The near field communication (NFC) payments solution will be the first service to come from the partnership.
Both companies said they will examine other areas like person-to-person money transfers, loyalty rewards and digital payment services. They will also work on developing services for small businesses to accept payments using mobile phones.
The businesses had been working together for the last three years on Orange’s Quick Tap service, which used NFC on selected devices, and the Orange Cash prepaid card.
Everything Everywhere chief marketing officer Gerry McQuade said: ‘Working with MasterCard is an important step in making mobile contactless payments more widely available for our 27 million customers. By moving our existing co-branded card offers onto mobile devices, we are closer to a world where our customers will be able to use their phone to pay for travel to work, pay for small purchases and take advantage of loyalty rewards from their favourite retail outlets.’
Marion King, president of MasterCard UK & Ireland, said: ‘We’re delighted to be working with Everything Everywhere, the UK’s leading mobile operator. MasterCard’s vision is of a world beyond cash, where consumers and small businesses alike can benefit from simple payments using smart technology. The partnership we are announcing today builds on our strong heritage in the mobile payments space and ensures that MasterCard remains the partner of choice for leading businesses in the UK.
‘As the use of cash continues to decline, we will be able to provide Everything Everywhere’s 27 million customers with an attractive range of new payment services backed by the processing power and security of MasterCard.’
Everything Everywhere is the latest operator to ready a mobile payments service, after O2 launched its Wallet earlier this year. Vodafone is working on a mobile payments service with Visa, which will be launched during its 2012/13 financial year.
