4T Sverige, the Swedish mobile payments joint venture, selected PayEx and Accumulate as the payment and security vendors for its mobile payment platform, and said its solution will also support near-field communications (NFC) when such contactless payment services are available in Sweden. The venture said its joint mobile wallet service will launch before the summer.
Swedish operators Telia, Tele2, Telenor and 3 announced the formation of T4 in November, joining the ranks of other countries such as the UK, France and Germany where mobile operators are already collaborating on the provision of joint mobile payment service platforms.
4T said the service based on technology and services from Swedish financial services company PayEx and Swedish mobile banking and payments provider Accumulate will be available to 97 per cent of Swedish mobile subscribers and all handsets produced after 2006, 4T also said the service will be applicable to all payment situations right from the stat, ranging from online payments to M2M applications such as vending machines and parking meters. The service brand will be revealed closer to the launch in the summer.
The 4T venture is stressing the open nature of the platform, noting that the service will be the same from all operators and will provide end users with a consistent experience regardless of which operator is used.
"The Swedish operators have the opportunity and the will to be part of setting a new and open standard for mobile payments that combine security, ease of use and flexibility in a cost effective way," Accumulate CEO Stefan Hultberg said in a statement.
With regard to NFC developments in Sweden, NFCNews reported in December that PayPal launched its first-ever pilot of NFC retail payments in Sweden over the holiday period. The company partnered with Accumulate to deliver PayPal Instore, a new mobile payments app for Apple's iPhone and Android smartphones.
For more:
- see this press release
- see this NFC World article
- see this NFCNews article
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