Dutch financial services providers ABN AMRO, Rabobank and ING have joined forces with telecommunications and ICT services providers T-Mobile, KPN and Vodafone to sign a letter of intent to jointly introduce mobile payments at the checkout in the Netherlands.

The six companies plan to set up a joint venture to promote and facilitate the use of m-payments in the Netherlands, with particular emphasis placed on accessibility and safety. This initiative marks a European premiere: it is the first time that major banks and mobile operators join forces in a mobile payments-related move. In recent months a study has been conducted which concludes that it is technically and commercially feasible to introduce mobile payments in the Netherlands.

Many different parties are involved in providing this type of mobile payment service. In terms of ease of use as well as safety, it was shown to be essential to create a single uniform system for mobile transactions in the Netherlands, based on international standards. To bring this about, the six companies plan to set up a joint venture. By affiliating themselves to the system, all banks, mobile providers and other service providers will ultimately be able to provide their services by telephone.

It is expected that by 2012 it will become possible to pay at the checkout with a mobile phone in the Netherlands. Instead of paying with their bank card, customers will hold their mobile phone against the store’s point-of-sale terminal and the payment will be made within seconds. The mobile phone communicates remotely over a short with the point-of-sale terminal on the counter. This ‘contactless’ communication uses NFC (Near Field Communication) technology, the global standard for this type of application. The payment software itself is located in a secure part of the SIM-card in the user’s phone. No payment information is sent over the mobile network.