According to Bloomberg, U.S. wireless provider Sprint is working on a mobile, touchless payment service based on NFC (Near Field Communications) technology. Sprint’s vice president of product platforms, Kevin McGinnis, told the publication that his company plans to make its touchless payment system “an open solution” that will work in a variety of physical locations. “Because we’re allowing other brands and other institutions to participate, they can also tell their consumers that this is available on Sprint,” McGinnis continued. The wireless company hopes to share in revenues generated by point-of-sales purchases, coupons, and other sales-related offerings delivered to user handsets. Gartner projects that 340 million mobile payment users from around the globe will be responsible for $245 billion worth of transactions by 2014.
U.S. carriers continue to jockey for position in an attempt to properly position themselves to ride the impending mobile payments tidal wave. Back in November of last year, AT&T, T-Mobile, and Verizon Wireless announced a partnership — dubbed Isis — that will bring mobile payments to their customers. Should the proposed AT&T and T-Mobile merger go though, it could pit the forces of a united AT&T and Verizon Wireless against Sprint.
Sprint has yet to publicly comment on its mobile payment plans.
