Mobile Wallet service launched in UK

Posted by elena On Friday, May 20th 2011 in Technology

A service that lets people pay for small purchases through their mobile phone has been made available in the United Kingdom. British consumers now have the option of using their phone to pay for purchases such as a newspaper or a cup of coffee. This easy-to-use service has been named Quick Tap: a payment only requires the users to tap their phones against a reader.

The Quick Tap service is offered through a joint venture between mobile operator Orange and credit card provider Barclaycard. Those who wish to use it need to have accounts with both firms, as well as a Samsung handset equipped for this type of payments. Other companies and mobile phone makers are expected to come up with their own versions of the service in the near future.

For now, the service is limited to small purchases, although things could change in the future. At the moment, shoppers are not able to make purchases of more than £15, although they can transfer as much as £100 to their mobile phone. This seems particularly helpful for people who wish to carry less change in their wallets.

The service, which was launched on Friday, May 20, makes use of the Near Field Communication (NFC) technology. This type of wireless technology makes contactless payments possible. In order to make a payment, users only have to tap their mobile phones against an NFC reader. Quite a few stores have had these readers installed already, including McDonalds, Pret a Manger, Little Chef, EAT and Subway. In a few months' time, users will also have the option to pay the M6 motorway toil through their mobile phones.

According to experts, the concept of a mobile wallet is gaining popularity throughout Europe. The technology has been available for a while, but now it seems ready to take off. This type of service has been introduced in Japan for a few years now, but only a moderate number of people use it. The technology is also in use in South Korea.

Barclaycard Consumer chief executive David Chan said that the service is the first of its kind in the UK and a "secure technology". Orange vice president Pippa Dunn said that the new service would lead to a "revolution" in the way consumers make purchases. At this point, there are about 50,000 shops with NFC payment facilities in the United Kingdom.