Mobile operators team up for m-commerce

A new industry body is to design technology it hopes will speed up the adoption of mobile commerce.

The Mobile Payment Services Association (MPSA) has been formed by mobile operators including Vodafone, T-Mobile, Orange and Telefonica.

It wants to allow credit and debit cards to be billed for services, such as video clips, viewed on mobile devices. The mobile networks will hold credit card information while the MPSA will provide an easy-to-use and secure interface for the customer.

For smaller payments, under €10 (£6.80), a similar but reduced service would be offered, aimed in part at pre-pay phone users.

Currently mobile phone users make payments by reverse Short Message Service (SMS), where network operators agree to bill a set amount from accounts on receipt of a special SMS message.

"Reverse charge SMS is a very simplistic method of payment," said Janine Young, MPSA communications manager. "We've already got m-pay and can charge sales to the mobile phone account, but we want an interoperable solution."

Tim Jones, the co-creator of the Mondex electronic payment system, has been named MPSA chief executive.

"We're not expecting people to go into Oxford Street and wave their phone to pay for clothes," said Jones.

"But as screens get bigger, sounds get better and cameras are added to phones, there's going to be a whole host of goods and services you'll be able to buy, including music, videos and gambling services."

Once payments start MPSA will take a small slice of any transaction to fund research and development. It hopes to reduce charges as soon as possible to "reassuringly inexpensive" levels.

The association will design the specification and then outsource the building of it. A system should be available within 12 months.