The OTP Bank- and telco-backed Hungarian Mobile Wallet Association is preparing for a full-scale commercial roll-out after reviewing largely positive feedback from a year-long pilot trial of its NFC-based m-payment service. During the 12-month test phase, the active ‘MobilTárca’ users made 41,000 payment and more than 4,000 loyalty point transactions. Users spent more than EUR385,000 across more than 20 countries.
“We launched the MobilTárca pilot program exactly one year ago, and currently we are working with all our strengths on the commercial roll out”- said Gábor Pukler, president of the Hungarian Mobile Wallet Association, in a press release. Based on the results of the pilot and the research conducted in 3 phases during the test period, the Association estimates that around 350-400 000 people would be open for the use of the service in the first round.
The test proved that there is a growing demand for mobile NFC based contactless payments and loyalty programs with the spread of NFC capable smartphones. The active MobilTárca testers made 41 000 payment and more than 4 000 loyalty point transactions during the 12 months of the project. Users spent more than 120 million HUF within more than 20 countries. The Hungarian acceptance network is also growing dynamically, one third of the POS terminals are already contactless- said Pukler.
The results of the survey conducted in June by BellResearch indicate that the vast majority, 86% of the testers would use the wallet in the commercial phase. 87% of the testers would also consider the wallet compatibility when buying their next smartphone. It is a promising fact as well that three out of four users recommended the MobilTárca wallet to their friends.
Global market trends and the direct feedback from the pilot clearly show that the wallet is more than just an innovative payment tool. The pilot users told they highly appreciated the additional card functionalities like balance inquiry and transaction history, but they would also welcome more services providing added value, such as personalized offers and location based promotions.
The MobilTárca pilot program started in July 2013 with the coordination of the Hungarian Mobile Wallet Association. During the test period participant could use the following 5 services in the wallet: OTP Bank’s MasterCard Mobile PayPass payment card, SuperShop’s NFC loyalty card, a sports facility access card, event tickets provided by InterTicket, employee ID card and in a limited edition a public transport card for the city of Szolnok.
Banking 4.0 – „how was the experience for you”
„So many people are coming here to Bucharest, people that I see and interact on linkedin and now I get the change to meet them in person. It was like being to the Football World Cup but this was the World Cup on linkedin in payments and open banking.”
Many more interesting quotes in the video below:
