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U.S payment processor First Data International has teamed up with Germany's NCS Network and Communication Service to offer transaction processing for mobile payments.
Founded in 2003, NCS has developed a mobile payment system known as Crandy. The company holds an e-money license to offer payment services in the European Union through its NCS Mobile Payment Bank subsidiary.
NCS’s technology enables consumers to make wireless payments to on-street ticketing and vending machines from their mobile phones. The transaction takes place either through the consumer sending a text message or using interactive voice response (IVR).
The NCS payment system communicates with vending and ticketing machines via existing telemetry systems that are used for centralized data collection and stock control. “First Data and NCS can equip a vending machine to accept mobile payments without the need for a hardware upgrade,” says Martin Harrison, vice president of strategic marketing at First Data International.
Currently, NCS has 360,000 consumers signed up for Crandy in the UK, Germany, France and Belgium. Services include payments for parking lots and vending machines, ticketing, and person-to-person money transfers.
“We are targeting merchants and vending machine suppliers with our joint service,” says Harrison.
