O2's Launch Latest New Technology Innovation Says Prepaidcreditcardsuk.org.uk

Online, January 5, 2011 (Newswire.com) - One of the latest innovations from O2 has been their O2 Money Proposition which was launched in June last year with two prepaid Visa cards that have been marketed exclusively to their customer base of 28 million people. It recently won them Brand Innovation prize at the 2010 Marketing Week Engage Awards, and now, Marketing directo Sally Cowdry has explained that the next stage is to incorporate O2 Money services with Near Field Communication technology.

This continued innovative set up will see the service come full circle as O2 Money's prepaid cards can be topped up via a users mobile phone, and the introduction of Near Field Communication technology will allow users to make payments and purchases from their mobile phone handset.

O2 partnered with Nokia back in 2008 to trial the technology in a handset, and Nokia have announced that they will officially launch a handset that operates this technology next year. This has been echoed by Sally Cowdry who says that the brand will launch Near Field Communication services in the next 18 months once the retail infrastructure to support it has been established. She said 'We've extensively tested Near Field Communication technology with our customers and remain committed to rolling out the service'. She went on to explain that although the technology and consumer demand already exist, the ecosystem isn't yet established fully and not all merchants are ready. When they are, she says that O2 will be ready and that the O2 Money is part of a 'jigsaw puzzle' of innovation.

Telefonica, O2's parent company acquired the voice-over-internet provider Jajah in December last year and this skype like technology will allow O2 to expand its international calling proposition. O2 Money has been the company's showcase over the last year, but it's clear that this is a company who are involved in a host of brand innovations, and that their strategy of connecting people to people is working.

O2 have also revealed that new products will be added to the O2 Money range, but they haven't confirmed whether these will include a fully fledged credit card or whether they intend it to remain with the prepaid cards alone, simply saying that there will be a whole host of new products that will be announced as they are ready.