Since 25th October for the first time in Hungary and the first time in Europe, mobile phones are enabled to be used as MasterCard payment cards. A month ago Google launched in the United States (only!) a virtual mobile wallet called “Google Mobile” and now MasterCard Mobile is to be launched in Hungary (EU), just for a good start.

MasterCard chose Cellum, Hungary’s fast-growing developer of mobile payment solutions, to integrate bank cards into handsets.

Mobile phones will no longer be limited to offering voice, image and text transmission services only; from now on they will be able to transfer money as well.

“Hungarian engineers created a secure system that allows us to ‘copy’ our bank card to our mobile telephone in a fast and easy way, and initiate payment transactions. The application combines the advantages of mobile phones, bank cards and traditional ATMs, and makes top-ups, utility bill payments, money transfer and online shopping easier than ever“, says Anita Lovasz from Public Republic Group.

Cellum’s new application is available on four platforms: iPhone, Android, SIM and Windows Mobile. That means that they will be practically available for all mobile phone users.

According to the National Bank of Hungary research (March 2011), the new solution may replace traditional checks in a couple of years, and decrease the use of traditional plastic cards and cash. Improving the efficiency of cash transactions in Hungary could result in savings of over HUF 100 billion per year.

This post was written by Hania Sajnaj-Kaczmarek

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