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Ofcom says mobile contracts should ditch inflation-related price rises

Ofcom says mobile contracts should ditch inflation-related price rises

UK telecoms regulator Ofcom wants to ban inflation-related rises in phone and broadband contracts. Instead, it says any potential mid-contract price rises should be set out in pounds and pence.
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Global smartphone market is set for recovery, says new forecast

A new forecast from research specialists Canalys shows the smartphone market is set to recover next year. Worldwide shipments declined by 12% last year but that decline is expected to slow to 5% this year.
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Vodafone and Three plan to merge their UK businesses

Vodafone and Three plan to merge their UK businesses

New Hutchison/Vodafone network would be biggest UK operator

Vodafone Group plc and CK Hutchison Group Telecom Holdings Limited have agreed to combine their UK telecommunication businesses, respectively Vodafone UK and Three UK. The merger will create a large new network operator to compete with Virgin Media O2 and EE.
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UK mobile payment service Paym to close in March 2023

UK mobile payment service Paym will close on 7th March 2023. The service, which allowed users to make and receive payments using their mobile phone numbers, was launched in 2014.
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Qualcomm legal action moves forward in the UK

Qualcomm legal action moves forward in the UK

Which? seeks payout for Samsung and Apple smartphone owners

Consumer protection organisation Which? has been given permission by the UK's Competition Appeal Tribunal to represent Apple and Samsung smartphone buyers in a legal case against chip manufacturer Qualcomm.
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Opinion Articles

Monday, October 19, 2009

I want a mobile wallet - and I want it NOW!

Mark Bridge writes:

A few months ago James wrote about the slow adoption of mobile and contactless payments in the UK. Now we hear that Kenya’s M-PESA mobile money transfer service has arrived here. Yes, m-payments are finally going mainstream in the United Kingdom. Well, sort of. Well, alright, not at all really. What’s happened is that people in the UK are now able to send money to M-PESA users in Kenya. But what about the progress of mobile payments in the UK?

Mobile Wallet?Good question. As you’ve probably noticed, there’s not much big ‘mobile money’ news happening in the UK at the moment. A couple of years ago O2 ran a NFC trial with Visa – and it’s followed that up with a payment card branded as O2 Money. Masabi is doing clever things with travel tickets on mobile phones and MoBank is delivering a combined shopping and payment service for iPhone users. You can even pay for some car parks by calling premium-rated numbers or using premium-rated text messages – but that’s about it. Everything’s about niches, it seems. Can I walk into my favourite coffee shop and pay from my mobile phone?  Nope, not a chance. And this is two-and-a-half years after The Times reckoned we’d all have the option of mobile paying within twelve months.

Financial services experts Auriemma Consulting Group LLC have also spotted the delay in implementing m-cash in the UK. Theyreckon it’s because no-one’s worked out a commercial model that’ll keep the mobile networks, card issuers and transaction processors all happy… and because consumers aren’t asking for it with any enthusiasm.

But there’s hope… and it’s coming from an unexpected source. This week the UK government has said smartphone applications could be used to authenticate your identity when you log in to government websites. Of course, there are also privacy and security issues here – I can’t imagine everyone would be happy running government software on their phone – but it could also kick-start consumer demand. Or am I the only person who wants to leave their wallet at home and just head out with my mobile?

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1 comments on article "I want a mobile wallet - and I want it NOW!"

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Mark

10/22/2009 6:49 PM

It gets worse! Safaricom customers can now pay for their air, road and rail travel thanks to M-PESA. www.nation.co.ke/business/news/-/1006/675694/-/if8fn4z/-/

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