French telco pilots prepaid card on NFC-based mobile devices
The French mobile network operator Orange is testing Orange Cash, a contactless prepaid card, on mobile devices in Strasbourg and Caen, with plans to go nationwide in the second quarter of 2014.
Wirecard Card Solutions Ltd., a member of Visa Europe, is the card-issuing institution and will provide the technical platform to manage the mobile payment application, which allows consumers to pay with an NFC-enabled mobile handset at any contactless POS terminal.
Orange also will use Wirecard's loyalty and couponing platform to launch mobile value-added services such as incentive and cash back offers. Consumers can also use prepaid accounts to make secure purchases in online shops by using a virtual one-time-use credit card that is only valid for a short time.
Orange customers who download the Orange Cash app can load funds into their prepaid account with their debit, credit or prepaid card. Purchases over €20 will require users to enter a PIN.
Orange said contactless payments in France grew by 50 percent in the first half of 2013.
"We are looking forward to launching Orange Cash and the successful start of a new era in mobile contactless payments in France," Thierry Millet, VP mobile payments and NFC, Orange, said in a news release. "The context in France is positive: We have been driving the rollout of NFC-enabled smartphones for several years, and have already issued a large number of NFC-based SIM cards."
Learn more about contactless/NFC.