Press Releases

Budapest, November 26, 2014 12:30

Following the successful test completed this summer, Magyar Telekom is the first to launch the MobilTárcamobile wallet service in Hungary. Through Telekom’s partners OTP Bank, MasterCard, SuperShop and InterTicket an extensive network of acceptance locations await MobilTárca users countrywide already at the outset.

MobilTárcais an application with the help of which certain bank and loyalty cards as well as concert, theatre and other admission tickets can be stored at a single location in a virtual form, either on a suitable mobile phone or an NFC SIM card. In this way one can pay, collect loyalty points and enter events safely and simply by just one touch.

Christopher Mattheisen, Magyar Telekom’s Chief Executive Officer said: „We have arrived at a new era of mobile usage. MobilTárcaturns smartphones into a digital purse. W are the first in Europe to offer for customers a mobile walletservice that can be used not only for payment, as in addition we offer with it a loyalty card for point collection as well as the possibility to store in it admission tickets purchased to events. Apart from the variety of services, another factor contributing to the widespread use of MobilTárcais the nationwide network of locations accepting the available cards and tickets. We are confident that mobile payment will soon become as natural as taking photos or surfing the internet with our mobile phone.”

The aim of Telekom is to have the service available increasingly broadly so it launches MobilTárcajointly with its partners operating nationwide networks. Technology background and security protection of the transactions is based on MasterCard’s international standards.

Telekom’s partner in payment services is OTP Bank and the virtual bank card that can be downloaded to MobilTárca can be requested with most of OTP’s deposit accounts from early December. “OTP Bank is devoted to the application of innovative and pioneering solutions,” stated Antal Kovács, the Deputy CEO of OTP Bank. “Over the course of the development of the virtual bank card, we paid exceptional attention to security, thus MobilTárca (Mobile Wallet) is as safe as chip cards. Simplicity and speed are not merely premium considerations as they pertain to use, but also with regard to the development of the card application process, therefore the entire contracting process for those who apply for their card through OTPDirekt takes place electronically,” he added.

András Hemberger, Cluster Manager of MasterCard commented: „We are pleased to welcome the wallet on the Hungarian market, and we are proud to offer our standards at our international partners disposal, which already operate successfully in several other countries all over the world. MasterCard has already founded the success of MobilTárca with the constant expansion of the acceptance network in Hungary. We also contributed to the fact that Hungary is a part of the leading edge with regards to contactless payment. Our active participation does not end with the beginning of the project as MasterCard will continue to certify the elements of mobile NFC payment such as mobile phones, SIM cards, the mobile wallet and acceptance terminals. We are confident that Mobile Wallet will soon conquer Hungary at the same pace that contactless bank cards have gained ground in the country.”

Loyalty points are collected and exchanged in cooperation with SuperShop. Norbert Hovanyecz, Managing Director of SuperShop said: “SuperShop is the bridge between vendors and consumers. Our aim is to cover every area of our card holders’ life with the services of our commercial partners. Consumers will have the clear advantage of collecting loyalty points for their purchases and exchanging them for discounts. A loyalty program is good when it is always and readily available for consumers. The mobile phone and MobilTárcais just the ideal tool for this for both our card holders and our partners”.

In purchasing tickets the company’s partner is InterTicket, operating the Jegy.hu website. Ervin Jobbágy, InterTicket’s Managing Director said: "Mobile usage opens up fantastic possibilities in the area of ticket sales. InterTicket enters the market in Hungary and abroad with developments and solutions that will reshuffle the market beyond any doubt. All this will be based on handling the tickets totally electronically as in MobilTárca and their NFC based identification."

An extensive network of acceptance locations is available at the launch of the service already. Payment is possible at more than 18 thousand locations all over the country on around 38 terminals, loyalty points can be collected and exchanged in nearly 600 shops and vending machines and the same number of taxis, and entry with NFC ticket stored in MobilTárcais ensured at 23 program venues in Budapest.

The use of MobilTárcarequires an enabled smartphone and SIM card, the MobilTárcaapplication to be downloaded from Google Play Store and a mobile voice and internet subscription at Telekom. Currently those interested can select from 15 MobilTárcaenabled mobile devices and this will be expanded to 30 devices by the end of the year. Telekom expects a quick increase in device selection, and according to its expectations customers will have nearly 1 million MobilTárcaenabled devices by the end of 2015. Customers may change their current SIM cards for a MobilTárcaenabled SIM card free of charge at all Telekom shops.

The MobilTárcaapplication and service is free of charge. The use of certain features may require data traffic, the fee of which depends on the tariff package used by the customer. Service providers provide information on their websites about the fees related to services available in MobilTárca.

Payment, point collection and validation of event admission tickets takes place with a touch of the mobile device at the service provider’s terminal. One-touch data transmission is ensured by the NFC (Near Field Communication)* technology. Due to the Secure Element, i.e. the element ensuring security on MobilTárcaenabledSIM cards, transactions take place and customer card data are stored with the greatest security. The unified MobilTárcaplatform is ensured by Deutsche Telekom for the Group’s  companies, contributing this way to the international promotion of MobilTárca. Beside Germany, Poland and Slovakia, MobilTárcaservice has been launched on the shared platform in Hungary too, but the point collection and admission ticket management features are available only for users in Hungary. The implementation of other than payment solutions has been assisted by Cardtek Group based in Turkey, and Trevica, Gemalto and Giesecke & Devrient companies have also taken part in developments.

The Hungarian Mobile Wallet Association rallying the key market players was established in June 2011. Its aim has been to promote the expansion of innovative, mobile NFC technology based payment solutions, systems and services in Hungary. The one-year open test of MobilTárcastarted in its coordination in the summer of 2013 with 2 thousand participants. The launch of MobilTárcacommercial service marks the beginning of a new era for the Association and mobile payment in Hungary, the main focus of which will be the preparation of the integration of potential card issuers. To enable this the Association will launch an incubation program early next year mainly for banks and vendors.

It is of key importance for Magyar Telekom to make the latest and innovative services available as early as possible to a broad range of customers. The company and its partners undertake a significant role in the promotion and widespread rollout of the comfortable, advanced, time and cash saving digital and online payment methods. Promotion of digital literacy and the widespread adoption of safer Internet use as well as increasing the number of citizens using advanced services is also in line with the objectives of Digital Hungary.

* Near Field Communication (NFC) is a wireless data transmission technology used for connection of various digital devices, mobile telephones, digital cameras and notebooks from a short distance of just a few centimetres.