The wireless network operator Orange is offering what it says is the first major contactless prepaid debit card in the U.K.
Orange and PrePay Solutions Ltd. of the U.K., which manages the program and processes the card's transactions, said they view the card as a way to strengthen the telecommunications company's relationship with Orange mobile users and to attract new customers. Issued by Barclaycard, the MasterCard-branded Orange Cash card features a rewards program tied to Orange's pay-as-you-go mobile service.
"The benefit of this card is that by being a loyal customer, you can use the loyalty points" for Orange features, Gilles Coccoli, PrePay Solutions managing director, said in an interview. "The uniqueness [of the rewards program] is that it's integrated together with Orange's offerings."
Orange, a unit of France Telecom, officially launched the card in April and is in the process of marketing it through different channels, including through the company's stores and online, Coccoli said.
Zilvinas Bareisis, a senior analyst with Celent, said, "It makes sense to offer rewards that are not very costly for Orange."
Cardholders may use the contactless feature for purchases up to $24.23. Purchases exceeding that require a PIN because the card uses the EMV Integrated Circuit Card Specifications.
The card's contactless function has a greater purpose in the long run for Orange, Bareisis said. The card "serves as a stepping stone to get consumers accustomed to using something like an e-wallet and as a bridge into proper mobile payments," he said.
In January, Barclaycard and the wireless network operator Everything Everywhere Ltd. announced a plan to launch the U.K.'s first contactless mobile payments system this summer.
Everything Everywhere is a partnership between Orange and the German operator T-Mobile, a subsidiary of Deutsche Telekom AG.
Cardholders earn one point per $1.62 they spend up to a 2,000-point limit. Customers may redeem 100 points for 20 minutes of additional airtime or 150 extra text messages. Two hundred points provides 50 additional minutes or 500 text messages.
At 500 points, the reward jumps to 200 minutes or unlimited text messages for one month.
