Vodafone Wallet users are to be able to make contactless smartphone payments through the Vodafone Wallet on NFC enabled phones following a deal between the MNO and Visa.
The service – which will of course only work on some Android phones – extends the reach of the Vodafone Wallet to allow cards stored within it to be used at NFC enabled POS terminals. Users will be required to confirm ownership of the card using Verified by Visa and a PIN for higher value spends.
“The digital wallet just took another step forward,” Mark Ritzmann, Head of mCommerce at Vodafone Group said. “With a few clicks, customers will be able to add payment cards to their Vodafone Wallet and use Android smartphones to pay at contactless terminals. Thanks to our agreements with Visa and Carta Worldwide, using bank cards stored on Vodafone Wallet is fast, secure and simple.”
Jeremy Nicholds, Executive Director Mobile at Visa Europe, said: “We are really excited to bring this new payment service together with Vodafone, which will enable Visa credit and debit cards to be used for mobile contactless payments. This initiative is part of Visa’s strategy to accelerate mobile payments and make it easier for banks to enable their cards to make payments on mobile phones and for consumers to pay in the most secure and convenient way.”
Vodafone Wallet is available in Germany, Spain, the UK, Italy and the Netherlands, and the operator said the new service will be launched in the second quarter of 2015. Customers are already able to add loyalty cards into the Wallet, as well as make payments with Vodafone SmartPass which was launched in 2013.
Brian Semkiw, CEO of Carta Worldwide, said: “We are thrilled to partner with Vodafone to make mobile payments the most simple, convenient and secure way to pay. Our next generation platform is built to provide the highest security and reliability standards. At the same time, the flexibility of our platform has allowed us to develop this innovative service with Vodafone in record time.”
