Vodafone Wallet, the Vodafone "digital wallet" that allows you to make purchases with your smartphone, to have your loyalty cards with you and to manage season tickets and tickets for public transport, has been awarded among the best contactless payment systems and mobile loyalty in 2016, resulting in:
• “Overall Winner” and “Best Engagement and Loyalty Scheme” at the Payment Awards 2016 in London
• “Best Proximity or Contactless Payment Solution” and “Best Gift/Incentive Card or Programme” at the 2016 Emerging Payment Awards
Among the parameters that contributed to the recognition, there are, according to what we read in the note published by the company, "Vodafone's pioneering role in the diffusion of NFC technology and the pan-European presence, the compatibility of the Wallet with most of the Android NFC smartphones on the market, and the many mobile commerce functions”.
In particular, over the last year, Vodafone Wallet has evolved thanks to the launch in Italy, Spain, Germany, Hungary and the Netherlands of Vodafone Pay, the digital payment system that allows you to associate all Visa and MasterCard® credit cards and the your PayPal account to make purchases with your smartphone in all shops and points of sale equipped with contactless POS.
To pay with Vodafone Pay, customers must make the purchase by holding the phone close to the contactless POS, without having to open the application and even when the phone is empty. During payments, the data is kept inside the NFC SIM and is never saved on the phone. In this way, in case of loss of the smartphone, it is sufficient to call the Vodafone customer service number to block the SIM and the Vodafone Pay service, leaving the physical cards active.
Vodafone Pay can also be used for transport transactions: in London, for example, the service allows direct access to the Tube and all public transport by placing the smartphone at the turnstiles. Finally, thanks to the recent extension of contactless technology to the typical London "black cabs", Vodafone customers can also use the service to pay for taxi rides.
