Telenor has launched a new NFC-based m-payment system across more than 400 stores in Norway.
Valyou, a mobile app developed in partnership with Norway’s DNB banking group, allows users to pay for products via NFC-enabled smartphones.
To use the service, users must first be a customer of both DNB and Telenor. Once downloaded from the Google Play store, customers are required to order a new Valyou-compatible SIM card from the operator.
After receiving the new SIM, users can then download an e-version of their Visa debit card, which can be used to make payments at contactless merchant terminals both in Norway and abroad.
Valyou CEO Tor Jacobsen claimed the service was “fast and easy to use [and] as safe to use as a regular debit card”.
Telenor recently held a successful demonstration of the technology at a supermarket chain in Oslo, with the operator claiming that between 10 and 20 new stores supporting the tech were being added every week.
Jon Baksaas, CEO of Telenor, said: “Some innovations immediately become the obvious choice for the future. This is the case for contactless payment through your mobile – it’s just a matter of time before we are all using our mobile phones to pay.”
The operator said Telenor customers of other Norwegian banking groups, including Sparebank1, Skandia Bank and EnterCard, will be able to use the service from next year.
Kirsten Idebøen, of SpareBank1 Group, commented: “We want to be involved in influencing the future of payment solutions. It’s important for us to build expertise within this type of technology, to provide even better and easier services for our customers.”
A recent report from Juniper concluded that operators dipping their toe in NFC payment systems might have their work cut out, with the rise of Host Card Emulation (HCE) and services such as Apple Pay taking ownership away from operators.
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