|
Newsletters
|
|
|
|
|
|
WirelessDevNet.com Press Release
O2 announces O2 Wallet with Transport for London, Transys, Barclaycard, Visa Europe, Nokia and AEG
Espoo, Finland - O2 today announced the launch of the UK's first
large scale pilot of NFC (Near Field Communications) technology on
mobile phones. The trial of the O2 WalletŪ paves the way for the mass
market use of mobile phones to pay for purchases, access events or
even be used as Oyster cards for travel around London, simply by
touching the phone to a reader.
"Research shows that people are more likely to return home if they
leave their phone behind than their wallet or keys," said Cath Keers,
Customer Director, O2 UK. "So why not have your wallet on your phone?
We believe that NFC technology is going to fundamentally change the
way people use their mobile phones."
The trial, which will involve over 500 people invited from the O2
customer base, takes place across selected sites throughout London
and begins on 28th November 2007 running for six months until the end
of May 2008.
NFC is a contactless functionality, enabling a wide range of secure
uses including cashless payments, public transport and event
ticketing, and smart posters. In order to make this as comprehensive
a pilot as possible, O2 has brought together a broad range of
partners, including Transport for London, TranSys, Barclaycard, Visa
Europe, Nokia and AEG.
Each trialist will be given a Nokia 6131 NFC handset installed with
the O2 Wallet. Just like a normal wallet, this will hold various
everyday cards, including Oyster and Barclaycard, but in virtual form
and with NFC functionality. Trialists will be able to test a wide
range of different services in London, such as making purchases in
retail outlets and travelling on London's public transport system.
All participants will be asked to provide feedback on the services
featured in the O2 Wallet evaluating its ease of use, security and
overall usefulness.
A range of services
Accessed from the phone's main menu, the O2 Wallet shows all the NFC
services available on the handset in addition to information about
each service and customer support.
All 500 trialists will have Oyster on their phone enabling them to
use their handset to pay for travel on the Tube, buses and trams
across the Capital. They will also be able to top up their Oyster by
touching their handset on Oyster ticket machines in tube stations or
at Oyster ticket stops. If a trialist's phone rings, they can still
answer the call and continue to make a transaction. A call or text
message will not interfere with the NFC service.
Trialists will also be able to touch the NFC-enabled handset on
selected smart posters at the launch and at other locations over the
course of the trial. The smart posters contain embedded tags which
serve as shortcuts for services enabled through the handset. Once the
user taps the poster with the handset, they will automatically dial a
number, send a text message or be sent a shortcut to a mobile
internet site with more information about the subject on the poster
e.g. an event taking place or downloading content.
Mobile payments
The trial will also examine mobile payments using the Barclaycard
payment application in the O2 Wallet. A subset of trialists will be
able to use the growing number of 'contactless' payment readers at
retailers in and around London to purchase goods for GBP 10 or under.
They will simply need to tap their phones on the secure reader and
transactions will be completed in a matter of seconds.
In the initial phase of the trial, Barclaycard will credit each phone
with GBP 200 worth of non-reloadable funds which trialists can use
and spend as they see fit at any participating retailer. As well as
making payments, they will also be able to use the phones to check
available funds and to locate retailers close to them that accept
'contactless' payments, including Books Etc, Chop'd, Coffee Republic,
EAT, Krispy Kreme, Threshers and YO! Sushi.
The partners are keen to extend the payment functionality delivered
to trialists as part of the O2 Wallet and are actively discussing the
opportunities to develop the trial service further in 2008. Possible
developments include PIN capability, over GBP 10 purchases and
reloadable / credit funds capability.
The O2
AEG Europe, which operates The O2, will also be looking into how the
NFC handset can be used to enhance the customer experience at The O2.
All trialists will be able to use their NFC handsets to gain entry
into the blueroom at The O2 - the exclusive bar for O2 customers and
guests in the venue. The experience will be managed by O2 Angels
whose own NFC handsets will display the name of the trialists
enabling a personalised greeting into the blueroom.
Cath Keers, Customer Director, O2 UK continued: "This trial is going
to provide insights which will prove crucial to getting the customer
experience right as we bring NFC on mobile to market. But the trial
is just the start of this journey. For this to work we will need the
whole ecosystem to come together which means mobile operators, banks
and retailers all working together to fulfill a shared vision. If we
get this right we can place the UK at the forefront of technology
innovation."
|
|
|
