Wirecard supports Telefonica's mobile payments

Source: Wirecard

Mobile, contactless payments using mobile phones is taking off into the future. At this year's Hubert Burda Media Digital Conference (DLD), Telefónica Germany introduced new solutions for direct money transfer from smartphone to smartphone (person to person) and their digital wallet as part of a show case.

This is based on technical implementation by Wirecard AG, which is both a software company and card-issuing bank. Wirecard manages the processes that Telefónica needs, such as payment processing and the provisioning of the virtual "O2 Wallet mpass Card" to NFC-enabled SIM cards.

This year, the global innovation network DLD also placed "The Future of Mobile Payment" on the agenda. At the DLD conference, Wirecard's CEO Markus Braun noted: "We are at the start of a transformation to become a cash-free society." The panel discussion concluded that Mobile Payment has already arrived in Germany.

In October 2012, Telefónica was the first network operator in Germany to introduce mobile, contactless payments in stores using NFC stickers. These are attached to the mobile phone to enable it to make payments. The next developmental stage will follow soon with the O2 Wallet, the digital wallet of Telefónica. NFC technology for contact-free payments will then be included in the SIM card. In combination with a NFC-enabled mobile phone and the mobile application "O2 Wallet mpass Card" contactless transactions are possible.

From the middle of February 2013, Telefónica's new service will go live "mpass sending money". This will allow transfers to be made from smartphone to smartphone practically in real time, from one mpass account to another. The recipient's bank account details are not required. All that is needed is the mobile phone number.

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