Visa Europe and Orange have announced a strategic partnership that reflects the companies’ shared ambition to accelerate awareness and everyday usage of mobile contactless payment in France.
 
The aim of this partnership is to raise awareness of the benefits of NFC for the customers in an increasingly favourable environment for mobile payment. The number of contactless payment terminals used by French merchants has increased by more than 50% over the past six months to reach 200,000 active terminals in France today, which has been complimented by the mass deployment of NFC mobile phones in France.
 
Orange is offering its customers equipped with NFC compatible mobiles the opportunity to pay retailers simply and securely with Orange Cash. This mobile prepayment solution, the first of its kind in France, uses contactless Visa technology pre-loaded on all Orange  NFC SIM cards. The service is based on a solution designed and managed in collaboration with the Wirecard Group and Wirecard Card Solutions, Member of Visa Europe.
 
Orange customers will be able to download the Orange Cash app from the apps store and top up their prepaid Orange Cash account with the amount they choose in just a few clicks using their bank card. To pay, they will just need to place their mobile on an  NFC payment terminal at a retailer’s premises. For all payments of over €20, users will be asked for a secret code they will have chosen, which is different from their bank card PIN code.
 
Thierry Millet, Vice President - Mobile Payments and NFC, Orange, said: "Paying with your smartphone is a new function which will take off due to its practicality  in everyday life. By launching Orange Cash, we want to accelerate the adoption of mobile payment generally and, of course, among our customers via a simple and secured solution, which offers many advantages. The partnership with Visa Europe increases our customers’ confidence and ensures acceptance of Orange Cash at a large number of sales points in France and abroad.”
 
Sandra Alzetta, Executive Director – Mobile, Visa Europe, said: "Our partnership with Orange marks a significant step in the adoption of mobile payment. This agreement is based both on Orange’s unique expertise in NFC and Visa’s technologies, and the trust placed in our respective brands. This partnership is in line with our innovation strategy and allows us to offer a service which makes consumers’ everyday lives easier."
 
Orange Cash will be made available to Orange customers in Strasbourg and Caen in early 2014, ahead of a nationwide roll-out in the second quarter of the year. The launch will speed up the adoption of mobile payments and support the offers from bank partners of Orange and members of Visa.