Spain: Vodafone launches SmartPass m-payment service.
Vodafone Spain has become the first operator in Spain to launch an
NFC-powered mobile wallet service allowing customers to pay for goods
and services with a touch or wave of their smartphone. The Vodafone
Wallet app can also hold travel cards, library or gym membership cards,
loyalty cards, gift cards and vouchers, the aim being to eventually
replace plastic cards.
The first payment app available for the Wallet is
called Vodafone SmartPass and has been developed in partnership with
Visa. The app uses prepaid funds to enable customers to pay for goods
with their smartphone at any Visa contactless payment terminal.
The service will initially be confined to
NFC-capable smartphones from Samsung, Sony and HTC, with plans to expand
the range rapidly in 2014. Vodafone also says that customers without a
compatible NFC phone can apply for an NFC tag to stick to the back of
their handset to use in conjunction with the SmartPass app.
Currently the app is only available on Android via
Vodafone Updates and customers who install it on their phones will need
to enter a password and provide their Visa card number before being
allowed to use the service at 300,000-plus locations in Spain and 1.2
million in Europe.
The service will be launched in Germany in
mid-December and expanded to the Netherlands, UK and Italy in spring
2014. Vodafone is also working with major European banks to integrate
their card portfolios into the wallet.
Wirecard is
supporting Vodafone as a technical service provider implementing the
mobile payment application for various mobile phone types. Wirecard is
also responsible for the creation, implementation and operations of all
technical processes. Wirecard will provide NFC tags for mobile phone
models which are not NFC-enabled.
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