Mobile phone operator Vodafone and US payments giant Visa have announced the two companies will form a partnership to create the world's largest mobile payments network. Visa and Vodafone - the world's largest mobile phone operator - will soon start to develop a Vodafone-branded scheme that will be accessible to Vodafone's 398 million customers in 29 countries across five continents. The scheme will be facilitated by Visa's payments network, brand and product suite. The payments network will initially be launched in Germany, the Netherlands, Spain and Turkey in May, with all the other countries within Visa's portfolio to follow within a few months.
Arnaud de La Chapelle, of Oberthur Technology, called the partnership "a powerful tool" and he expects other "financial institutions and mobile network operators to move quickly into the growing market for mobile payments". Pedro Sousa, of Visa Europe, said: "Mobile operators can make money through customer loyalty, data usage and prepay cards."
Michiel Willems © 2012, CP Publishing Ltd. London, UK. Picture: www.business.myjoyonline.com
