Telecom Italia to Enable Mobile Payments from 2010

­Telecom Italia has announced that it will start supporting payments via mobile phones from next year in association with the Italian Movincom Consortium.

Starting in 2010, Telecom Italia will be building in an ad hoc application into its new SIM cards. Using this application, directly from their mobile phones, customers will be able to make a range of purchases. Specific menus integrated directly into the SIM card will guide customers through the payment process. Orders placed for goods or services are dispatched by a text message generated automatically by the application. The text message features the purchaser's cellphone number but no sensitive data about the selected method of payment.

The configuration-free service will be available on all mobile phones. It will be possible to update the service at any time, as and when new goods and services are added.

The Movincom Consortium currently has more than 650 operational services on board, a figure that is destined to rise to over 1,500 services in seven different market sectors.

"After becoming an indispensable personal communications tool," says Oscar Cicchetti, Manager of Telecom Italia's Domestic Market Operations, "the mobile phone is transitioning into a personal gateway to the internet, content and services, ranging from information to entertainment and professional applications. Leveraging the potential of the latest SIM cards and terminals, mobile phones are poised to become a powerful and secure transactions and identity management tool too. Today's agreement paves the way for this by offering a broad range of services and a secure, straightforward and intuitive method for making purchases."

"We know that security and a user-friendly purchase experience are vital to the development of mobile commerce via mobile phones. This agreement with Telecom Italia is a major step in that direction," says Enrico Sponza, Deputy Chairman of the Movincom Consortium. "Banks will have access to an integrated set of operational processes and be able to fast track their entry into the mobile payment business."

Posted to the site on 24th September 2009