Nokia Launches Pay-By-Phone Service

adeelarshad82 writes "The world's top mobile phone maker, Nokia, said it would launch a mobile financial service next year targeting consumers, mainly in emerging markets, with a phone but no banking account. Nokia's Money service was based on the mobile payment platform of Obopay, a privately-owned firm that Nokia invested in earlier this year, and it is now building up a network of agents. Obopay, which uses text messaging and mobile Internet access, charges users a fee to send money or to top up their accounts."

Comments

O2 just started doing this in the UK

[duguk]

Oh you mean in a similar way that O2 (a UK mobile company) started doing in the UK recently with their Cash Manager card?

O2 Cash Manager - "You load money onto the card, (using your phone or other methods) then whenever you use it you'll receive a free real time text alert. This will tell how much money you've loaded, spent or withdrawn, and how much you've got left. Simple."

Re:O2 just started doing this in the UK

[stoolpigeon]

It's been going on in Africa for quite a while. It sounds like they are just investing more in owning the full process so they can make more profit from what is already going on and will surely be growing. The cell phone companies in much of Africa have essentially become the banks for many people, and of course the vast majority of phones you will find there are Nokia phones.
 
I was in a meeting last friday with a guy from a communications lab at the University of Central Florida. He is working on distance learning with smart phones. I think we may be doing a test study with them in Kenya next year. We were primarily focused on the education software part of it, but much of the discussion also dealt with microloans and transferring of funds via this method. We would like what we do to be self sustaining. It's really some very exciting stuff I think, but I may be a bit biased.
 
Not directly related to the article - but they are using Android as their primary platform. I'm stoked about that too because I think Android is going to be huge down the road.

Re:O2 just started doing this in the UK

[gravyface]

I can see this working in a modernized market like the UK (see, "those with accounts"), but how does this help those in emerging countries with no bank accounts? Credit cards? Don't you need an account for a legitimate credit card? It's been so long since I've had mine, I can't remember. Seriously, I'm not "getting" how they plan on converting analog currency into a digital transaction with the phone and nothing else.

Re:O2 just started doing this in the UK

[stoolpigeon]

A person has a phone - they pay for minutes on the sim card. Those minutes have some value. That value can be transferred to another phone. People move money around and the phone company is essentially their bank. There are also endpoints where cash can be had, but in many places this isn't necessary as the money just moves around between phones.

Re:O2 just started doing this in the UK

[jaiyen]

Here in Thailand, a similar system works by phone users purchasing top-up cards at 7-11's, supermarkets or general stores. Once you've got the credit on your phone, you can make a payment by sending a specially formatted text message. The stores selling top-up cards are everywhere, and no credit cards or bank accounts are needed.

GSM Security?

[William Robinson]

Last time we were trying to push USSD based 'small payment system' in GSM networks, the Central Bank (of that country) launched an independent study which found that security practices in GSM networks were below standards to permit financial transactions. Cloning and some weaknesses in A3, A5 and A8 (and other algorithms/mechanisms) played major concerns.

TFA does not mention anything about security, but, I was wondering how exactly they would take care of this.

Re:Where is the need for a mobile phone?

[natehoy]

Need? Who said anything about need? Look at the title again - "Nokia is launching..."

This is being launched on a phone because it's being launched by a company that makes phones.

Sure, this could all be done with a credit card and an RFID chip, but then Nokia wouldn't be launching it, would they? :)

Nokia wants your phone to be your phone, your Internet connection and email client, your camera, and now your wallet. The more functions they can put on a phone and have them generally accepted, the more people will need to carry them, and if this payment system is exclusive to Nokia phones you're more likely to buy one.

preinstalled TLS/SSL certificates

[S3D]

security practices in GSM networks were below standards

If proper certificates preinstalled on the phone and bank server by phone manufacturer, public key crypto shouldn't be vulnerable to man in the middle, and insecurity of GSM wouldn't matter. Nokia is exactly in position to do it.

GSM Security? There isn't any.

[SgtChaireBourne]

GSM only authenticates one way, not both, so it is almost ideal setup for man in the middle attacks. One of the presentations at last year's CCC, the 25C3 covered this, but you can find plenty of older and newer material on it elsewhere.

Any GSM phone-based payment system has some big challenges. GPRS could be better, since you can then run something behind SSL or SSH. However, even then, when it comes to money, the designers must design the system on the assumption that the network is insecure, perhaps even the endpoints.

heard this service since 2004

[CALI-BANG]

.. here in Philippines.

I believed this service is far more successful in third world country. In some place there's no paypal or even
the concept of wire transfer is quite alien to them. it's easier to send money through sms than going to the
bank and depositing money to someone's account.