Vodafone and Visa have announced a worldwide mobile payment partnership. The companies say they will work together to develop a Vodafone-branded proposition that will be offered  to consumers across Vodafone’s 398m customer base in more than 30 countries across five continents, enabled by Visa’s payment network, product suite and brand.

The companies claim the partnerships is the largest of its kind between a global payment network and a mobile operator. The proposition will be based on the Visa prepaid account and offered to consumers in partnership with Visa Issuers. The service will initially be launched in the UK, Germany, the Netherlands, Spain and Turkey in the coming financial year. Other countries within Vodafones global portfolio will follow.

In addition to the Vodafone-branded stored value account inside the mobile wallet, Vodafone and Visa say they will work together to enable Visa Issuers for mobile payments globally. The platform will be open to all partners of all relevant industries, including financial institutions, retailers, transport and utility companies, to host their services within a Vodafone mobile wallet. Vodafone is currently in discussions with service providers including banks, retailers, transport and utility companies, event organisers, smartphone application developers and advertisers, to host a broad range of services within the Vodafone mobile wallet. In addition to stored value accounts, it will also hold loyalty scheme points and gift voucher credits.

“The Vodafone mobile wallet represents the next stage of the smartphone revolution,” says Vodafone Group CEO, Vittorio Colao. “It offers our customers the speed, simplicity and convenience of managing their everyday transactions with a single wave or tap of their smartphone, using innovative and reliable services developed by Vodafone and Visa – technology and providers they can trust. Our mobile wallet will be open to any service provider, and we are committed to enable all partners to provide our joint customers the richest service portfolio possible.”

In developed countries across Europe, N. America and Australia, where there is a mature infrastructure for electronic payments, users of the Vodafone stored value account will be able to make purchases at the-point-of sale using Near Field Communications (NFC) enabled smartphones equipped with Visa’s payWave for mobile payment technology. Higher-value purchases will be secured via the use of a passcode.

“Our partnership with Vodafone represents a huge stride forward for mobile payments,” says Vidsa Europe CEO, Peter Ayliffe. Visa’s future of payments initiative is more than just a promise. These services are real, tangible and coming to the mainstream consumer market in the very near future. Any Visa Issuer across these key markets will be able to work with Visa and Vodafone to enable mobile payments for their customers, backed by all the security, trust and global acceptance the Visa brand represents.”

All Vodafone mobile wallet services will be compatible with standards currently being ratified by the GSM Association.