Big banks back mobile phone payment app
By Nadine Chalmers-Ross
Published: 5:31PM Wednesday October 08, 2014 Source: ONE News
An app that will turn your mobile phone into your wallet was unveiled today, a local alternative to rival Apple's recently announced 'Apple Pay'.
A consortium of telecos and banks have partnered together to create 'Semble', an application which will allow users to simply swipe their phone at the checkout.
The company estimates about a million Kiwis will have Android phones capable of making mobile payments by the end of the year.
Semble chief executive Rob Ellis says people can be confident the system is secure.
'The data is held in an encrypted form in the SIM card itself and it's the same secure technology that's used for credit and debit cards. You have the choice of adding other layers of security that you don't have with a physical credit or debit card,' says Mr Ellis.
Semble follows Apple's announcement last month that it will launch its own mobile wallet called 'Apple Pay' in the United States next year. Only the Iphone 6 and 6 plus are NFC capable and, while they went on sale in New Zealand last month, Apple hasn't yet given any indication when Apple Pay will be available in New Zealand.
To begin with, only customers of ASB and BNZ will be able to load their cards onto the device, but Semble hopes to get other banks and also loyalty schemes on board.
Technology commentator John Buckley says while Westpac is currently conducting its own separate trial, all banks are likely to get involved in mobile payments in one form or another.
'I don't think consumers need to worry. I think all the banks are going to get into this space and if you want to use your mobile for payments, 2015 seems to be the year you'll do it,' says Mr Buckley.
Semble is launching a pilot of the system next month with 250 participants and hopes to launch nationwide early next year.
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