SPEED THROUGH THE CHECKOUT QUEUE WITH OPTUS M-WALLET

Optus today announced that it is collaborating with Visa and Heritage Bank to trial a smartphone contactless payment product, using Near Field Communication (NFC) and Visa payWave technology, enabling participants to use their smartphones to securely pay for goods and services.

The internal trial is intended to be the first step towards the development and launch next year of a commercial Optus m-wallet. At launch Optus customers will be able to use compatible smartphones as a virtual wallet, leaving their physical payment cards at home.

Optus intends to incorporate a contactless payment system into the Optus m-wallet for customers to quickly and easily use their smartphones to "wave and go" to pay for day to day purchase transactions such as buying coffee, petrol, grocery items and movie tickets at hundreds of thousands of retailers nationally and internationally where Visa payWave is accepted.

For the purposes of the trial, a participant's debit card information is securely stored on a SIM card in the phone. The trial application is loaded onto the phone and connects to the NFC-enabled SIM card, allowing the contactless payment to occur, without any additional hardware.

Austin R. Bryan, VP of Digital Communities and Ecosystems, SingTel and Optus, said, "This pilot program will help Optus to build a commercial m-wallet that provides an excellent customer experience and ensure a seamless launch for Optus customers next year. As smartphones become even more popular in Australia, we're expecting our customers to rely on these devices for more than just the traditional functions of talk and text."

Optus is working with Visa and Heritage Bank to design and trial an end-to-end solution where participants can easily, simply and securely make payments on the go.

"Users of the Optus m-wallet will benefit from a secure environment with enhanced NFC credentials that have a very high level of security. Not only will the SIM cards be protected by the same EMV chip technology used in scheme credit and debit cards, the customer has the added security of a password protected pin on the application.

"This trial is the first of many trials and tests we will conduct to ensure that we deliver an exceptional product and experience for our customers in 2013," said Mr Bryan.

Vipin Kalra, Visa's Australia Country Manager, said, "Australia is fast becoming the world leader when it comes to contactless payments. Mobile NFC payments are shaping up to be one of the key technology trends for 2013 and Visa is excited to be collaborating with Optus to bring this reality closer for Australian consumers."

John Minz, CEO of Heritage Bank said, "Heritage is one of the leading issuers of pre-paid cards in Australia, and we are delighted to be working with Optus to use our expertise in this area to help develop this exciting new product."

Media contact:
Claire Wong
Optus Corporate Affairs
(02) 8082 7850