16/06/2011
By Scott Thompson
Everything Everywhere, Telefónica UK and Vodafone UK are forming a mobile marketing and payments joint venture. The aim is to accelerate the development of innovative mobile services for consumers and business customers.
Key features of the tie up are: the creation of a single ecosystem for m-commerce helping advertisers, retailers and banks to reach consumers through their mobile phones; consumers will be able to replace their physical wallet with mobile wallet NFC technology; consumers will also benefit from relevant offers and coupons, delivered direct to their phone; Everything Everywhere, Telefónica UK and Vodafone UK will provide start-up investment
Ronan Dunne, CEO at Telefónica UK, says: “We are seeing an explosion in the m-commerce market. Mobile advertising spend alone has more than doubled in two years as consumers embrace marketing on their handsets because it is now relevant to them and provides a great customer experience. The mobile marketing and payments market is extremely fragmented. By creating this new business we will underpin this nascent market, providing real size and scale, allowing consumers to benefit from new and innovative services, like the mobile wallet, and giving them more of the things they value, through offers and deals that are truly relevant to them. At the same time business customers will reach a vastly increased audience, utilising a single platform for sales, delivery and payment.”
“This is not just something that is unique in the UK, but a JV that will create a model that many countries around the world could follow,” he adds.
