Card-less, bank-free mobile payment service launched

New Zealand's mobile network operators have agreed to introduce a mobile payment service, supported by the Telecommunications' Carriers' Forum, that will enable users to buy items and services via their phones without having to enter credit card details.

Called Payforit, the service was developed by the TCF Working Party, of which Vodafone, Telecom and 2degrees are members.

The full title of the service is "the Payforit Trusted Mobile Payments Framework", and it is based on a similar service, also called Payforit, that has been operating in Britain since 2006.

The New Zealand service, like its British counterpart, will be managed by accredited payment intermediaries.

Customers using Payforit don't even require a bank account; charges made via their mobile go direct to their mobile provider.

TCF chief executive David Stone says there will be limits on the amount that individual customers can purchase via Payforit. The limit will be set by each carrier as part of the contract with the user, he says.