O2 announces O2 Wallet with Transport for London, Transys, Barclaycard, Visa Europe, Nokia and AEG

O2 today announced the launch of the UK's first
large scale pilot of NFC (Near Field Communications) technology on
mobile phones. The trial of the O2 Wallet® paves the way for the mass
market use of mobile phones to pay for purchases, access events or even
be used as Oyster cards for travel around London, simply by touching
the phone to a reader.

 

"Research shows that people are more likely to
return home if they leave their phone behind than their wallet or
keys," said Cath Keers, Customer Director, O2 UK. "So why not have your
wallet on your phone? We believe that NFC technology is going to
fundamentally change the way people use their mobile phones."

 

The trial, which will involve over 500 people
invited from the O2 customer base, takes place across selected sites
throughout London and begins on 28th November 2007 running for six
months until the end of May 2008.

 

NFC is a contactless functionality, enabling a wide
range of secure uses including cashless payments, public transport and
event ticketing, and smart posters. In order to make this as
comprehensive a pilot as possible, O2 has brought together a broad
range of partners, including Transport for London, TranSys,
Barclaycard, Visa Europe, Nokia and AEG.

 

Each trialist will be given a Nokia 6131 NFC handset
installed with the O2 Wallet. Just like a normal wallet, this will hold
various everyday cards, including Oyster and Barclaycard, but in
virtual form and with NFC functionality. Trialists will be able to test
a wide range of different services in London, such as making purchases
in retail outlets and travelling on London's public transport system.
All participants will be asked to provide feedback on the services
featured in the O2 Wallet evaluating its ease of use, security and
overall usefulness.

 

A range of services

Accessed from the phone's main menu, the O2 Wallet
shows all the NFC services available on the handset in addition to
information about each service and customer support.

 

All 500 trialists will have Oyster on their phone
enabling them to use their handset to pay for travel on the Tube, buses
and trams across the Capital. They will also be able to top up their
Oyster by touching their handset on Oyster ticket machines in tube
stations or at Oyster ticket stops. If a trialist's phone rings, they
can still answer the call and continue to make a transaction. A call or
text message will not interfere with the NFC service.

 

Trialists will also be able to touch the NFC-enabled
handset on selected smart posters at the launch and at other locations
over the course of the trial. The smart posters contain embedded tags
which serve as shortcuts for services enabled through the handset. Once
the user taps the poster with the handset, they will automatically dial
a number, send a text message or be sent a shortcut to a mobile
internet site with more information about the subject on the poster
e.g. an event taking place or downloading content.

 

Mobile payments

The trial will also examine mobile payments using
the Barclaycard payment application in the O2 Wallet. A subset of
trialists will be able to use the growing number of 'contactless'
payment readers at retailers in and around London to purchase goods for
GBP 10 or under. They will simply need to tap their phones on the
secure reader and transactions will be completed in a matter of seconds.

 

In the initial phase of the trial, Barclaycard will
credit each phone with GBP 200 worth of non-reloadable funds which
trialists can use and spend as they see fit at any participating
retailer.  As well as making payments, they will also be able to use
the phones to check available funds and to locate retailers close to
them that accept 'contactless' payments, including Books Etc, Chop'd,
Coffee Republic, EAT, Krispy Kreme, Threshers and YO! Sushi.

 

The partners are keen to extend the payment
functionality delivered to trialists as part of the O2 Wallet and are
actively discussing the opportunities to develop the trial service
further in 2008.  Possible developments include PIN capability, over
GBP 10 purchases and reloadable / credit funds capability.

 

The O2

AEG Europe, which operates The O2, will also be
looking into how the NFC handset can be used to enhance the customer
experience at The O2. All trialists will be able to use their NFC
handsets to gain entry into the blueroom at The O2 - the exclusive bar
for O2 customers and guests in the venue. The experience will be
managed by O2 Angels whose own NFC handsets will display the name of
the trialists enabling a personalised greeting into the blueroom.

 

Cath Keers, Customer Director, O2 UK continued:
"This trial is going to provide insights which will prove crucial to
getting the customer experience right as we bring NFC on mobile to
market. But the trial is just the start of this journey. For this to
work we will need the whole ecosystem to come together which means
mobile operators, banks and retailers all working together to fulfill a
shared vision. If we get this right we can place the UK at the
forefront of technology innovation."