Turkcell ramps up mobile payments tech
15 September, 2011
category: NFC
Turkcell has some new developments leveraging NFC technology, according to the Wall Street Journal, which was recently given a glance inside the company’s research center outside of Istanbul.
The Turkish teleco, which boasts some 33.5 million subscribers, has figured out a way to fit up to 11 different bank accounts and charge cards onto the mere 256kb of space on a standard SIM card. This allows an NFC-enabled phone to be used as a true e-wallet with a number of different payment options, rather than one proprietary account or payment card.
If your phone isn’t already equipped with NFC technology, Turkcell has created a thin plastic film antennae that can be fitted on top of any standard mobile phone’s battery pack (excluding iPhone). The NFC antennae connects to the phone’s SIM card to enable the e-wallet.
Another innovation is geared towards those who own a mobile phone and not a bank account. The MasterCard-certified system uses a simple charge card, which can be purchased for a few Lira, that the user can put cash on to share with other cards via SMS or even take money out of an ATM.