Remember O2 Money? Well, forget that, because it seems O2 have, with the release of their newest product, simply called Wallet.
Basically, Wallet works in a similar way to PingIt by Barclays; it basically allows users to transfer funds from one mobile to another using technology that is quickly being called “text to pay”. O2 have also included a price comparison tool in the app as well however, and unlike Barclays’ system the money must be loaded into the wallet first – meaning you have to give your cash to O2 (Or at least the company who is underwriting the service at least – O2 aren’t allowed to handle cash) before you spend it.
You can send money to any number, but if the recipient isn’t registered with O2 Wallet they will receive a message suggesting they sign up for the service.
As new as the pay by text aspect may be however, the price comparison is reasonably standard: simply scan the barcode of a physical item and the money is deducted from your wallet – much like Amazon’s current offering.
As you might remember, O2′s first attempt at this was a prepaid account ran by Natwest, before the two companies fell out with each other and O2 Money had to be taken down as O2 did not have the correct license to handle funds. In the meantime, O2 have been waiting for a licence to allow them to operate as a kind of “bank lite” and hoping for Near Field Communications to probe further into the mainstream – but it would seem that they have got bored with waiting for both and have decided to launch their own product again.
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