The bank- and telco-backed Hungarian Mobile Wallet Association is preparing for a full-scale commercial roll-out after reviewing largely positive feedback from a year-long pilot trial of its NFC-based m-payment service.
Gábor Pukler, president of the Hungarian Mobile Wallet Association estimates that around 350-400 000 people would be open for the use of the service in the first round, following research conducted during the pilot trials.
During the test period, participants could use the wallet to activate OTP Bank's MasterCard Mobile PayPass payment card, SuperShop's NFC loyalty card, a sports facility access card, event tickets provided by InterTicket, employee ID card and in a limited edition a public transport card for the city of Szolnok.
During the 12-month test phase, the active 'MobilTárca' users made 41,000 payment and more than 4,000 loyalty point transactions. Users spent more than EUR385,000 across more than 20 countries.
A survey conducted in June by BellResearch indicate that the vast majority of the triallists, 86%, would use the wallet in the commercial phase. Eighty-seven percent said they would also consider the wallet compatibility when buying their next smartphone.
Says Pukler: "It is a promising fact as well that three out of four users recommended the MobilTárca wallet to their friends."
The pilot users said that they appreciated the additional card functionalities like balance inquiry and transaction history, but they would also welcome more services providing added value, such as personalised offers and location based promotions.