New Zealand’s three major mobile operators have teamed up with local electronic payments provider Paymark to develop and promote NFC-based mobile payment services.
Telecom New Zealand, 2degrees, Vodafone New Zealand and Paymark plan to develop a trusted service manager (TSM), which will allow New Zealanders to make secure payments, collect loyalty points and use public transport with mobile phones featuring embedded NFC chips.
By working together to develop an ecosystem, the companies said, the project can be rolled out more quickly and seamlessly while lowering costs and simplifying the process for merchants.
The infrastructure will also be open to other banks, mobile operators, loyalty schemes and transport companies in a bid to encourage wide-spread consumer uptake.
Despite collaborating on the underlying technology, the three cellcos plan to "continue to compete vigorously for customers" by developing their own services on top of the open platform infrastructure provided by the TSM.
“Mobile phones are already an indispensable part of New Zealanders’ lives. Through the TSM initiative, Telecom [NZ] is proud to be helping make the smartphone even more versatile, building on the innovation and choice we offer to our customers across New Zealand,” said Paul Reynolds, CEO of Telecom New Zealand.
Paymark is owned by the country’s four major banks, and its network processes more than 75% of all electronic transactions in New Zealand.