Banks Expect M-commerce Service by Year-end

Banks in Mexico expect to launch mobile payment (m-commerce) services before the end of the year, local daily Reforma reported.

Several local banks have been testing m-commerce solutions since 2005 and in June 2006 they forecast that this payment mechanism would eventually bring in 4bn pesos (US$370mn) a year for the banks and 2bn pesos for the mobile operators.

Banks known to be testing the system are BBVA Bancomer, IXE and Banco Azteca, with the help of credit card firm Visa. The companies involved expect to enable the system mainly for the purchase of snacks from small stores, items from vending machines or payment of transport fares, in much the same way people already use their cell phones to buy ringtones.

BBVA Bancomer is partnering with Telefónica unit Movistar and plans to sign up other operators once the system has proved to be popular.

The banking regulator CNBV is drafting special regulations to ensure this payment method is secure, the paper quoted CNBV IT systems supervisor Carlos Marmolejo as saying. Unlike the country's experience with internet banking, these regulations will already be in place by the time m-commerce launches, he added."

Posted to the site on 25th June 2007