MOBILE PHONE operator O2 is preparing to enter the financial services market in Ireland with the launch of a pre-paid cash card, The Irish Timeshas learned.
The product will be launched to its 1.7 million customers in Ireland early in 2011 in partnership with a specialist UK bank.
This will make O2 the first mobile operator in Ireland to launch a financial services product.
A plastic card will be issued to O2 customers, who will then be able to load it with credit and use it for making online transactions and purchases in shops.
They will also be able to withdraw cash from ATMs both here and overseas.
O2 hopes the card will help it to retain and win new customers as the Irish mobile markets tightens in the recession.
It currently has a one-third share of the market here but average spend among its customers is under pressure.
The cash card will also be used for cross-promotions and for rewards.
Customers will have to be over 18 to be eligible for the card, which is being developed by Irish company 3V Transactional Services.
3V already operates top-up Visa vouchers that allow people without credit cards to buy goods or services online.
O2 operates a similar card in the UK with NatWest bank. Called “Load Go”, it operates as a Visa debit card.
It is free to O2 customers, who can load up to £1,800 a year on to the card to spend online or in any shop that accepts Visa.
O2 declined to comment on its plans which are understood to be at an advanced stage.
The card could allow customers to buy top-up credit for their mobile phones and also to purchase apps for their iPhones.
One of the benefits of the card is that it reduces the risk of fraud for customers, particularly if they are using it abroad.
Traditional debit cards are typically linked to bank accounts, which can be cleared out if the subject of fraud.
Irish banks have also tightened up the issuing of credit cards in the recession. Latest figures show that 60 per cent of credit card applications were rejected in Ireland last year.
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