Mobile operator Turkcell is working with Turkish bank, Akbank to merge its NFC-powered mobile wallet service, ‘Turkcell Cep-T Cüzdan’, with its location-based services. The collaboration means that Turkcell subscribers holding Axess cards can pay for goods with their mobile phones using the mobile wallet, while also benefitting from special promotions offered by Akbank, and what Turkcell describes as location-based “surprises”, in the form of offers from retail outlets close to their current location. Users just need to add their Axess card to the mobile wallet to receive the offers.

“We are proud to have realized many firsts in the area of NFC technology that we have implemented both globally and in Turkey,” says Turkcell chief new technology business officer, Cenk Bayrakdar. “In today’s world, where mobile phones are an indispensable part of our lives, we will ensure that those of our customers who have Axess cards will make use of the advantages of mobility via Turkcell’s Cep-T Cüzdan application, and conveniently realize the opportunities that surround them with location-based marketing capabilities.”

Akbank executive vice president in charge of payment systems, Mehmet Sindel, says the bank is keen to integrate mobile phones with payment systems. He says: “Today, we never leave our mobile phones behind when we walk out the home, and we let our friends and people around us know our location through social media on our mobile phones. We have now launched the first application in our country which combines NFC technology and location-based services. By doing so, we will enable our cardholders to make full use of the advantages of mobility, and with location-based marketing we can easily alert card holders to notice the opportunities around them.”