Vodafone Adds MasterCard To Mobile Wallet

Vodafone Wallet users with MasterCard cards can now add that payment option into their mobile wallet to make contactless payments for goods and services across Europe within weeks, Vodafone announced yesterday (Nov. 16).

Vodafone Wallet uses a Vodafone NFC SIM and its contactless card payments are supported across more than 60 Android smartphones.

To activate the service for MasterCard cards, users can input their card data into the mobile wallet — which is protected by the SIM and MasterCard Secure Code, Vodafone noted in its release about the news. They can also pay by tapping their Android smartphones at a contactless point of sale.

All payments are linked to the selected cards, and higher value payments are given extra protection with a user-defined 4-digit PIN.

“We are delighted to enable MasterCard cards to be used contactlessly with Vodafone Wallet. Following our announcement earlier in 2015, MasterCard customers will also be able to add their cards and pay within minutes using our fast, secure and simple contactless payment system when it rolls out in the coming weeks,” said Mark Ritzmann, Head of mCommerce at Vodafone Group.

Vodafone Wallet is currently available in Germany, Spain, the U.K., Italy, The Netherlands and Hungary. Customers can already add loyalty cards into the Vodafone Wallet. The Vodafone Wallet is part of the Vodafone mCommerce strategy, which, according to the company, is: “designed to provide a mobile alternative to coins, banknotes and plastic cards.”

“MasterCard’s priority is to provide everyone with more options to pay with their mobile phone, securely and conveniently. With their MasterCard cards enabled in the Vodafone Wallet, consumers will be able to pay in a contactless manner at more than 3 million retail locations around the world,” said David Dechamps, Head of Emerging Payments Europe at MasterCard.