Vodafone Wallet Goes Live Across Germany (March 11, 2014)
Vodafone’s NFC-based mobile wallet and prepaid Vodafone SmartPass Visa account went live this month in Germany, enabling Vodafone, Deutsche Telekom and Telefónica Deutschland mobile network subscribers to conduct contactless and P2P transactions with NFC-ready phones via participating banks. Vodafone Wallet is available for NFC-enabled smartphones from Samsung, Sony, HTC and LG. Vodafone piloted the service in Dusseldorf, Germany, in December 2013. The rollout is part of Vodafone’s push to expand NFC payments across Europe, following its rollout of Vodafone Wallet in Spain in December 2013.
Any German consumer may sign up for the service; a SmartPass NFC sticker is available for users without an NFC phone. Customers may download an app and link the Vodafone Wallet to a bank account to make payments at more than 36,000 contactless payment acceptance points in Germany and millions more abroad, or transfer funds to any other SmartPass user. Vodafone said it plans to add a feature to its mobile wallet to store customer loyalty and membership cards soon. Vodafone will roll out its NFC payment service as early as this spring in the Netherlands, Italy and the U.K.
