Nokia and mobile operators join manufacturers in push for mobile payment

Nokia is joining operators and handset makers in a global initiative to enable mobile phones to be used in retail outlets to pay for goods and services.

Other ten mobile operators have joined a GSM Association initiative to enable the worldwide use of mobile phones for payments at retail outlets.

KPN, Maxis Communications Bhd, mobilkom austria, O2, Orange, SFR, SingTel, SKT, Vodafone and Wind have joined the 14 mobile operators that initiated the project in February. The handset vendors in the programme include Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics, which both plan to participate in the first trials scheduled to begin in October.

The first operators involved in the project were AT&T (formerly Cingular Wireless), China Mobile, KALL, KTF, MCI, MTN, NTT DoCoMo, Rogers Wireless, Smart Communications, Telenor, TeliaSonera, Telecom Italia, Turkcell, and Vimpelcom.

The GSMA’s 'Pay-Buy Mobile' initiative seeks to define a common global approach to using Near Field Communications (NFC) technology to link mobile devices with payment and contactless systems. Together with a SIM/Universal Integrated Circuit Card (UICC) card in a mobile handset, NFC can be used to enable a wide range of secure, interoperable and transparent services, such as credit and debit payments.