Ericsson and Visa announce strategic partnership to promote mobile e-commerce

Ericsson and Visa International have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to develop secure payment solutions for the purchase of goods and services over the Internet via a mobile terminal.

This partnership will develop mobile e-commerce and drive open standards for payment transactions over wireless networks. Ericsson and Visa will cooperate by providing a variety of payment solutions leveraging open standards, such as the WAP, Bluetooth, Secure Electronic Transaction (SET) and Europay-MasterCard-Visa (EMV) protocols, to address different market requirements.

One area of cooperation will involve the development of a payment solution for mobile e-commerce using Ericsson`s Bluetooth-enabled wireless wallet. Bluetooth is a short-range radio frequency protocol that allows devices to interact remotely. The wireless wallet, which can also serve as a conventional wallet for notes and coins, contains multiple smart card `readers`, allowing a smart card to communicate with a Bluetooth-enabled mobile terminal, when it is inserted into the wallet. Paying in this way makes it possible to use the mobile phone for Internet shopping, while the wallet stays in the user`s pocket.

Other joint activities undertaken by Ericsson and Visa will include participation on standards committees, market testing of prototypes and payment solutions, joint business development activities, as well as the development and adoption of other secure payment solutions, such as the SET protocol, to a mobile environment.

Industry studies predict that within the next ten years, consumers will increasingly rely on non-PC devices, such as mobile phones, to access the Internet. This partnership will ensure that Visa-member banks will be able to offer cardholders secure payment solutions when purchasing on-line goods and services via a mobile phone.

"The advent of mobile phones able to access the Internet and receive messages over the air has provided Visa member banks with a whole new opportunity to offer convenient and exciting services to cardholders on the go," said Philip Yen, senior vice president of Internet and Access Channels at Visa International.

A good example of a new service made possible by this technology is the targeted promotion of concert or theatre tickets, which will make it possible for mobile phone subscribers to be notified of an event before the tickets are sold out. Using a WAP-enabled mobile phone, the user can purchase the tickets immediately over the Internet. The tickets are then sent electronically to the phone and are stored on the smart card residing in the wireless wallet as `electronic tickets`, which are presented on arrival at the theatre.

"Ericsson is continuously utilising the full market potential of mobile commerce, and, within the solutions created through our partnership with Visa, we will open up new business opportunities for our customers. Merchants, as well as the banking and finance industry, will also be able to generate increased revenues," said Jan Lindgren, Vice President and General Manager for Wireless E-Solutions, at Ericsson. "We look forward to working in collaboration with Visa to expand secure, mobile e-commerce solutions."

Ericsson is the leading provider in the new telecoms world, with communications solutions that combine telecom and datacom technologies with freedom of mobility for the user. With more than 100,000 employees in 140 countries, Ericsson simplifies communications for its customers - network operators, service providers, enterprises and consumers - the world over. Please visit Ericsson`s Press Room at: http://www.ericsson.se/pressroom