A Mass Market retailers /Mobile telecommunications companies agreement on the payment of goods by mobile phone.

On 2 December 2008, the distribution giants including Carrefour, Auchan and Intermarché and the three main mobile telecommunications companies, Orange, SFR and Bouygues Telecom have signed an agreement to complete the implementation of payment by mobile phone in participant shops. Tests will be made from Christmas 2009 that will allow customers of the three companies to pay their purchases contactless via their mobile phone. Since November 2007, the technology is being tested in two French cities: Caen and Strasbourg. The main obstacle to its development was the need of an agreement between mains players around a common technical solution and a profitable business model. We need, for example, to ensure the universality of the technology to avoid the Japan case, where the technology has developed rapidly, but where the offer is proposed by a single company NTT DoCoMo. The French agreement appears as a "sacred union" between the competitors. It demonstrates the importance of the issue.
The used technology NFC-type, for near field communication uses the functionality of the mobile phone interactivity. It may be used to exchange information in short distance by three modes: emulation card, peer to peer and reader.

In the area of Mass Market, this new use of mobile phones is a revolution in sales and marketing. Required to provide more information on products, stores may dematerialize labels, notices and even offer customized-promotions to their customers. By approaching their mobile phones near a contactless spot customers will obtain product information. The payment by mobile phone should flow transactions. In addition, the economic model chosen wouldn’t include additional cost for the seller. These cost will be on customers who are using payment by mobile.
To be adopted, this mode of payment should provide a substantial advantage, especially because the French culture is hard to change. We all remember the fiasco of Moneo. For customers, the use of mobile phone as a means of payment seems appropriate to the expenses of daily life. Exit coins, blue cards and loyalty cards. The mobile phone, which many of us keep near, will do it all. The success of this new method is likely in a country where almost 80% of French people aged over 15 have a mobile phone. However, customers will have to change their mobile phone. Nokia, Samsung and LG, the most advanced manufacturers announce the arrival of terminals for Fall 2009. An estimation indicates that in 2011 one third of sold mobile phones worldwide should be equipped with a contactless microchip, for transactions amounting to 34 billion of dollars. Remains open the question of the security process. In the event of mobile theft, the network of the telecommunication companies will be used to disable the application. But what about the hacking?