In the second half of 2011 o2 is planning on launching its mobile wallet service, which will allow mobile users to use their phone to pay for goods and services (female mobile phone owners will have their own mobile purse service presumably).
Capabilities planned for the wallet include m-commerce, airtime top ups, contactless / NFC payments and peer-to-peer payments. The service will launch solely under the O2 Money brand, however O2 will be working with a number of leading technical and financial services (namely those in the headline: Wave Crest, FIS, Intelligent Environments and Visa) to provide the infrastructure.
Commentators have long talked about mobile phones replacing cash in people’s lives and it’s never really happened. Now though, especially with the rise of smartphones and the additional opportunities they present, it looks like having a mobile phone bill replace debit cards, cash machines and loose change in your pocket could become a reality.
To find out exactly how o2′s partners are helping them launch a mobile wallet service, click the source and read the full press release.