Mobile payments are finally taking off, and all the mobile players want to control the systems that underpin them. Ericsson is putting its hat in the ring, adding Ericsson Money Services to its expanding range of managed offerings for carriers.
This is not just a hosted service, but an end-to-end process that the company says is "set to create a global ecosystem that makes sending money person to person as simple as sending an SMS".
Ericsson will officially unveil the new offering, which has been in development for two years, at Mobile World Congress this month and it will go live first in Europe and Asia.
It will consist of an "end-to-end solution and associated business and operational models, fulfilling all necessary regulatory, legal and security requirements", according to the statement, and support cross-border, cross-currency financial transfer services on behalf of cellcos, financial institutions and other service providers, which will all be connected to a single real time switching network.
"A new market is opening up consisting of consumers whose first meeting with banks will take place over a mobile phone and who may never own a plastic credit card. People who may never enter a bricks-and-mortar bank now have the opportunity to 'walk' into a virtual bank using their phone. They will also benefit from more reasonable fees for routine transactions such as transferring funds", said Semir Mahjoub, head of Ericsson Money Services.
Original article: Ericsson unveils its mobile money framework