The British wireless operator Orange on Thursday launched a contactless credit card, co-branded with Barclaycard, that features text-message alerts and financial-management tools.
Orange, a brand of the France Telecom Group, said the MasterCard Inc.-branded card would include customer-activated text-message alerts and blocks on card spending online, abroad or for high-value transactions.
Customers also can set a weekly or monthly budget, with alerts when the budget is reached or can call for the account to decline transactions automatically if they exceed the budget, Orange said.
"We are seeing demand from both retailers and customers for ever-more convenient ways to pay and accept payment, and believe that mobile and contactless technologies are key to meeting those needs," said Chris Wood, a managing director at the Barclaycard unit of Barclays PLC, in the Orange press release.
