Mobile Payment Forum Attracts 45 New Members
Wakefield, Mass., USA (ots)
Rapid Membership Take-Up From Mobile And Technology Leaders Underscores Need For Standardized Mobile Payment Features
Forty-five organizations from the mobile, technology and financial services industries have joined the Mobile Payment Forum following its launch last November. Created as a cross industry group to enable secure, user-friendly mobile payment transactions and to expand the global market for mobile (m) commerce, the Mobile Payment Forum is working to standardize the building blocks needed to deploy global payment solutions for secure mobile commerce.
Among the new members are Abbey National, Accenture, Cartes Bancaires, Compaq, DataCard Group, J.P. Morgan Chase, Korea Telecom Freetel, Interpay Nederland, Microcell i5, Mobipay International, On Air Commerce, Sonera, and Vodafone. These new member organizations will join founding members: American Express Company, JCB Co., Ltd., MasterCard International and Visa International.
"The Mobile Payment Forum's membership base reflects the importance that has been placed on broad cross-industry cooperation within the organization," said Joe Chouinard, co-president of the Mobile Payment Forum. "With a mobile infrastructure comprised of diverse network and device technologies, it is essential that major m-commerce players are involved in the development of a practical foundation for secure mobile payments. The contribution of these new members will be crucial in achieving the Forum's goals quickly and efficiently."
The Mobile Payment Forum aims to offer consumers a secure and seamless m-commerce payment experience with greater consistency regardless of where they are in the world, what device they use, where they shop or which payment card they use. It will address key areas such as interoperability, passwords, cardholder authentication and encryption methods.
The Forum's first plenary session will be held on February 27 and 28 in Genval, Belgium, and will be open to all Forum members. At this meeting, the Forum will elect committee chairs, establish working groups and commence work on specific activities defined by the board of directors. Specific first-year deliverables will focus on cardholder authentication, general device security, transport security and consumer convenience and usability. The Forum's technical committee will also drive collaborative work with other industry consortia and standards bodies.
Membership of the Mobile Payment Forum is tiered, allowing interested parties to join as either Principal or Associate members. Any organization with an interest in facilitating secure m-commerce using card-based payments is eligible to join. For more information and to register for the Forum's first plenary session, visit www.mobilepaymentforum.org.
Note To Editors:
The following organizations have joined the Mobile Payment Forum since its November launch last year:
724 Solutions, Garanti Payment Systems, Nova Information Systems, Abbey National Group, Groupement Des Cartes Bancaires, NYCE Corporation, Accenture, Harex InfoTech, Inc., On Air Commerce, Alphyra Group Plc, Hypercom Corporation, PBS A/S, Arvani Group, In2M Corporation, Semotus Solutions, Cellenium, Interpay Nederland, Servicios Para Medios De Pago, S.A., CellPay, JP Morgan Chase, Setec Oy, Compaq Computer Corporation, Korea Telecom Freetel, Sonera Corporation, C-Sam, Inc., Logware Information Systems PLC, Sonera SmartTrust, Datacard Group, Microcell i5 Inc., Swedbank / ForeningsSparbanken, Diners Club Int'l, Mobipay International, S.A., Thales e-Transactions, Element NV, Modirum Oy, Trintech, Inc., eMobile Pte Ltd., MoreMagic Solutions, UC Card Co., Ltd., eONE Global, NCH SpA Network Computer House, Utimaco Safeware AG, e-Vantage Solutions, Network365, Vodafone
About the Mobile Payment Forum
The Mobile Payment Forum brings together leading organizations from the mobile and financial industries to create a foundation for standardized, secure and authenticated mobile payments, based on payment-card accounts. Founders American Express Company, JCB Co., Ltd., MasterCard International and Visa International all bring extensive experience in creating interoperable global payment standards and specifications and a knowledge of payments in emerging channels. Membership will include key financial institutions, telecommunications operators, wireless-device manufacturers, merchants, content providers and software and hardware developers and vendors. The Mobile Payment Forum is a non-profit membership organization, incorporated in the state of Delaware in the United States.
For further information, visit the Mobile Payment Forum Web site at www.mobilepaymentforum.org
For Media inquiries, Contact: Jim O'Reilly Mobile Payment Forum Tel. +1-781-876-6211 E-Mail: pressoffice@mobilepaymentforum.org
For Membership inquiries, Contact: Denise Snyder Mobile Payment Forum Tel. +1-781-876-8840 E-Mail: membership@mobilepaymentforum.org