The Mobey Forum, a bank-backed mobile payment consortium, has signed up Dutch banks ING and Rabobank and mobile operators Telenor, TeliaSonera and SK Telecom as new members.
The forum says the signing of ING and Rabobank as financial services members will reinforce its "strong banking core".
Furthermore the group says the addition of South Korean mobile operator SK Telecom and Nordic telcos Telenor and TeliaSonera shows the increasing need for cooperation between the banking and telecoms industries.
Hanne Sjursen, group manager ID and electronic payment, Telenor, says co-operation with banks "enables the creation of user-friendly and commercially viable services".
"Combining expertise in this way also provides opportunities for creating real added-value, for both banks and operators," adds Sjursen.
Last month Visa USA president and CEO John Coghlan called for closer collaboration between the payment card and mobile industries in order to realise the full potential for convergence between the two markets.
The renewed interest in the activities of the Mobey Forum follows a recent restructuring and the appointment of ABN Amro's Ron van Wezel as chairman. Van Wezel is currently SVP at ABN Amro where he is involved in developing market infrastructures for payments and cards.
The group has also elected Rabobank's Willem de Jager and Antonio García Maeso of BBVA to the board of directors. In addition, Liisa Kanniainen has been appointed executive director in charge of operational acivities.
The Mobey Forum was established in May 2000 by a group of banks and mobile handset manufacturers to develop and encourage the use of mobile technology in financial services.