Payment services
Telefónica O2 has been providing payment services to its customers in keeping with the Act No. 284/2009 Coll., on the payment system, already from 1 November 2009. The services allow customers raise a payment order and use their mobile device or fixed line to pay for goods or services provided by third parties. The customer has a choice of several methods of payments; the most widely used method is via Premium SMS, which, in 2010, was opted for on average by 521 thousand customers per month. The so-called Audiotex (Premium-rate Telephone Number) service was the second most popular payment method, with an average monthly payment per customer of CZK 754, up 19.9% year on year. The total of funds used to pay for goods and services, via the two aforementioned methods of payment, reached CZK 722 million in the Czech market in 2010. Customers could also opt for Datarif (a dial-up data transfer).
In autumn 2010, Telefónica O2, in collaboration with other mobile operators, members of the Association of Mobile Network Operators, launched a new campaign in the Czech market – ‘Plať mobilem’ (www.platmobilem.cz, ‘Pay with Your Mobile’). Its role is to promote mobile transactions in the amount between CZK 20 and CZK 1,500 that can be made using a mobile data capable mobile telephone. The service, O2 Payment, has been in Telefónica O2’s portfolio since October 2010.
In October 2010, Telefónica O2, together with several Czech banks (Česká spořitelna, a.s., GE Money Bank, a.s., Raiffeisenbank, a.s., UniCredit Bank Czech Republic, a.s.), mobile operator Vodafone Czech Republic, a.s., and A-communications (Malta) Limited, started MOPET CZ, a.s., a company incorporated in the Commercial Register on 3 November 2010. The company’s business is to launch a new mobile payment method in the Czech market, to provide an alternative to cash payments for goods and services.
