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Telefónica Germany, Telekom and Vodafone plan mobile payment company

Thursday, August 18, 2011 — 12:18:23 (EDT)

Munich,Bonn,Dusseldorf, Aug. 17, 2011 -- Telefónica Germany, Telekom and Vodafone are pushing ahead with their joint activities in mobile payments. The three telecommunications providers intend to register their payment service mpass as own company, and have signed a letter of understanding to this effect. The new company is due to begin operating as early as this year. Share on Share on facebook Share on twitter Share on tuenti Share on Yammer Share by email Share on

More and more customers are taking advantage of convenient and secure payment via mobile or stationary internet from a mobile phone. Once the mobile payment scheme mpass is up and running, the three telecommunications providers plan to expand on their position in mobile payment. The new company will concentrate on stepping up distribution and marketing activities, as well as developing new products. Aided by new technologies such as Near Field Communication (NFC), users will soon be able to make simple, secure and wireless payments in high-street shops, too.

"Payment by mobile phone will increasingly feature in our daily lives,' says Michiel van Eldik, Managing Director of Wholesale & Partner Management at Telefónica Germany. 'It has actually been possible for several years. And the first NFC smartphones, with full functionality for all aspects of credit and bonus cards, are already in the stores. I think that even as early as next year, consumers will be leaving their credit cards at home and paying by mobile phone instead."

"Queues at supermarket checkouts will soon be a thing of the past,' says Christian Illek, Director of Marketing at Telekom Deutschland, adding: 'mpass will make mobile payment easier, faster and more secure than with conventional payment means. Within the mpass partnership we are not only applying the specific benefits of mobile phones in the payment market, but, more importantly, we are bundling our customer reach with that of our partners.'

Dr. Peter Walz, Member of the Management Board and Director of Wholesale & Strategy at Vodafone Deutschland: 'For many years now we have offered an interoperable payment product across all networks with payments via the phone bill. This is now being continued in the shared mpass activities. Retailers want standardised solutions and that is what we are giving them with mpass.'

mpass is the mobile payment service of Telefónica Germany, Telekom and Vodafone. The service enables secure mobile and soon contactless payment for mobile phone users of all Germany's networks. What is especially interesting is that sensitive customer data such as bank details are not sent to the trader as part of the purchase process. The payment order can only be authorised from the buyer's mobile phone.

Telefónica Germany GmbH & Co. OHG and its brands O2 and Alice belong to Telefónica Europe and are part of the Spanish telecommunication group Telefónica S.A. The Company offers its German private and business customers postpaid and prepaid mobile telecom products as well as innovative mobile data services based on the GPRS and UMTS technologies. In addition, the integrated communications provider also offers DSL fixed network telephony and high-speed internet. According to a network test by “connect” magazine (edition 12/10), the O2 network is top of the list when it comes to reliable file downloads and champion in the telephony category. In the overall result the company is on second position. Telefónica Europe has more than 57 million mobile and fixed network customers in Great Britain, Ireland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Germany.

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Source: Company press release.