mobilkom austria, the domestic mobile subsidiary of the Telekom Austria Group, has launched jointly with Visa Europe and its wholly-owned A1 Bank a credit card with mobile services in the Austrian market. Starting from today, the A1 Visa Card will be exclusively available for selected mobilkom austria customers. It will be initially offered free-of-charge during a 6 month promotional campaign and will then cost EUR 4 per month.
The A1 Visa Card is designed in line with the A1 brand (the product brand of mobilkom austria) and combines the features of a conventional Visa Card with special A1 mobile services such as A1 mobile points, transaction confirmation by text message for more security, paybox (the Austrian mobile cashless payment system) and a mobile insurance package. Based on the new generation of NFC-capable handsets, A1 Visa Card will also function as contactless payment tool via the mobile phone.
"In 1999 mobilkom austria was the first mobile provider worldwide to launch an m-commerce service, turning the mobile phone into a mobile payment terminal. Today, 10 years later, we are opening up a new business area with A1 Visa Card, combining for the first time the benefits of a financial product with mobilkom austria's innovative service portfolio," commented Hannes Ametsreiter, CEO Telekom Austria Group.
Two-thirds of Austrians do not have a credit card and with mobilkom austria's customer base of 4.6 million, there is strong growth potential for the new product. The A1 Visa Card will only be issued to mobilkom austria customers through registration and a copy of an identification document sent to the A1 Bank. A1 Visa Card will allow payment transactions at over 24 million POS-terminals and at roughly 1.4 million ATMs worldwide.
Kurt Tojner, Country Manager for Visa Europe in Austria, added: "Mobile phones are nowadays not only a lifestyle tool but an indispensable commodity in every-day life just like the Visa card. We are delighted to be able to offer an innovative payment solution jointly with A1 and provide card owners with a combination of state-of-the-art mobile technology and the extensive Visa acceptance network. This step will pave the way for the further development of mobile payment services such as, for instance, the contactless technology Visa payWave."
SMS Security Package & Mobile Points
An additional service – a SMS security package – will allow card owners to monitor the payment transactions they have made: customers will be informed about the amount and the recipient of the payment by text message and will be able to pro-actively retrieve their account balance any time. A1 Visa Card owners will also profit from a mobile insurance package including theft, purchase protection and travel insurance. Moreover, with each purchase made with the A1 Visa Card, customers will be granted mobile points that will be added to other loyalty points for the purchase of a new handset.
The collaboration between the leading mobile provider in the domestic market and the largest electronic payment retail network creates unparalleled potential synergy. "Going forward, we plan to bring A1 Visa Card as a contactless payment solution to the next generation of NFC-capable handsets with a view to allowing our customers a completely new breed of convenient, cashless, mobile and secure payment services," said Hannes Ametsreiter highlighting the area's development potential.