Partnership to Boost Convergence of Mobile and Payment Industries by
Giving Consumers Fast and Secure Access to New Payment Applications
SAN FRANCISCO & SINGAPORE & SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA, February 7 /CNW/ - Visa
International and SK Telecom today announced plans to launch what they expect
to be the world's first contactless payment application on a universal SIM
(USIM(1)) card which is personalized over-the-air (OTA(2)). Visa and SK
Telecom plan to implement this large-scale commercial service in South Korea
in April 2007 with an OTA solution based on Visa's recently announced mobile
platform. The two organizations also agreed to develop new business models and
to seek business opportunities overseas by spreading the OTA-based USIM
service. Overseas cooperation activities will include efforts to establish
global standards for OTA personalization based on the platform being utilized
in the Visa - SK Telecom program.
"This collaboration is a significant step forward, especially in a mobile
market as advanced as South Korea where consumers are already aware of mobile
banking applications and are keen to see utility and services expanded," said
Gordon Cooper, regional head, mobile payments, Visa Asia Pacific. "Bringing
together one of the world's most innovative mobile operators with a leading
global payment network opens up immense opportunities for the mobile payments
business globally. Our collaboration is an example of convergence in action
with mobile phone subscribers able to make Visa Wave contactless payments at
the more than 50,000 contactless readers at merchants in Korea."
The combination of the OTA and USIM technologies is aimed at speeding up
the growth of mobile payments in South Korea because of the convenience it
offers consumers - fast, secure and direct access to new payment applications.
South Korea is an innovative market with close to 40 million mobile
subscribers and more than 83 percent penetration for mobile services(3).
"Through an early pilot and close cooperation since 2002, our work with
Visa has already brought a great deal of experience in mobile payments," said
Joo Sik Lee, senior vice president, SK Telecom. "This year we will see real
advancement in bringing mobile payment solutions to consumers. SK Telecom is
the leading operator in Korea with about 20 million mobile phone subscribers
and increasingly we expect to see high demand of our new USIM-equipped 3G
phones that will benefit from this OTA service. A commercially scalable OTA
service, modeled on the recently announced Visa mobile platform, is a critical
first component of our overall vision for mobile payments - and this project
is an important step in moving towards that vision."
Using SK Telecom 3G phones, the launch is planned to initially involve
30,000 SK Telecom subscribers. They will be able to install the Visa Wave
contactless payment application directly onto their handsets via OTA without
having to visit their bank. The user simply sends a message to the bank
requesting the Visa payment application. The bank then sends the application
through mobile internet into the secure USIM chip. As the payment application
resides on the subscribers' USIM card, they will not be restricted to making
payments only from that device. SK Telecom 3G subscribers who wish to change
to a new handset need only move the USIM card to the new device.
"Visa's strategy for mobile payments offers new revenue opportunities for
mobile operators and merchants not only in Asia Pacific but around the world,"
said Gaylon Howe, Jr., executive vice president, global strategy, products and
innovation, Visa International. "Using SK Telecom 3G phones, the launch is
anticipated to be the largest and most significant OTA service in the world,
and comes on the back of last month's mobile platform launch as an example of
the benefits of bringing together the best of the mobile and payment
industries."
Visa's mobile platform is a set of mobile services and enabling
technologies that will allow banks and mobile operators to develop new mobile
payment services for individual markets. A key component of that platform is
the standardization of security requirements for OTA downloads of financial
data to mobile devices. SK Telecom's OTA service, provided by Cassis
International, is designed to enable Visa Wave contactless payment
applications and cardholder account data to be downloaded to consumers' phones
securely and reliably. Visa Wave contactless payment removes the need to swipe
or insert a smart card into a payment reader. The customer simply waves the
card or phone to make a purchase.
Visa and SK Telecom have collaborated on a series of programs to
accelerate the growth of the mobile payments business, having initiated the
first mobile payments pilot program using EMV-based payment and infrared
technology in 2002.
Visa Mobile Market Activities
Visa has been at the forefront of mobile payment innovation since the
late 1990s, having completed numerous trials in countries throughout Africa,
Asia Pacific, Europe, Latin America, the Middle East, and the United States.
In 2006, Visa completed contactless-based mobile pilots in Malaysia and the
United States, using near field communication (NFC)-enabled phones,
complementing existing programs in Japan and Korea. In addition, Visa has led
efforts to encourage cross-industry cooperation and standardization through
leadership roles in organizations around the world such as the Mobile Payment
Forum, the Near Field Communication (NFC) Forum, GlobalPlatform and EMVCo.
SK Telecom and Mobile Financial Services Activities
SK Telecom has been one of the world's most forward-looking mobile
network operators by offering a variety of consumer mobile applications such
as mobile banking, online gaming, stock trading, transit and digital TV, and
sees Visa payment as a critical function that consumers will want on their
mobile phones. Since 2002, SK Telecom has launched the Moneta service with
proximity payment service (Moneta Card) on mobile handsets. Since then it has
expanded the Moneta service to provide transit application (Moneta Pass),
banking transaction (Moneta Bank), and stock trading application (Moneta Stock
Trading) and membership application on the handsets. Currently at least 1.5
million mobile phones with Moneta service are in circulation in Korea.
Notes to Editors:
About Visa: Visa connects cardholders, merchants and financial
institutions through the world's largest electronic payments network. Visa
products allow buyers and sellers to conduct commerce with ease and confidence
in both the physical and virtual worlds. Visa is committed to the sustained
growth of electronic payment systems to support the needs of all stakeholders
and to drive economic growth.
Visa products currently generate more than $4 trillion in sales volume
worldwide. Visa has unsurpassed acceptance at more than 24 million locations
worldwide including one million ATMs. For more information, visit
www.corporate.visa.com.
About SK Telecom: SK Telecom is Korea's leading mobile communications
company with more than 18 million subscribers. SK Telecom successfully
commercialized the world's first CDMA cellular phone service and launched the
world's first synchronized commercial IMT-2000 third generation service. The
company is listed on the Korean Stock Exchange, the New York Stock Exchange,
and the London Stock Exchange. To learn more about SK Telecom, please visit
www.sktelecom.com.
(1) A universal SIM card allows for the storage of multiple applications
such as membership, transit and payment.
(2) OTA provisioning is the ability to load applications and data, such
as electronic payment, to mobile devices remotely and efficiently using a
wireless network.
(3) Wireless World Forum, "World Mobile Penetration Rates," May 2006.
For further information: Visa International Sabine Middlemass, +1
650-432-8307 Mobile: +1 650-533-4106 globalmedia@visa.com or Visa Asia Pacific
Susan Williams, +65 6437 5659 swilliam@visa.com or Visa International Asia
Pacific (South Korea) Jang Sung Bin, +82 2-3111848 SBjang@visa.com or SK
Telecom Sindy Kang, +82 2 6100 3823 Mobile: +82 11 9113 2344
psyche@sktelecom.com
