Orange and Barclaycard launch smartphone payment service - IT News from V3.co.uk [20May11] - 0 views
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Orange and Barclaycard have launched the UK's first contactless payment service allowing customers to pay for purchases using a smartphone.
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Orange Quick Tap allows payments of up to £15 in over 50,000 outlets around the country, including Pret A Manger, McDonald's and Subway.
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Customers have to purchase a Samsung Tocco Lite smartphone to use the service, which is available for £55 on pay-as-you-go or free on a £10 per month, two-year contract.
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Customers also need an Orange credit card, Barclaycard or Barclays debit card to transfer money onto the Quick Tap app.
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Barclaycard is touting the system as highly secure, highlighting the fact that users can opt to input a PIN every time they make a payment.
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Using mobile phones to make payments is a natural extension of the smartphone, according to Pippa Dunn, vice president at Orange.
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"We no longer use our mobile phones simply for talking and texting. Apps, cameras and music players allow us to use them for a lot more," she said.
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"Orange Quick Tap is the first of its kind, a service that allows you to pay for everyday items just by tapping your phone wherever you see the contactless payment symbol. It's going to start a revolution in the way we pay for things on the high street."
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Carolina Milanesi, research vice president at Gartner, told V3.co.uk that this will be the first of many services as near-field communication (NFC) technology becomes a common feature on Android, BlackBerry and possibly Apple devices.
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"[However], a little more work needs to be done on the service side as there are different kinds NFC approaches being used by the providers," she said.
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There are currently 12.9 million contactless cardholders in the UK, and Barclaycard expects the new service to drive adoption.
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O2 is gearing up to introduce NFC services during 2011, including a wallet application and direct-to-bill and peer-to-peer payment facilities.
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Analyst firm Juniper Research predicted that NFC will be built into one in five smartphones by 2014 as mobile payment and interactive promotions take off.
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Over 23 million NFC-capable smartphones are expected to be in circulation by the end of 2011, according to Juniper.