Swedish giant Ericsson has become the latest company to throw its hat into the mobile money ring, launching a new business unit that will concentrate on person-to-person payments.
The firm says it plans to "take a driving role" in mobile P2P payments, in both the developed and emerging markets through Ericsson Money Services, which is being launched after two years of perpetration and proof of concept in Europe and Asia.
M-payments and person-to-person money transfers are expected to become some of the most-used mobile applications in many countries in the next two or three years, providing a multi-billion dollar opportunity for providers.
Ericsson says it has already developed an end-to-end system and associated business and operational model, fulfilling all necessary regulatory, legal and security requirements, in cooperation with its operator customers and financial sector players.
Through Ericsson Money Services and its Money Interconnect Service, mobile operators, financial institutions and other service providers, wishing to extend their offering with mobile money services, can easily be connected to a real-time, cross-border, cross-currency switching network, boasts the vendor.
Semir Mahjoub, head of Ericsson Money Services, says: "A new market is opening up consisting of consumers whose first meeting with banks will take place over a mobile phone and who may never own a plastic credit card. People who may never enter a bricks-and-mortar bank now have the opportunity to "walk" into a virtual bank using their phone."