app, where an alias of each card is stored securely in the Vodafone NFC SIM;

confirm ownership of the card using Verified by Visa authentication;

pay by tapping their phones against a contactless point-of-sale terminal; and

check their mobile payment transaction history using their phones, wherever they are.

Payments are automatically debited from the selected bank cards, which are protected with a user-defined 4-digit PIN for higher value payments.

Mark Ritzmann, Head of mCommerce at Vodafone Group said: “The digital wallet just took another step forward. With a few clicks, customers will be able to add payment cards to their Vodafone Wallet and use Android smartphones to pay at contactless terminals. Thanks to our agreements with Visa and Carta Worldwide, using bank cards stored on Vodafone Wallet is fast, secure and simple.”

Jeremy Nicholds, Executive Director Mobile at Visa Europe, said: “We are really excited to bring this new payment service together with Vodafone, which will enable Visa credit and debit cards to be used for mobile contactless payments. This initiative is part of Visa’s strategy to accelerate mobile payments and make it easier for banks to enable their cards to make payments on mobile phones and for consumers to pay in the most secure and convenient way.”

Carta Worldwide has partnered with Vodafone to provide the payment card enabling technology. Brian Semkiw, CEO of Carta Worldwide, said: “We are thrilled to partner with Vodafone to make mobile payments the most simple, convenient and secure way to pay. Our Next Generation platform is built to provide the highest security and reliability standards. At the same time, the flexibility of our platform has allowed us to develop this innovative service with Vodafone in record time.”

Vodafone Wallet is currently available in Germany, Spain, the UK, Italy and The Netherlands. Customers can already add loyalty cards into the Vodafone Wallet, as well as pay with Vodafone SmartPass that was launched in partnership with Visa in 2013. This evolution of the Vodafone Wallet is part of the Vodafone mCommerce strategy designed to provide a mobile alternative to coins, banknotes and plastic cards.

Vodafone Group plc (NYSE: VOD)