EPC, GSMA seek unified SEPA mobile payment solution
01 February, 2010
category: Contactless, Financial, NFC
The European Payments Council (EPC) and GSMA, a trade group of wireless operators, have launched a consultation on SEPA and mobile contactless payments, according to finextra.com.
The two organizations are working to encourage cooperation among payment services providers and mobile network operators for the eventual creation of a Europe-wide mobile payment system that would allow some 500 million Europeans to make SEPA payments using their mobile handsets.
To promote industry cooperation, EPC and GSMA are inviting market participants to contribute to a newly published paper: “TSM Service Management Requirements and Specifications,” covering the different roles and processes involved in the provision and management of mobile payment systems.
The two organizations plan for the new services to be managed by a trusted service manager, which would provide a single point of contact for mobile service providers, as well as manage the distribution, configuration and activation of mobile services on NFC-enabled handsets.
According to Alex Sinclair, CTO, GSMA, this marks the first time that mobile operators and banks have worked together at the international level on a common vision for contactless payments.
Read more here.