MasterCard Over-the-Air Provisions Speed Up Mobile Payment Deployment

By Contributor Wireless and Mobile News on October 31, 2008 12:03 PM

MasterCard announced the launch of the MasterCard Over-the-Air Provisioning Service, that enables issuers to perform over-the-air personalization of their cardholders' mobile devices in an easy, one-step process. The service allows issuers to implement PayPass on mobile programs in a reduced timeframe with minimal development and implementation effort. Mobile MasterCard PayPass enables mobile devices to perform payment transactions at merchant locations with PayPass-enabled point-of-sale terminals.

Global annual mobile phone payments are expected to grow more than tenfold between 2008 and 2013, according to the Juniper 2008 Mobile Payments Study. The MasterCard Over-the-Air Provisioning Service will allow issuers to move more aggressively into the mobile payments space and capture a share of this transaction volume more quickly and with reduced up front investment.

How the MasterCard Over-the-Air Provisioning Service Works

In order for accountholders to use their mobile phones to make purchases, they need to have a mobile phone equipped with Near Field Communications (NFC) capabilities and a mobile data subscription. First the PayPass application is securely transferred onto a secure area of the consumer's mobile phone via the mobile network. Next the PayPass application is personalized with the consumers' individual payment account details. MasterCard has created a simple way for issuers to enable their accountholders to perform this process themselves over-the-air. The service will be made available to consumers through their issuing banks' websites.

About the MasterCard Mobile^T Program
MasterCard is leading a new wave of mobile payment innovation that is creating a more efficient system of global commerce, displacing cash and making transactions faster, easier, and more secure for consumers, merchants and financial institutions. Through the MasterCard Mobile Program, MasterCard is focused on delivering products and services that combine payments and communications onto one "anywhere" consumer device including: contactless payments, person-to-person payments, mobile commerce, mobile top-up and reload, and information and marketing services. Numerous MasterCard mobile trials are underway or have been completed in high-potential markets around the world.