Atos Origin, Bouygues Telecom, Orange and SFR have formed a new joint venture company to launch a new payment solution. The new solution is said to be backed by major online retailers in France, including Aquarelle, Brandalley, Darty and Rue du Commerce.
Buyster is said to be a simple, fast and secure remote payment solution for fixed and mobile Internet purchases, which will be available in France from mid-2011. Against a backdrop of sustained growth in eCommerce and an increase in purchases being made from new types of screen, including smartphones and touchscreen devices, the three French mobile operators (Bouygues Telecom, Orange and SFR) and Atos Origin, through Atos Worldline, a European specialist in electronic transactions and secure payments, are bringing together their experience in telecoms and payment to launch the new solution.
The JV has been created against the background of the Single European Payment Area and, in particular, the Payment Services Directive (PSD), which provides the legal foundation for the creation of an EU-wide single market for payment. The regulatory environment is supportive of new players entering the payment market and the partners behind Buyster believe that their combination of mobile communications and eCommerce expertise will present a very strong offer to consumers and online merchant alike.
The aim of the company, whose payment institution licence is still being requested from the Banque de France, is to develop, operate and market the Buyster payment facility in France.
The Buyster service will be offered through the JV’s mobile telephony partners, which together account for over 50 million consumers. Buyster will be targeting the new payment solution at online merchants, capitalizing on the strong market presence and extensive eCommerce knowledge of partners such as Atos Worldline.
Eric Gontier, CEO of Buyster: “Thanks to this alliance, we are setting out our ambition to become a key player in eCommerce payment and the leading company in France for mCommerce; a market with strong potential. Over the next five years, we are counting on a share of the mCommerce market representing 10% of the turnover for eCommerce with an estimated amount of just over EUR 6 billion.”