99Bill Upgrades Mobile Payment Services

BEIJING, March 3 /Xinhua-PRNewswire/ -- 99Bill Corporation ,

a leading third-party electronic payment services
provider in China, released upgraded mobile payment service to enable
mobile users in China to conduct transactions over the mobile phones. The
upgraded service is set to make the adoption of the mobile payment easier
for both the end consumers as well as for the merchants.
99Bill is the first payment company in China introducing email and
mobile number based payment services targeting 210 millions internet and
500 millions mobile users. With the massive adoption of the WAP enabled
mobile phones in China, the WAP-based payment service is becoming the new
and convenient option for sending and receiving payments. 99Bill's upgraded
mobile payment services support real time account setup, sending and
receiving payments, transaction inquiring, bank cards and prepaid cards
transactions and acknowledgement.
"Mobile phones are the convenient device for payment transactions, and
99Bill incorporates the mobile phone number as payment account ID right
from day one. This major upgrade is another step to expand mobile payment
functionalities for 500 million mobile users in China," said Oliver Kwan,
founder and CEO of 99Bill.
The steady growth of the mobile phone users in China has created huge
demands for mobile payment services for both personal and business
applications. 99Bill's upgraded WAP-based payment service will provide an
open platform for partners to develop applications with 99Bill's mobile
payment built-in, in turn, create even faster adoption by consumer and
business.
Besides WAP-based mobile payment service, 99Bill has been providing a
wide range of electronic payment services, including credit and debit card
processing, prepaid solutions, foreign currency, bank and post wire
processing, stored value accounts, and digital vouches. In addition to
mobile phone, 99Bill's services already cover multiple end devices, such
as, PCs, Telephones, IVR and Point of Sales devices. The company plans to
introduce more mobile based payment and billing services in the coming
months.

Completion of Core Mobile NFC Standard to Spark New Services

ETSI decision adds a key piece to the Mobile NFC jigsaw puzzle

London, GSMA Press Release 2008: The GSMA is pleased that the European Telecommunications Standards Institute has adopted the technical standards governing Mobile Near Field Communications (NFC) services supported by the Association and its members. The completion of the core of the technical standards removes a potential obstacle, enabling mobile operators to prepare for the rollout of contactless payment services and other applications that make use of this flexible short-range radio technology. Last week, members of ETSI selected the software protocol to control communication between the handset’s NFC chip and the SIM card, completing the standards necessary for handset makers to begin production of NFC-enabled phones in large volumes. As part of the GSMA’s Pay-Buy-Mobile initiative, 13 mobile operators are running, or preparing to run, trials of contactless mobile payment services that make use of NFC technology. These trials are the precursor to commercial services that will enable consumers to use their handsets to quickly, easily and securely pay for goods and services in shops, restaurants and train stations. "ETSI's approval of the specification for a dedicated interface, or 'Host Controller Interface' (HCI), helps end uncertainty, complete the core mobile NFC standards and is an crucial milestone for the plans of the GSMA and its members to deploy contactless mobile payment services,” said Alex Sinclair, Chief Technology Officer of the GSMA. “The software protocol solution chosen by ETSI will make these new services easier to use by enabling consumers to access all the secure applications on their handset, no matter where they are stored, through one common interface."