O2 Wallet trial deemed a success

02 September 2008

Payment by Near Field Communications the future?

O2 has unveiled its results for a trial which saw 500 people use their mobile phone to make purchases or pay for travel. O2 claims that nine out of 10 of the trialists were happy using the service, and 78% would be interested in using contactless services in the future. The O2 Wallet was trialled for six months from November 2007 to May 2008 and saw O2 partnering with Transport for London, TranSys, AEG, Visa Europe and Barclaycard.

Customers were able to use their Nokia 6131 Near Field Communications (NFC) handset to purchase goods for £10 or under from selected retailers, as well as travel on London transport by touching their phones on Oyster ticket barriers.

O2 claims that from a technology perspective the O2 Wallet is ready for launch. However, this seems unlikely with the operator stating that for the service to really take off it will need other operators to become involved along with more retailers and phone manufacturers.