American Express, HP join m-commerce alliance

LONDON: US-based financial services company American Express and computer

technology group Hewlett-Packard said on Tuesday they had joined Mobey Forum, a

consortium of banks and cellphone makers which intend to set global rules for

mobile commerce.

American Express, which joins Mobey Forum after payment card rival Visa, said

it wanted "to influence the future direction of the wireless industry at a

local and international level". The Mobey Forum was set up by 10 leading

European banks and the continent's largest mobile phone makers, and has since

been backed by a host of other European banks and international technology

service providers.

The two big US names of American Express and HP give the initiative,

dominated by European names, a higher international profile. "These are two

global brands. I am delighted they are joining the Mobey Forum," said Bo

Harald, chairman of the forum.

After its launch in May 2000, Mobey Forum formulated the technical rules for

mobile commerce in June 2001. Wallet cellphones will be available later this

year. The forum wants to build its Mobile Payment Architecture (MPA) into the de

facto world standard for mobile commerce.

The Mobey Forum will integrate another set of mobile commerce standards from

the MET alliance, a separate consortium formed at the same time in 2000, which

has laid down rules for user friendliness and consistency of mobile payments.

The MET alliance and the Mobey Forum -- which are backed by many of the same

companies, including Nokia of Finland, US-based Motorola and Sweden's Ericsson

-- are currently testing a Nokia phone with two built-in subscriber

identification module (SIM) cards.

SIM cards are the small chips found on most credit cards and telephone cards.

The advantage of having two SIM cards in one cellphone is that banks have

control over one SIM card and the operator controls the other card that

authorizes calls. It means banks can offer their services independently of

mobile operators.

The new phones will connect the customer in a shop to the vendor's payment

terminal over a short, non-telephony link -- this will be done via infrared or

the recently launched Bluetooth radio technology. The customer can then pay from

money stored on his SIM card, or authorize an amount to be deducted from his

bank account.

(C) Reuters Limited