Pay by cell phone to get easy

The operators -- Spain's Telefonica Moviles SA, Germany's T-Mobile AG and Britain's Orange SA and Vodafone Group PLC -- unveiled plans Wednesday to offer secure payments between merchants, cell phone users and banks.

Coming to America
Dubbed the Mobile Payment Services Association, the service will be launched in Europe, but with an eye toward markets in the United States and Asia next year.

Tim Jones, the association's chief executive, said the service can push mobile commerce forward by creating a single brand for processing payments.

Ostensibly, the market for buying goods with a cell phone is limited. Users can go online, using a phone's built-in Web browser, and order flowers from a Web site, provided the details of a credit or debit card are stored in a virtual wallet.

The new clearinghouse, Jones said, offers more, taking card payments directly from mobile phone users and storing the financial information for future transactions. The service will cover small purchases, typically no more than $10.80.

"There is a growing experience already of customers, often younger people, buying logos and ring tones," he said.

Not limited by borders
Edward Holland, a spokesman for Madrid-based Telefonica Moviles, said the clearinghouse can speed along the goal of making mobile payments more convenient.

By incorporating wireless operators from across Europe, users who live in Spain can download a new ring tone and bill it to their account even if they are traveling in Sweden.

Eventually, though, the system will lead to mobile payments for more than cell phone downloads, said John Strand, CEO of Copenhagen, Denmark-based Strand Consult.

"We'll hear 'Will this be a credit card transaction or just a mobile transaction?"' he said. "It could be done."