Project Oscar 'digital wallet' venture approved by EU

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The UK's largest mobile phone operators have today been given the go ahead for Project Oscar, a new digital wallet scheme that will aim to revolutionise mobile commerce in Britain.

European Union regulators told Everything Everywhere, O2-owner Telefonica UK and Vodafone that they can now jointly develop the project, despite an objection from rival Three.

shopping bags

© Rex Features

A customer swipes a MasterCard debit card through a machine

© PA Images / Elaine Thompson/AP



The partners said that they aim to release a unified smartphone-based mCommerce solution, which will work as an alternative to cash, credit cards and loyalty cards.

The venture, also known as Project Oscar, would compete with similar rival services from financial institutions Barclays, Visa and PayPal, along with Google's Wallet solution.

In a joint statement, Everything Everywhere, Vodafone and O2 said the joint venture is about creating an "easy and effective solution" for businesses wanting to enable their consumers to pay for goods with just a mobile device.

> UK consumers 'not sold' on contactless payments

After receiving clearance from the EU, the Project Oscar partners will now seek to get the venture up and running, including recruitment and the formation of a new company.

"The JV (joint venture) will benefit businesses and consumers by accelerating the deployment of mobile wallets and associated services in a secure way," they said.

"Through the solution offered by the JV, businesses will be able to connect once in order to offer a wide variety of mobile wallet services - including payment and loyalty cards - to millions of consumers on the majority of handsets, operating systems and mobile operators.

"It will give consumers a simple and secure shopping experience, allowing them to purchase goods and services using their handsets in physical locations such as shops, using contactless technology, as well as online."

The venture will also aim to create a 'one-stop-shop' for advertisers, marketing and retail partners to create campaigns, provide offers and engage in other promotional activities on mobile phones.

According to the partners, this has the potential to "transform the mobile marketing landscape in the UK", by creating a "single channel" with which to reach millions of mobile device users.

In turn, customers are expected to benefit by receiving discounts and offers on the "brands that are most relevant to them".

Three mobile network
Three, owned by the Hong Kong-based Hutchison Whampoa conglomerate, had previously expressed concern that the Project Oscar alliance was anti-competitive and designed to "freeze" it out of the growing mCommerce market.

But after losing out in its challenge to the EU, Three said it was now hopeful of being involved in the venture at some point.

"We are pleased the European Commission has taken a thorough look at the proposed m-commerce joint venture," a spokesman said.

"We are still studying the detail but we understand that its investigation has found no significant competition issues.

"We will continue to monitor developments closely and look forward to the invitation to become a customer of the joint venture on the same terms as all participating UK mobile operators."

In their own statement, the Project Oscar partners assured that they want the mCommerce platform to be "open to all".

"The shareholders remain committed to making the JV services open to all, including all operators and MVNOs, 3rd party publishers, banks, advertising agencies, retailers and any company that wants to engage in this space," they said.

"The partners in the JV believe it has an important role to play in helping to keep the UK at the forefront of digital innovation, creating jobs, promoting innovation and stimulating competition."
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