Mobile company O2 has launched a new smartphone that allows users to transfer money, up to £500 via text message. The O2 app can be used by anyone with an iPhone or Android phone and is called O2 Wallet.
The service will be free at first but O2 said it will plan to charge 15p for each money message sent by text. O2 also intends to allow users of phones with near-field communication (NFC) chips to make contactless payments in high street shops. O2 has announced that over 100 retailers have agreed to accept payments from this service. It also has announced that it is in talks with rail companies to try and allow customer to purchase tickets using this app.
Users will also benefit from a search facility that compares how much goods cost by scanning the bar code, the ability to load money onto the app from their debit cards and a transaction history that keeps track of what they have spent.
Security issues has been raised about this app, however James Le Brocq, managing director at O2 Money said: "We believe it will transform the way people manage their finances and spend money."
He added that "all personal details, pin codes, passwords and other financial data were held on remote central servers rather than on the mobile device.
O2 wallet has been trialled internally for months and has undergone extensive testing with security experts, This is, we believe, the safest and most secure way to deliver mobile payment services."
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