The FINANCIAL -- MasterCard  on October 30 announced the launch of the MasterCard Over-the-Air Provisioning Service, the first program of its kind that enables issuers to perform over-the-air personalization of their cardholders’ mobile devices in an easy, one-step process.

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The service allows issuers to implement PayPass on mobile programs in a reduced timeframe with minimal development and implementation effort. Mobile MasterCard PayPass enables mobile devices to perform payment transactions at merchant locations with PayPass-enabled point-of-sale terminals.

 

Global annual mobile phone payments are expected to grow more than tenfold between 2008 and 2013, according to the Juniper 2008 Mobile Payments Study. The MasterCard Over-the-Air Provisioning Service will allow issuers to move more aggressively into the mobile payments space and capture a share of this transaction volume more quickly and with reduced up front investment.

 

“At MasterCard , we are dedicated to the development of a sustainable mobile payments eco-system in which all of our customers and every major mobile player can participate,” said Art Kranzley, Chief Emerging Technology Officer, MasterCard Worldwide. “By managing the device personalization process for our customers from beginning to end, we are offering a service that is consistent with both customer demand for ease of implementation and consumer demand for ease of use.”

 

Kranzley added, “We are very pleased to offer a service that enables our customers to benefit from the growing trend toward mobile payments, and one that allows us to advance global commerce. Through our extensive trial experience with contactless mobile payments, implementing a new provisioning process emerged as a challenge for our customers. We were able to build a service that makes our customers’ lives easier, and thereby delivers even more value from their relationship with MasterCard .”

 

How the MasterCard Over-the-Air Provisioning Service Works

 

In order for accountholders to use their mobile phones to make purchases, they need to have a mobile phone equipped with Near Field Communications (NFC) capabilities and a mobile data subscription. First the PayPass application is securely transferred onto a secure area of the consumer’s mobile phone via the mobile network. Next the PayPass application is personalized with the consumers’ individual payment account details. MasterCard has created a simple way for issuers to enable their accountholders to perform this process themselves over-the-air. The service will be made available to consumers through their issuing banks’ websites.

 

About the MasterCard Mobile Program

MasterCard is leading a new wave of mobile payment innovation that is creating a more efficient system of global commerce, displacing cash and making transactions faster, easier, and more secure for consumers, merchants and financial institutions. Through the MasterCard Mobile Program, MasterCard is focused on delivering products and services that combine payments and communications onto one “anywhere” consumer device including: contactless payments, person-to-person payments, mobile commerce, mobile top-up and reload, and information and marketing services. Numerous MasterCard mobile trials are underway or have been completed in high-potential markets around the world.

 

Recent Mobile Announcements:

 

The following milestones reflect continued MasterCard leadership in mobile innovation:

 

MasterCard Announces Agreement with Obopay

In June, MasterCard announced an agreement with Obopay, Inc. to offer a fully-integrated on-demand person-to-person mobile payment service in the United States. The service, offered via MasterCard MoneySend, will give new and existing MasterCard issuing customers the ability to provide an innovative mobile payments service to their cardholders on all MasterCard -branded credit, debit and prepaid products.

 

MasterCard Canada Trials Mobile Payment

In May, MasterCard Canada announced that it would test Near Field Communications-enabled phones with MasterCard PayPass capability on the Bell Mobility wireless network. The four-month trial will be the next major step in bringing contactless payments via mobile phones to the Canadian market.

 

Mobile Telephones can be used as MasterCard PayPass cards with leadership from Garanti Bank and Turkcell
In January in Turkey, MasterCard Worldwide, Garanti Bank and Turkcell announced the pilot of Turkey’s first mobile phones, enabled with MasterCard PayPass technology. The “mobile wallet” project, estimated to be completed by the end of 2008 will enable PayPass transactions linked to a Bonus Trink credit card.

 

MasterCard Worldwide, U.S. Bank and Nokia launch innovative mobile payments pilot in Spokane, Washington
In January, U.S. Bank, MasterCard Worldwide and Nokia announced the introduction of a mobile payments pilot program in Spokane, Washington. Program participants received a new Nokia mobile phone equipped with MasterCard PayPass payment functionality, allowing them to pay for purchases with a tap of their mobile phone.

 

 

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