Mobile phone out to make wallet redundant

By PETER GRIFFIN

As part of the mobile generation we've taken to text messaging with a passion. Now this simple technology is playing a part to let your mobile phone become your wallet.

Software developer Mobile Commerce is leading moves locally to allow mobile phone users to make payment via their phones, debiting their bank account with the sending of a text message.

While New Zealanders have been spoilt with a world-leading eftpos network, Mobile Commerce's mpayment system is allowing financial payments to be made anywhere there is a mobile phone network.

Mobile Commerce already has a product in the market - mTopup - which allows users of Telecom pre-pay mobiles with an ASB Bank account to top up their air-time credit via text message.

Mobile Commerce director Adam Clark says the challenge now is getting merchants on board at a time when even eftpos is going mobile. Telecom is offering mobile eftpos terminals from US company Verifone and taxi companies and tourism operators are already signing up.

Mobile Commerce expects the service to consumers making vending, parking and internet purchases. Public transport systems and movie theatres are other good candidates.

* To boost the development and market deployment of other innovative applications and services, the Herald and Ericsson have launched a transtasman developer competition called Frontier. Frontier is an initiative of Ericsson Mobility World, Ericsson's global developer partnering program.

Entries closed last Friday and finalists will be announced in the Herald on October 5.

The overall winner will be profiled in the Herald on October 19 and receive business-class travel to the December Ericsson Matchmaking Session in Switzerland, where Europe's leading network operators and venture capitalists will gather.

New Zealand finalists will receive prizes including Sony Ericsson mobile phones, free entry into Ericsson's Developer Day programme on November 11 in Auckland and also the chance to present their application to top telecommunications decision makers.

Visit www.ericsson.com/mobilityworld for more information on Ericsson's developer community and upcoming activities.