The Mobile Money Network (MMN) has announced that Visa Europe intends to take a 15% stake in its business, which provides mobile commerce and payments services for retailers. The investment forms part of Visa Europe’s strategy to deliver increased value for consumers, retailers and financial institutions through mobile payments.
Visa Europe and MMN will implement a number of m-commerce initiatives in the UK in 2012, taking MMN’s bank-grade, interoperable infrastructure for secure, fast and simple mobile shopping to the mass market.
MMN’s instant mobile checkout, Simply Tap, allows customers to easily identify and purchase a product on their mobile. Simply Tap can be used wherever a shopper sees a product they want – in print, on outdoor advertising, in-store or online – allowing the user to make an easy, secure purchase, with products delivered directly to his or her home address. As part of the new agreement, the app will also offer a number of new offers and savings available only to Visa cardholders.
Peter Ayliffe, chief executive of Visa Europe, said: 'This agreement is another step in the delivery of our mobile payments strategy. We are working with partners and organisations across the mobile ecosystem to make the future of payments a reality for consumers, for retailers and for financial institutions. By 2020, we predict that more than half of all our transactions will be carried out on a mobile device. Our investment in the Mobile Money Network will support our aim to deliver a wide range of secure and reliable mobile payment services that help our members tap into the potential of m-commerce.'
Monitise, one of the MMN joint venture founders, welcomed the announcement. Commenting on the announcement, Monitise Group chief executive, Alastair Lukies, said: 'We are delighted by Visa Europe’s investment in the Mobile Money Network. The strategic endorsement by the world’s largest payments brand comes at an incredibly exciting time. Like Monitise, Visa is working with leading players to ensure that future mobile payment technologies are as easy, simple and secure as card-based transactions are today.'
As part of the agreement Visa Europe will also take a seat on the MMN board.
Launched in November 2011, MMN and its Simply Tap service is chaired by Sir Stuart Rose as Non-Executive Chairman with backers including Carphone Warehouse, Charles Dunstone and Monitise. MMN is working with a large number of retailers and has already launched services with HMV, Goldsmiths and Thorntons and been first to market with cutting-edge technology including image recognition and transactional QR codes.
There are 130 million Visa cards in circulation in the UK and
