Mobile Payments Available With the New O2 App

As the new Near Field Communication (NFC) technology is coming to us soon, O2 has decided it can’t wait and has released a new application that turns your phone into a mobile wallet. We are fast-approaching becoming a cashless society and the new e-wallet system will make purchases faster, safer and cleaner as no cash money is being exchanged.

There are other apps that do the same thing such as Barclays PingIt, but the great part about O2’s app is you don’t need to be their customer to use it. Once you download the secure app you can access your accounts, manage your account and check your balance. It lets you send and receive money from other smartphone owners and O2 app holders. While many people feel that mobile security isn’t as strong as personal computer security, James Le Brocq, the Managing Director of O2 Money, said that there has been stringent testing for stresses, loopholes and backdoor entry which has had great results of being water-tight.

The reason why the O2 e-wallet app is more secure than people would believe is because central servers hold the passwords, personal data and PIN numbers, instead of it being located in the smartphone itself. Technically, it means you can access your data from a smartphone that isn’t yours so you can still be in control of your money while you’re without your own smartphone. This is handy if you lose it and need to buy something with your friend’s phone.

O2 adds another layer of safety to mobile users by adding credit limits to the account. This means that if someone did hack into your account or stole your phone then they wouldn’t be able to use it much. You’re only allowed to load your account with so much money – each One will depend on your circumstances – and you’re not allowed to spend huge amounts of money either. This tentative attitude is very handy but it can be limiting if you spend a lot of money using the app.

After testing the app as a non-O2 customer the sign-up procedure took forever and there is a whole bunch of secondary and tertiary passwords that you need to remember to gain access to other parts of the app. It seems O2 has gone overboard on the security levels to a point where it’s not really that user-friendly but as One of the first apps to take the e-wallet to the mainstream the firm needs to protect their already controversial reputation. However, if you’re regularly going to send money to the same person who also has the O2 app we think that it’s going to be really easy to do so, but then again, that’s why so many millions of people use PayPal, isn’t it?

Whether you have an iPhone, Android phone or a BlackBerry you can download the app from their respective stores, but remember you’re asked if you want to add your data to your Facebook page which we feel isn’t the greatest of ideas O2 has ever had.