Nokia, Nordea Bank and Visa International test and develop the use of mobile phones in everyday e-commerce going in a pilot project in Helsinki. Finland is the perfect place to test m-payment systems: Finns have been quick to adopt both cash-free payments and mobile services.

Nokia, Nordea Bank and Visa International have joined forces in a pilot project that tests and develops the use of mobile phones in everyday e-commerce. Participating in the Electronic Mobile Payment System (EMPS) pilot are 150 consumers from the Helsinki metropolitan region. Participants have been supplied with 150 specially manufactured mobile phones with which they can make payments in two Helsinki businesses, the Kinopalatsi movie theatre and the ruoka.net electronic grocery store.

The pilot uses new dual chip technology and it is also the first time that the actual experiences of m-trading are being collected with respect to both consumers and the financial institutions that ensure the system 's smooth functioning and reliability. The test results will be handed over to current forums on the development of European and global standards for e-commerce, including the Mobey Forum and the MET consortium.

Five million people with six million cards

The dual chip approach means that the mobile phone includes both an ordinary GSM SIM card and a separate chip card issued by the Nordea Bank. Furthermore, the latter contains a Wireless Identity Module (WIM) function enabling mobile Visa Electron payments.

Helsinki is the perfect place to test m-payment systems: Finns have been quick to adopt both cash-free payments and mobile services. The statistics speak for themselves: Finnish banks have issued over 6 million cards (in a country with 5.2 million people) and a recent Finnish Bank Association survey indicated that 92 percent of Finns have a bank card, for either payments or withdrawals.

Yet cards are not the only cash-free payment option open to Finns. 75 per cent own a mobile phone, which, in addition to its use for oral communication, is increasingly being used as a multi-purpose device. And mobile phones are expected to start replacing the card as a means of payment.

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