[AfrICANN-discuss] M-Pesa making babies

[Ben Akoh]

And because Mpesa wasnt patented...

On 10-08-20 02:50 PM, Anne-Rachel Inné wrote:
>
>
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>   Report: Pilot cities named for US m-payments project
>
> http://www.mobilebusinessbriefing.com/article/report-pilot-cities-named-for-us-m-payments-project
> Published: Tuesday 10 August 2010
> Region: USA & Canada
> <http://www.mobilebusinessbriefing.com/search/?region=USA%20&%20Canada>
> Tags: AT&T
> <http://www.mobilebusinessbriefing.com/search/?keywords=AT%26T> Verizon
> Wireless
> <http://www.mobilebusinessbriefing.com/search/?keywords=Verizon+Wireless> T-Mobile
> USA <http://www.mobilebusinessbriefing.com/search/?keywords=T-Mobile+USA>
>
> The new US mobile payments initiative being led by AT&T, Verizon
> Wireless and T-Mobile is to launch pilot services in major cities in
> Texas, Minnesota and Utah next year, according to sources at
> /Bloomberg/. The project – currently codenamed 'Mercury' – will begin
> pilots in Austin, Minneapolis and Salt Lake City in the middle of next
> year. Atlanta is thought to be the fourth city earmarked for launch.
> Consumers participating in the pilots will be able to pay at a merchant
> with the contactless wave of a smartphone equipped with a radio
> microchip that communicates with a reader at checkout. The move is seen
> as the US operator community’s biggest effort to date to kick-start
> mobile payments, and a major threat to Visa and MasterCard, the world’s
> two largest payment networks.
>
> The Mercury project has yet to be officially confirmed by any of the
> parties involved, though AT&T and Verizon Wireless are understood to be
> equal partners in the venture, with Deutsche Telekom’s T-Mobile USA
> owning a smaller stake. The three operators are reportedly now searching
> for a CEO to lead the initiative. Barclays and US credit card firm
> Discover are also thought to be on board to process the payments made
> using the scheme. The smartphones used in the pilots are expected to use
> embedded NFC technology to facilitate contactless payments, though there
> has been no word to date on who will make these devices. Read today’s
> blog on the story here
> <http://www.mobilebusinessbriefing.com/article/smart-cards-need-smart-phones>.
>
>
>           Related Articles
>
>     * Report: US operators plan major m-payments push
>       <http://www.mobilebusinessbriefing.com/article/report-us-operators-plan-major-m-payments-push>
>
>
>
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