Wallet-replacing phones--eventually

John Chan | Sep 04, 2007

Those who keep up with Japanese mobile technology will know that it is always years ahead of everyone else. One of the things that Japanese users have been able to do is to pay for stuff just by tapping their mobile phones or keitai, as they are known there, on payment stations. Mobile phone users in Singapore may soon be able to do the same, going by the announcements made by two of the island-state's mobile phone operators, SingTel and StarHub.

In a joint announcement with Nets, a widely-used cashless payment service in Singapore, SingTel revealed that the two companies will be conducting Near Field Communications (NFC) trials. The objective of this service is to allow the payment of goods and services with a mobile phone via a contact-less Nets terminal. There are 1,200 of such terminals around the island and Nets is looking to increase that number to 2,000 by year end.

On the users' end, an NFC-enabled mobile phone with the mNETS application installed is required for this mode of payment. Cash value is stored in the mobile phone, and can be topped up over the air using the Java-based mNETS program. A credit card is required for top-ups, and three banks, UOB, DBS and OCBC are working with Nets to allow their credit cards to be used with the application.

Those eager to try it out will have some waiting to do though. A three-month internal trial will begin at the end of September--and only after that will there be a six-month trial involving 200 SingTel users. So it will be almost a year before any commercial roll-out is possible. This is just as well, given that the only mobile phone that SingTel is currently using for this is an NFC-enabled version of the Nokia 6131--which may not be everyone's cup of tea. The operator is working with other mobile phone vendors to introduce more NFC-enabled handsets but these won't be available till next year at least.

In a separate announcement, StarHub also revealed that it will be working with EZ-Link to provide a similar service. EZ-Link is the de facto payment method for public transport in Singapore and was first introduced for use on the nation's rail system, the MRT. When implemented, a compatible mobile phone will be able to make use of all the contact-less EZ-Link terminals for cashless payment. These are primarily found in train stations and buses for transport fees, as well as in selected merchant outlets like 7-Eleven convenience stores and McDonald's restaurants. When contacted, StarHub was unable to give details on the user trials.

Filed under: Mobile Phones
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allanthh@yahoo.com

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allanthh@yahoo.com says...
Wonder what is the Value in SingTel and StarHub since the eWallet or mWallet is going to be on the mobilephone and not in their SIM cards??? I dun see why SingTel or StarHub doing trials will help in their value. If that is the case, I can buy any NFC MobilePhone, download the mWallet from NETS or EZ link into my mobilephone (via GPRS or etc) and then top up the value also from NETS or LTA WAP site using my credit cards. SingTel and StarHub just need to ensure that the NFC phones is something they bundle and sell with the contracts we sign w them.

Can I also transferred the credit when I switch phones? I change phones so often man...

Sep 10, 2007 17:22