If you happen to be taking a trip to London anytime soon, you’ll have to check out Vodafone’s newest launch of pay- by- text. They joined forces with a cab service; over 500 of London’s black cab’s got a makeover and now sport a giant Union Jack flag. Send your cab registration number and your trip amount via text and they add it to your monthly bill.
This is just one of the ways that telecommunications companies are starting to integrate mobile payments into society and everyday life. Paying for things (like a cab) by sending a text is a simple, yet very effective start to getting the majority of Smartphone users, used to paying for things with their mobile device.
Vodafone will be expanding the service to Heathrow Express trains also. The other method of mobile payment is by Near Field Communications (NFC) technology. Vodafone will be running a pilot test program for NFC payments later this summer at the Hungary Sziget music festival.
Smartphone’s are everywhere now, particularly in bigger cities like London. Several big name backers in the U.S. are working on NFC mobile payment systems also. It has been slow in getting here but the way many large mobile providers and financial companies are backing the technology, it won’t be long until we see it.
Many companies are waiting to see what the mobile phone makers are going to do before they jump into the NFC technology. However, with many of them having the NFC chips in their newest phone releases, it seems that everyone (except Apple) so far, is on board with it.
Don’t worry if you don’t take a cab or the train, there will be other opportunities for Londoner’s this fall. In the works now is the Mobile Money Network, which will offer services to consumers to pay for merchandise by texting the product code.
This was created in a joint venture between Best Buy Europe, Carphone Warehouse founder C. Dunstone, and Monitise. It will be a simple downloadable app called Simple Tap. In its early release, it will be for the iPhone.
