Sprint offers mobile wallet for one-stop payments
Part of expanded program to create differentiated experience for customers and developers
Published: 29 October, 2010
READ MORE: US | Sprint Nextel Corporation
As expected, Sprint has added a mobile wallet to the software and services innovations unveiled this week at its developer conference. The offering will allow its customers to link the virtual wallet to their Visa, Mastercard and PayPal accounts and other payment options.
Users will be able to download the new facility, unveiled by Sprint CEO Dan Hesse, from the Sprint Zone site, and it will also come preloaded on some handsets from early 2011. Using the wallet, consumers will have a single PIN number to authorize payments from any of their chosen accounts, which can include Visa, MasterCard or American Express credit and charge cards, plus PayPal, Amazon Payments and others.
Payments will be processed by CardinalCommerce, which is already used by many merchants, and SkyMall, Gameloft and Namco are the first vendors to support the wallet. The main aim, apart from consumer convenience, will be to attract developers to Sprint's newly enhanced mobile apps platform, by making it easier for them to add payments options to their applications. Sprint subscribers to an Everything Data plan will be able to use the wallet at no additional charge.
Like other carriers such as Vodafone and SK Telecom, Sprint is building up its developer base by opening up aspects of its networks via APIs, giving programmers the ability to harness capabilities like telephony and location more effectively than with purely open web technologies. Subject to consumer privacy regulations, it may also allow them to tap into customer behaviour data. The latest functions opened up to partners are voice and messaging, with the potential for services like in-game calling.
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