Mobile Payment Magazine

Telefónica Germany, Telekom and Vodafone Plan “Mpass” Mobile Payment Company

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Telefónica Germany, Telekom and Vodafone are pushing ahead with their joint activities in mobile payments. The three telecommunications providers intend to register their payment service mpass as a separate company, and have signed a letter of understanding to this effect. The new company is due to begin operating as early as this year.

More and more customers are taking advantage of convenient and secure payment via mobile or stationary internet from a mobile phone. Once the mobile payment scheme mpass is up and running, the three telecommunications providers plan to expand on their position in mobile payment. The new company will concentrate on stepping up distribution and marketing activities, as well as developing new products. Aided by new technologies such as Near Field Communication (NFC), users will soon be able to make simple, secure and wireless payments in high-street shops, too.

“Payment by mobile phone will increasingly feature in our daily lives,” says Michiel van Eldik, Managing Director of Wholesale & Partner Management at Telefónica Germany. “It has actually been possible for several years. And the first NFC smartphones, with full functionality for all aspects of credit and bonus cards, are already in the stores. I think that even as early as next year, consumers will be leaving their credit cards at home and paying by mobile phone instead.”

“Queues at supermarket checkouts will soon be a thing of the past,” says Christian Illek, Director of Marketing at Telekom Deutschland, adding: “mpass will make mobile payment easier, faster and more secure than with conventional payment means. Within the mpass partnership we are not only applying the specific benefits of mobile phones in the payment market, but, more importantly, we are bundling our customer reach with that of our partners.”

Dr. Peter Walz, Member of the Management Board and Director of Wholesale & Strategy at Vodafone Deutschland: “For many years now we have offered an interoperable payment product across all networks with payments via the phone bill. This is now being continued in the shared mpass activities. Retailers want standardised solutions and that is what we are giving them with mpass.”

mpass is the mobile payment service of Telefónica Germany, Telekom and Vodafone. The service enables secure mobile and soon contactless payment for mobile phone users of all Germany’s networks. What is especially interesting is that sensitive customer data such as bank details are not sent to the trader as part of the purchase process. The payment order can only be authorised from the buyer’s mobile phone.

Source: Telefónica Germany

BOKU Partners with O2 and mpass for Direct Mobile Billing Services in Germany

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Telefónica O2 Germany, a provider of broadband and mobile services, and BOKU Inc., an online mobile payments company, today announced a direct carrier billing relationship. Under the agreement, O2 customers can  use BOKU’s payment platform to purchase virtual and digital goods ranging from .09 Euros to 30 Euros. O2 customers pay for goods by entering their mobile number and charging directly to their mobile phone carrier bill.

O2 is part of Telefónica, a global provider of broadband and mobile services, and the second largest carrier group in the world. O2’s mpass system allows direct carrier billing for the purchase of virtual, digital and physical goods.

This new partnership integrates the BOKU mobile payments platform into O2 Germany’s operator billing interface, enabling the following features:

  • Support for one-off and subscription payments in Germany
  • Full pricing granularity from .09 Euros to 30.00 Euros
  • Authorization and Capture APIs with refund support
  • In-App Billing support
  • Web Billing support

“This agreement opens up the opportunity for BOKU merchants to offer payment for physical goods as well as virtual and digital goods,” said James Patmore, Managing Director, BOKU in EMEA. “Our partnership with O2 confirms our vision of evolving online mobile payments into a range of new vertical markets.”

“Understanding customer needs and merchant requirements in regards to our payment products is essential for continuing our success story in the mobile payment area. A close collaboration with BOKU ensures we position ourselves closely to the key players in the market,” said Michiel van Eldik, Managing Director Wholesale and Partner Management, Telefónica O2 Germany.

“We want to provide our customers with a safe, reliable, and convenient payment solution to pay for goods, be they virtual or physical,” continued O2’s van Eldik. “BOKU’s mobile payments platform has the right blend of technology and finance-grade infrastructure to mesh well with O2 customer needs.”

BOKU’s bank-grade mobile payment service is available to online merchants and publishers on a global scale. The BOKU service enables merchants and publishers to drive incremental revenue by offering carrier billing as a payment option to their customers. BOKU is connected to 230 mobile operators in more than 65 countries, and provides access to more than 2.5 billion potential customers who can pay by mobile.

Source: Business Wire