O2 has announced the partners it will work with to launch its Mobile Wallet service, which is on ocurse for launch in the second half of 2011.
NFC is proving to be the key service of the moment, as more and more companies look to deliver simple, contactless payments via mobile device. The suppliers O2 has chosen to work with are Wave Crest, FIS, Intelligent Environments and Visa Europe.
Wave Crest is an E-payments provider, and will be providing the core banking platform upon which the new wallet and prepaid card service will run. FIS is the largest provider of banking and payments technology in the world, whilst Intelligent Environments is a digital banking provider that will develop the wallet application. Visa Europe will handle the payment network.
James Le Brocq, O2's managing director for financial services in the UK said: “These partnerships take us another step closer to the launch of commercial mobile wallet services. We are working with the best partners in their respective fields to bring a high quality service to market under the O2 Money banner. We look forward to unveiling additional partners in the coming months.”