RBS embarks on mobile phone payment pilot

The Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) plans to trial the use of contactless mobile phone debit payments in its Edinburgh headquarters in Gogarburn ahead of wider public trials of the technology in 2008.

News of the pilot activity comes ahead of an announcement expected tomorrow by Transport for London (TfL), O2 and Nokia, in which the parties are widely tipped to kick start a trial that will let Londoners pay for tube journeys using their mobile phones in an Oyster-like fashion.

Those engaged in the RBS pilot will simply have to put their Nokia 6131 phones on a payment terminal and the required transaction will be processed in a matter of seconds using near field communication (NFC) technology), with the amount in quetsion being automatically debited from their current account.

Further details of RBS' planned trials are limited, although the work does follow in the same vein as the financial services giant's contactless payment demonstration with Formula One and McDonalds earlier this year.

"RBS was the first bank in Europe to carry out a public Contactless Card debit payment and we have now repeated this feat with a successful Mobile Phone Contactless debit payment at our Headquarters," said Paul Geddes, chief executive of RBS' consumer banking division. "We decided to trial this payment innovation because we think people will really welcome the speed and convenience of reaching for their mobile phone to make a payment, instead of worrying about whether they have enough loose change in their pocket or locating their wallet. This is yet another example of RBS delivering new and innovative ways for customers to make payments - it's about speed, safety and convenience."

Geddes added: "Mobile phones are playing an increasingly important role in our day to day lives. According to official figures, 80 per cent of UK adults own at least one mobile. As we constantly look for ways to improve customer convenience, we therefore believe that mobile phones will be the next step in the payments evolution. What's more, we think that retailers will welcome mobile phone contactless payments because quicker transaction times equals faster moving queues and ultimately happier customers."

Email to a friend

Print this page

Social Bookmark this article: What is this?

Digg

Delicious

Reddit

StumbleUpon

Slashdot

Google

Facebook