UK mobile phone company Orange has joined forces with Barclaycard to launch the UK’s first contactless mobile payment service.
The new service, Quick Tap, allows Orange customers to use their mobile phones to buy items costing up to £15 on the high street for the first time in the UK. From today, consumers can tap their mobile phone on a contactless reader at tills in more than 50,000 stores throughout Britain to make their payments. Mobile payments will be accepted at a range of stores, including Pret a Manger, EAT, Little Chef, Wembley Arena, Subway, Wilkinson and McDonalds, where contactless payments are currently accepted.
Customers need to have a Quick Tap-enabled handset to use the service. It launches with a Quick Tap-enabled version of the Samsung Tocco Lite, which will be available on pay as you go and pay monthly price plans. More handsets are expected to follow.
Barclaycard, Barclays debit or Orange Credit Card users can transfer funds of up to £100 onto the handset’s Quick Tap app, after which the phone is ready to make payments of £15 and less in a single transaction.
The payment app, which sits on the home screen of all Quick Tap compatible handsets, contains information such as electronic statements detailing Quick Tap purchases so customers can keep an eye on their spending and manage finances on the go.
“Orange Quick Tap is the first of its kind, a service that allows you to pay for everyday items just by tapping your phone wherever you see the contactless payment symbol,” said Pippa Dunn, Orange vice-president. “It’s going to start a revolution in the way we pay for things on the high street.”
The launch will be supported by a marketing campaign that will promote the benefits of Quick Tap through a range of marketing channels. Creative campaign will emphasise how Quick Tap represents a radical new way for people to pay for items using just their mobile, driving consumers to start a “new movement” with contactless payments.
Article courtesy of Businessandleadership.com
