U.K.’s Weve Completes Vodafone Integration (Feb. 4, 2013)
Feb. 4, 2013
U.K. mobile wallet venture Weve this week announced it has completed the integration of Vodafone, its third mobile network operator, into its mobile advertising and commerce platform and a total of 15 million consumers, or 25 percent of the U.K. population, have opted in to the service. Weve, a joint venture of mobile network operators Vodafone UK, Telefónica UK’s O2 and Everything Everywhere, made its official debut last October after joining forces initially under the name Project Oscar.
Weve is developing a “unified marketing service” for brands that will include the opportunity to send promotional messages to consumers’ mobile handsets based on their location, along with display advertising and mobile wallet services centered on payments, vouchers, loyalty programs and data analysis, according to the announcement. The service is designed around providing “a single point of contact” for consumers who sign up for the service and simplified integration for companies that come aboard. With Vodafone fully integrated, Weve now has “the critical mass needed to become a serious mobile marketing force,” said Nancy Cruickshank, Weve’s Launch CEO. The three mobile networks combined reach about 80 percent of the U.K.’s population, Weve said.
