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Orange and Barclaycard today announced a long term strategic partnership to develop a range of mobile, financial and payment services that will “change the way we pay”.
Orange and Barclaycard will launch new co-branded products and services to make the buying process more convenient, simpler and faster. With a history of innovation and a combined customer base of more than 28 million, Orange and Barclaycard believe this will be the biggest revolution in payments since plastic cards were introduced over 40 years ago.
Customers will be able to use their mobiles to pay for goods and services at retailers using contactless technology; by simply waving their handset against a reader. Both companies will be looking to expand the partnership to include other contactless services within ticketing, transport and rewards. MasterCard will provide the payment capabilities for the transactions.
The partnership between Barclaycard and Orange will also enable market-leading mobile alerts, servicing capabilities and new banking applications, all of which will help customers keep in control of their finances while on the move.
Over the next few months customers will start to see the benefits of the partnership with a host of marketing opportunities currently being finalised by Orange and Barclaycard.
The mobile contactless services being developed by Barclaycard and Orange will use Near-Field Communications (NFC) – or contactless – technology. Barclaycard has been a leader in contactless technology in the UK, and now has more than 1.5 million contactless enabled cards in issue – with this number expected to reach 6 million, including Barclays debit cards, by the end of 2009 – and will soon have at least 10,000 contactless terminals installed at retail outlets. With Barclaycard contactless terminals installed, retailers are able to offer their customers a fast and convenient method of payment on all transactions of £10 and under. Cardholders simply need to touch their card against the reader instead of entering a PIN or signature.
Orange is a pioneer in mobile payment technology and since 2005, has completed a number of successful mobile contactless trials in France, Spain and the UK. This strategic agreement with Barclaycard in the UK demonstrates Orange’s continued leadership in innovation and industry collaboration to help customers get more out of their mobile phones.
[Via: Orange Press Office]
About The Author
Ben Robinson
Ben is a 10+ year veteran of the Mobile industry – starting his career when SMS was a still a relatively new concept for most people (!), he has now consulted on everything from bleeding-edge Mobile content, to the next-gen accessories you might view it on. As a result he has a broad and deep knowledge in numerous areas of Mobile – from network operators to device vendors, to infrastructure and middleware vendors (not to mention content delivery) – and has worked for companies in all of these areas! He is based in the UK, a hotbed of activity for mobile, and recently became a father for the second time – as oppose to in his younger years when he was happy spend time tweaking all manner of mobile devices to 'nth' degree, he now looks for services and hardware that provide the most efficient, compact, and reliable improvements to his already manic life! It’s his opinion that Mobile solutions should be there to help to make your life better – if a particular solution (be it service or device) isn’t doing this, he believes you need to ask the very important question of why you continue to use it... His focus at IntoMobile is mainly on Mobile content, services, and infrastructure, particularly as regards the UK market – and with the occasional look at devices. Additionally, using his extensive experience in the industry, he will provide commentary on the industry at large, with regular (and hopefully thought-provoking) articles.
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