The Phone Is Your Oyster As Mobile Trials A Success
Finally, the UK (well, London) makes steps towards Japanese techno-culture as a trial of Oyster and Barclaycard technology embedded in mobile phones was deemed a success.
The joint development program by o2 and Transport for London allowed 500 testers to pay for their tube journeys by incorporating London Transport travelcard and prepay data into the Nokia 6131 handset, and also purchase food from shops by passing their mobile over contactless card readers in Eat, Krispy Kreme and Yo Sushi. Nothing like a healthy, balanced diet…
The system works on allowing users to purchase items under £10, in order to keep it a practical and fast method of payment for small items rather than an alternative to money or credit cards, hence the narrow food options for the test. People are able to ‘top up’ this balance from their bank account in a similar method to the Oyster card for travel. Losing a phone is bad enough without it being your entire bank balance also!
The practical implications of the system extended as far as concerts, giving the lucky few VIP access into the O2 arena and Hyde Park’s Wireless Festival. Anything that brings fraternizing with sweaty bouncers to get backstage down to a minimum has to be a good thing.
With nine of the ten users happy using the technology, and over two-thirds finding it a convenient method over traditional Oyster cards, it seems like smiles all round for Transport for London. The feedback that will really have manufacturers paying attention however, is that 87% of testers claimed features such as Oyster and Barclaycard access would influence their decision on which phone to purchase…
With hopes for a full rollout in as little as two years time, prepare to see a raft of shiny new phones right alongside them!
Source: The Guardian