VALYOU: "People are willing to put their plastic cards in the phone"

Mobile network operator Telenor has unveiled its NFC mobile wallet service at Mobile World Congress 2013.

Telenor has partnered with DNB for the initial rollout of the new Valyou mobile wallet, following the completion of an NFC pilot in Oslo during 2012.

"We know that many of our customers would like to get rid of their physical wallet, and wish for an easier everyday life," says Telenor. "The service must be easy and secure. If these criteria are met, people are willing to put their plastic cards in the phone."

"There are so many features and services we want to put in the NFC wallet but we have chosen to focus on payment first," says Viktoria Erngard, VP of financial services at Telenor. "For us as a mobile network operator this is an important strategic development as well as making use of the things we already do every day; distributing SIM cards and mobile phones to our customers.

"With this upgrade to NFC-enabled phones and SIMs we are ready to let service providers such as banks and transport companies deliver services to their customers."

A video containing interviews with Erngard and Svein Aaser, chairman of the Telenor board of directors and a former chairman of DNB, shows off the new service and explains Telenor's vision for Valyou:

Telenor is also demonstrating a number of NFC services developed through an NFC City project that it is running on a campus in Tromsø, Norway. NFC City aims "to move NFC services from labs to real life setting in order to get feedback from users, and to explore the related ecosystem and business models."

Fifty students taking part in the pilot can use a Samsung Galaxy S III NFC phone to replace their bus tickets, house keys and cash, as well as obtain information about the arrival time of the next bus, today's menu at the canteen and tonight's events on the campus.

NFC tags are also being used to provide context-sensitive information at the individual level. A tag placed outside a lecture room, for instance, enables only enrolled students to download materials for the lecture.