O2 Money
Encyclopedia
O2 Money is a range of financial services provided by O2
in the United Kingdom
.
Launched on 15 July 2011, O2 Money debuted as line of Visa
cash card
s issued by O2 and provided by NatWest
. The cards enabled O2 customers to use digital currency
as an alternative to cash
or cheque
s.
O2 announced in a press release on 23 February 2011 the “second phase” for O2 Money. The phase involves the company’s move away from physical currency through the discontinuation of the Cash Manager and Load & Go cash cards and the release of a “mobile wallet” application for Android and iOS devices. The application will use NFC technology embedded in a phone to access money banked with Barclays via O2.
handset to make payments at selected retailers, and travel the London Underground
with transactions made via Barclays. O2 has since been in discussions with large retailers, such as Tesco
and W. H. Smith
, for the deployment of the necessary electronic point of sale units, and with handset manufacturers, such as Apple and Samsung
, to enable NFC technology on all future devices.
In , the GSMA, Samsung, Telefónica
, Visa and La Caixa
demonstrated mobile payments at the Mobile World Congress
in Barcelona
. Participating companies provided 400 NFC enabled handsets to guests for use at the Congress. The Samsung S5230
NFC-enabled handsets contained O2
SIM cards pre-loaded with £55 and a La Caixa
Visa Mobile Payment
application
. Participants where able to use the handsets to pay for food and drink up to the value of £70 at 30 locations at the congress.
It was the first SIM
card-based Near Field Communication
technology payment to be demonstrated at the event.
In , Telefónica Europe began a controlled commercial trial of its NFC service in Plzeň, a city in in the Czech Republic
. The trial consisted of O2 distributing Nokia 6212 Classic mobile phone with NFC functionality. The phone's where pre-loaded with transportation tickets and city services cards. It is the first time that Telefónica has offered NFC services on a commercial basis.
by O2
in . O2 had previously been working with Barclays to trial NFC
mobile payments. However, Tim Sefton, Customer Director at O2 stated the partnership with NatWest did not preclude future partnerships with other banks.
O2 Money has been described by Ronan Dunne, CEO at O2, as the first step in implementing NFC technology in mobile phone
s in the United Kingdom.
The service received over 100,000 applications in the first seven weeks, making it the most successful financial card launch in the United Kingdom.
Both cards where provided free and exclusive to O2 customers.
O2 (United Kingdom)
Telefónica UK Limited is a telecommunications, internet and financial services provider in the United Kingdom owned by Telefónica, forming part of its Telefónica Europe division...
in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
.
Launched on 15 July 2011, O2 Money debuted as line of Visa
Visa Debit
Visa Debit is a major debit card issued by Visa in the United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland and other nations of the European Union. Prior to October 2004, the debit card was known as Visa Delta. Since June 2009, the major banks in the UK have begun issuing Visa Debit. Barclays, Bank of...
cash card
ATM card
An ATM card is a card issued by a bank, credit union or building society that can be used at an ATM for deposits, withdrawals, account information, and other types of transactions, often through interbank networks.Some ATM cards can also be used:* at a branch, as identification for in-person...
s issued by O2 and provided by NatWest
National Westminster Bank
National Westminster Bank Plc, commonly known as NatWest, is the largest retail and commercial bank in the United Kingdom and has been part of The Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc since 2000. The Royal Bank of Scotland Group is ranked as the second largest bank in the world by assets...
. The cards enabled O2 customers to use digital currency
Electronic money
Electronic money is money or scrip that is only exchanged electronically. Typically, this involves the use of computer networks, the internet and digital stored value systems...
as an alternative to cash
Cash
In common language cash refers to money in the physical form of currency, such as banknotes and coins.In bookkeeping and finance, cash refers to current assets comprising currency or currency equivalents that can be accessed immediately or near-immediately...
or cheque
Cheque
A cheque is a document/instrument See the negotiable cow—itself a fictional story—for discussions of cheques written on unusual surfaces. that orders a payment of money from a bank account...
s.
O2 announced in a press release on 23 February 2011 the “second phase” for O2 Money. The phase involves the company’s move away from physical currency through the discontinuation of the Cash Manager and Load & Go cash cards and the release of a “mobile wallet” application for Android and iOS devices. The application will use NFC technology embedded in a phone to access money banked with Barclays via O2.
Pre-release
O2 began trials of NFC technology in , with 500 individuals participating in the trial. The individuals used a specific NokiaNokia
Nokia Corporation is a Finnish multinational communications corporation that is headquartered in Keilaniemi, Espoo, a city neighbouring Finland's capital Helsinki...
handset to make payments at selected retailers, and travel the London Underground
London Underground
The London Underground is a rapid transit system serving a large part of Greater London and some parts of Buckinghamshire, Hertfordshire and Essex in England...
with transactions made via Barclays. O2 has since been in discussions with large retailers, such as Tesco
Tesco
Tesco plc is a global grocery and general merchandise retailer headquartered in Cheshunt, United Kingdom. It is the third-largest retailer in the world measured by revenues and the second-largest measured by profits...
and W. H. Smith
W H Smith
WHSmith plc is a British retailer, headquartered in Swindon, Wiltshire, England. It is best known for its chain of high street, railway station, airport, hospital and motorway service station shops selling books, stationery, magazines, newspapers, and entertainment products...
, for the deployment of the necessary electronic point of sale units, and with handset manufacturers, such as Apple and Samsung
Samsung
The Samsung Group is a South Korean multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Samsung Town, Seoul, South Korea...
, to enable NFC technology on all future devices.
In , the GSMA, Samsung, Telefónica
Telefónica
Telefónica, S.A. is a Spanish broadband and telecommunications provider in Europe and Latin America. Operating globally, it is the third largest provider in the world...
, Visa and La Caixa
La Caixa
La Caixa , formally Caixa d'Estalvis i Pensions de Barcelona , is currently Europe’s leading savings bank and Spain's third largest financial institution, with a network of over 5,500 branches, more than 8,100 ATMs, a workforce in excess of 27,000 and more than 10.7 million...
demonstrated mobile payments at the Mobile World Congress
Mobile World Congress
The GSMA Mobile World Congress is the combination of the world's largest exhibition for the mobile industry and a conference featuring prominent Chief Executives representing mobile operators, device manufacturers, technology providers, vendors and content owners from across the world...
in Barcelona
Barcelona
Barcelona is the second largest city in Spain after Madrid, and the capital of Catalonia, with a population of 1,621,537 within its administrative limits on a land area of...
. Participating companies provided 400 NFC enabled handsets to guests for use at the Congress. The Samsung S5230
Samsung S5230
Samsung S5230 is a feature phone announced in March 2009 and released in May 2009 by Samsung....
NFC-enabled handsets contained O2
O2 (United Kingdom)
Telefónica UK Limited is a telecommunications, internet and financial services provider in the United Kingdom owned by Telefónica, forming part of its Telefónica Europe division...
SIM cards pre-loaded with £55 and a La Caixa
La Caixa
La Caixa , formally Caixa d'Estalvis i Pensions de Barcelona , is currently Europe’s leading savings bank and Spain's third largest financial institution, with a network of over 5,500 branches, more than 8,100 ATMs, a workforce in excess of 27,000 and more than 10.7 million...
Visa Mobile Payment
Mobile Payment
Mobile financial services, also referred to as mobile money, mobile payment, mobile banking, mobile money transfer and mobile wallet generally refer to payment services operated under financial regulation and performed from or via a mobile device....
application
Application software
Application software, also known as an application or an "app", is computer software designed to help the user to perform specific tasks. Examples include enterprise software, accounting software, office suites, graphics software and media players. Many application programs deal principally with...
. Participants where able to use the handsets to pay for food and drink up to the value of £70 at 30 locations at the congress.
It was the first SIM
Subscriber Identity Module
A subscriber identity module or subscriber identification module is an integrated circuit that securely stores the International Mobile Subscriber Identity and the related key used to identify and authenticate subscriber on mobile telephony devices .A SIM is held on a removable SIM card, which...
card-based Near Field Communication
Near Field Communication
Near field communication, or NFC, allows for simplified transactions, data exchange, and wireless connections between two devices in proximity to each other, usually by no more than a few centimeters. It is expected to become a widely used system for making payments by smartphone in the United States...
technology payment to be demonstrated at the event.
In , Telefónica Europe began a controlled commercial trial of its NFC service in Plzeň, a city in in the Czech Republic
Czech Republic
The Czech Republic is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Poland to the northeast, Slovakia to the east, Austria to the south, and Germany to the west and northwest....
. The trial consisted of O2 distributing Nokia 6212 Classic mobile phone with NFC functionality. The phone's where pre-loaded with transportation tickets and city services cards. It is the first time that Telefónica has offered NFC services on a commercial basis.
O2 Money
O2 Money was launched in partnership with NatWestNational Westminster Bank
National Westminster Bank Plc, commonly known as NatWest, is the largest retail and commercial bank in the United Kingdom and has been part of The Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc since 2000. The Royal Bank of Scotland Group is ranked as the second largest bank in the world by assets...
by O2
O2 (United Kingdom)
Telefónica UK Limited is a telecommunications, internet and financial services provider in the United Kingdom owned by Telefónica, forming part of its Telefónica Europe division...
in . O2 had previously been working with Barclays to trial NFC
Near Field Communication
Near field communication, or NFC, allows for simplified transactions, data exchange, and wireless connections between two devices in proximity to each other, usually by no more than a few centimeters. It is expected to become a widely used system for making payments by smartphone in the United States...
mobile payments. However, Tim Sefton, Customer Director at O2 stated the partnership with NatWest did not preclude future partnerships with other banks.
O2 Money has been described by Ronan Dunne, CEO at O2, as the first step in implementing NFC technology in mobile phone
Mobile phone
A mobile phone is a device which can make and receive telephone calls over a radio link whilst moving around a wide geographic area. It does so by connecting to a cellular network provided by a mobile network operator...
s in the United Kingdom.
The service received over 100,000 applications in the first seven weeks, making it the most successful financial card launch in the United Kingdom.
Both cards where provided free and exclusive to O2 customers.
Transition
| Date | Event | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | |||||||||
| November | |||||||||
| 31 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | Users won't be able to load money onto an O2 Money card and any regular loads will automatically stop. | ||
| 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | Accounts will close and users won't be able to use their card to spend money. | ||
| 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | |||
| 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | |||
| 28 | 29 | 30 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Remaining money on cards will be refunded as cheques. | ||
| December | |||||||||
| 28 | 29 | 30 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | |||
| 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | |||
| 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | Accounts will be terminated and support services will be closed. | ||
| 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | |||
| 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | 1 | |||
Mobile wallet
A spokesman for O2 announced on 3 February 2011 the company’s plans to release a “mobile wallet” application, an NFC-powered mobile payment application for NFC-enabled smartphones in the second half of 2011. O2 has since expressed its ambition to release the application before the 2012 Summer Olympics2012 Summer Olympics
The 2012 Summer Olympic Games, officially known as the "London 2012 Olympic Games", are scheduled to take place in London, England, United Kingdom from 27 July to 12 August 2012...
in London.
Once available, the service will be pre-installed on mobile phones on sale via O2 and allow O2 customers to use their smartphone to access money banked with O2 for retail purchases of up to £15 and will also enable customers to use their smartphones as an electronic ticket
Electronic ticket
An electronic ticket is a digital ticket. It may be issued by an airline, in road, urban or rail public transport, and in entertainment.-Airline ticket:...
, such as the Oyster Card
Oyster card
The Oyster card is a form of electronic ticketing used on public transport services within the Greater London area of the United Kingdom. It is promoted by Transport for London and is valid on a number of different travel systems across London including London Underground, buses, the Docklands...
used throughout transportation in London
Transport for London
Transport for London is the local government body responsible for most aspects of the transport system in Greater London in England. Its role is to implement the transport strategy and to manage transport services across London...
.
O2 has applied for an electronic money
Electronic money
Electronic money is money or scrip that is only exchanged electronically. Typically, this involves the use of computer networks, the internet and digital stored value systems...
licence from the Financial Services Authority
Financial Services Authority
The Financial Services Authority is a quasi-judicial body responsible for the regulation of the financial services industry in the United Kingdom. Its board is appointed by the Treasury and the organisation is structured as a company limited by guarantee and owned by the UK government. Its main...
which will allow it to offer money transfers between customers in addition to contactless payments at 60,000 locations in the UK.
James le Brocq, Head of Financial Services at O2, told Mobile News he expects to announce a range of partnerships with “a number” of organisations in relation to the mobile wallet service, most likely before Q3 2011.
The mobile wallet application is in development for the Android and iOS operating systems.
Legacy
At The Card Awards on , an award evening established to recognise "customer service, excellence and innovation" in the UK and Irish payment industry, O2 won the Best New Prepaid Card Product of the Year and Best Prepaid Card Marketing Campaign of the Year awards, receiving judges were particularly impressed with the concept of the card.O2 Money was critically praised at the event, particularly in regard to the high profile, customer-centric campaign used to promote the service for "[blowing] away the cobwebs surrounding payment cards and [lifting] the stigma of prepaid as a product for low-income consumers." Additionally, the judges at the event were thankful to O2 for helping to explain "prepaid" to the general public.