Project Oscar opens for business as ‘Weve’

The mobile commerce joint venture between UK carriers EE, O2 and Vodafone is to be called Weve and will initially focus on mobile advertising solutions, with NFC payments to follow later.

Project Oscar partners EE, O2 and Vodafone have unveiled the branding for their mobile commerce service, with a low key launch and emphasis on mobile advertising rather than mobile payments.

Project Oscar is now known as Weve

The Weve brand has been unveiled on a new website which explains that “Weve is a new focal point for a whole new set of experiences and ideas across the mobile spectrum, everywhere from mobile marketing and advertising to payments and transactions, loyalty programs and coupons. It gives businesses access to a single, consolidated consumer base, via a single set of services based on industry communications and security standards. The result: Consistent, secure, highly integrated m-commerce platforms for businesses, and a common but powerful user experience for their customers.”

The website makes no mention of NFC and the new company has confirmed to NFC World that mobile marketing will be its first priority, rather than payments. “The initial focus is going to be on mobile marketing, which includes everything from rich media (video) to messaging and display and this will be the first service that we will turn live,” says Weve. “The timing of turning this service live is still to be confirmed. As for the Wallet and specifically the payment services, we are not releasing any details around this just yet.”

“Currently we have a small number of Weve employees that is set to grow, and a mix of contractors pushing the business forward,” the company adds. “At this time we have a total mix of around 40 people.”

“Our senior management team is still under wraps but we will be releasing details of who and their roles over the next few weeks.”

Next: Visit the NFCW Expo to find new suppliers and solutions