(Kyodo News International) KDDI has agreed with JCB to join forces in providing mobile phones with credit card functions by installing JCB's payment settlement software into KDDI's handsets, the Nihon Keizai Shimbun reported.
The first models of the handsets for the so-called mobile wallet service will hit the market as early as this fall, the business daily said.
With the tie-up, KDDI aims to catch up with NTT DoCoMo's similar service with Sumitomo Mitsui Card, it added.
The paper said KDDI will incorporate JCB's QUICPay payment software into its contactless-chip-equipped phones. Users will be able to make purchases of up to 20,000 yen per transaction at stores participating in JCB's mobile wallet service.
KDDI's current mobile wallet service is not user-friendly as customers must download credit card company software to their handsets.
But the new service will be usable immediately by simply holding the devices near sensors at cash registers.
© 2006 Kyodo News International
© 2006 Dialog, a Thomson business. All rights reserved