Simpay

Orange, Telefónica Móviles, T-Mobile and Vodafone together founded Simpay with the ambition to attract other major network operators, who would also introduce Simpay to their customers. Creating one brand for all mobile phone payment will make things simpler for people. In February 2005, two additional operators, Amena and Proximus, became Simpay members. A single brand avoids the confusion that would arise if all the networks promoted their own separate payment products to us.

See also:
A new carrier trade body hopes to promote a common m-payment system, but will it work? (The Feature about Simpay)
Overview Digital Mobile Content (PDF) (L.C.)

PayCircle

PayCircle® is a vendor-independent non-profit organization. Its main focus is to accelerate the use of payment technology and develop or adopt open payment APIs (uniform Application Programming Interfaces) based on XML, SOAP, Java and other Internet languages.

Via Or, how mobile phones can break the money monopoly

ABI Research Sees Crucial Contactless Payment Pieces Falling into Place

Payment processing companies, credit card issuers, banks, retailers and the all-consuming public will soon begin experiencing a payment paradigm shift as the final pieces fall into place for secure "contactless payments."

The recent joint announcement by electronics giant Philips and payment transaction software creator ViVOtech, of a partnership marrying Philips' near-field communications (NFC) technologies with ViVOtech's readers and processing software, takes contactless payment one big step closer to reality. Armed with an NFC-equipped mobile phone (or some other device, but all bets are on the phone as top choice), a consumer at a checkout or cashier need only wave it near a "reader" to have a credit transaction automatically initiated and carried out.

Via Developing RFID-Enabled Phones

I saw that in a short message in NZZ from June 18 for the first time:

Nach der kürzlich angekündigten Einführung des Prepaid-Zahlungsmittels Easyp@y hat die Swisscom diese Woche mitgeteilt, über ihre Tochter Bluewin und mit der Firma Webpay AG das Internet-Bezahlungssystem «click & buy» in der Schweiz einzuführen.

For more information in german see:
Firstgate Click&Buy and Bluewin Press Release

Related:
Urs' Weblog post: Easypay by Swisscom for micro content

Dr. Polychronis Tzerefos, MELLON Technologies:

Mellon Technologies is the coordinating partner of the MobiSmart project (www.mobismart.org) which will propose and demonstrate a novel solution for credit card payments over mobile phones using EMV smartcards. The consortium consists of Mellon, ANKO S.A., Athens University of Economics and Business (AUEB) and EGNATIA Bank.

The project has launched a questionnaire towards capturing user requirements. We would be grateful if you could contribute to this effort by filling in the electronic questionnaire that should only take 5-10' of your time. Through the questionnaire you can also express your interest in participating in the project pilot. The consortium will furnish you with the required mobile phone, Bluetooth smartcard reader and EMV card for the trial.

Please point your browser at:
http://mellonrd.com/mobis/survey_en.html

paybox, Zahl's mit dem Handy, is an austrian service.

There are three possible ways to use paybox:

Buying on the internet

• Fill your cart at one of the accepted partners
• Click the paybox-Logo to buy
• Type in the registered paybox phone number respectively your chosen number
• paybox calls you on your mobile and tells you the amount and the receiver of the amount
• You authorise the payment by typing your paybox PIN and confirm it with the #-button.

Buying in real life

• Tell the salesperson your egistered paybox phone number respectively your chosen number
• The salesperson transmits your number and the amount to paybox
• paybox calls you on your mobile and tells you the amount and the receiver
• You authorise the payment by typing your paybox PIN and confirm it with the #-button.

Pay directly with your mobile phone

• Your are buying via SMS or WAP
• paybox calls you on your mobile and tells you the amount and the receiver
• You authorise the payment by typing your paybox PIN

I am wondering how successful this service is and if it incites the telcos to further the payment via mobile. Still the three different payment solutions do not fully convince me as there is a phone call in-between.