French telcos unveil m-payment system

Plan to take on PayPal, Boku, Zong et al with Buyster.

The three big French operators – Orange, Bouygues and SFR – have teamed up with IT company Atos Origin to develop the system, which by linking a mobile phone number to a bank card.

It will work with the mobile and fixed internet, and complement Kiosk, the existing cross-operator billing service available in France.

That sounds like Boku and Zong, doesn't it? These two firms have made major headway linking with operators all over the world to offer a 'pay by mobile' option to web sites mostly for virtual goods.

It's far from the first time the French have done their own thing against the prevailing global drift. Don't forget Minitel hung around a long time after the internet was established.

Eric Gontier, CEO of Buyster: “Over the next five years, we are counting on a share of the mCommerce market representing ten per cent of the turnover for eCommerce with an estimated amount of just over €6 billion.”