Philippine teens are the initial target audience for a new chip-based mobile phone payment card issued by MasterCard and First e-Bank/Smart Communications in association with MTV Asia.
Developed by First e-Bank/Smart Communications and MasterCard, Smart Money claims to be the world’s first prepaid cash card linked to a mobile phone. Similar to an electronic wallet in the form of a MasterCard card, cash can be loaded from various sources such as bank accounts and other Smart Money cards through a Smart GSM cell phone.
Under the agreement with MTV Asia, the cards may be used to assign discounts and privileges with selected MTV partner merchants, as well as invitations to special MTV events.
Separately, chip card integrator Orga has begun supplying smart cards in support of MasterCard's $2.99 multi-application Multos operating platform. MasterCard says the deal will accelerate the migration of payment cards to multiapplication smart cards in the Asia/Pacific region and worldwide.
MasterCard announced in January 2002 that one million MasterCard multiapplication smart cards with the Multos chip have been rolled out in Korea, Taiwan and the Philippines under the $2.99 chip programme. These were in addition to the existing three million smart cards already issued in the region.
MasterCard currently has more than 100 million MasterCard/Mondex/Maestro/Clip-branded smart cards in circulation around the world.