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LONDON (Alliance News) - Vodafone Group PLC Monday said bank card payments via its Wallet mobile payments product will be enabled in European markets from the second quarter of 2015, after it signed new agreements with Visa and Carta Worlwide.
This service, which requires a Vodafone NFC SIM, will be supported on a wide range of Android smartphones, the company said. Customers just need to input their bank cards to the Vodafone Wallet app, where an alias of each card is stored securely, and confirm ownership of the card using Verified by Visa authentication. They then pay by tapping their phones against a contactless point-of-sale terminal.
Carta Worldwide is providing the payment card enabling technology.
"The digital wallet just took another step forward. 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," said Mark Ritzmann, Head of mCommerce at Vodafone Group.
Vodafone Wallet is currently available in Germany, Spain, the UK, Italy and The Netherlands. Customers can already add loyalty cards into the Vodafone Wallet, as well as pay with Vodafone SmartPass that was launched in partnership with Visa in 2013.
Separately, Vodafone said Mathias Döpfner, the chairman and chief executive of German media group Axel Springer, will become a non-executive director from April 1.
Meanwhile, Luc Vandevelde will stand down from Vodafone board with effect from the company's Annual General Meeting on July 28.
By Steve McGrath; stevemcgrath@alliancenews.com; @stevemcgrath1
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