MasterCard and Mobistar Bring Mobile Payments to Belgium

  • Wednesday, September 17th, 2014
  • Author: Tim Maytom
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contactless mastercardMasterCard Belgium has teamed with PrePay Solutions and Mobistar to introduce its contactless mobile payment solution to Belgium.

The solution was developed in collaboration with Mobistar, who will be implementing the payment solution among its employees later this year, along with several other partners.

As part of the introduction, MasterCard has equipped local retailers and restaurants with contactless payment technology, and is using its Belgian staff to introduce the technology to the general public.

Once the new payment ecosystem has been deployed in Belgium, MasterCard expects several important Belgian merchants and brands to upgrade to contactless technology within the next year, along with a large number of payment terminals.

“We are very enthusiastic about the introduction of mobile payments,” said David Dechamps, general manager at MasterCard Benelux. “Payments via smartphone have been on the rise the last couple of years – but the technology has always been restricted to an eCommerce environment. From now on, consumers can transform their smartphone to an actual wallet and conduct payments at contactless terminals in regular shops. This means a huge boost of ease-of-payment.”

“Smartphones and tablets have replaced traditional mobile phones” said Jean-Marc Harion, CEO of Mobistar. “Belgian consumers have become a lot more digitally savvy – which means their smartphone plays a more central role in their daily lives. We are convinced that consumers are ready to use their smartphone as a secure mobile payment method.”