Sixty banks and retailers sign up for new Korean mobile wallet service

KT’s MoCa combines payment cards, coupons and offers stored in the cloud with a mobile wallet app that allows consumers to make payments at merchants via traditional barcodes, QR codes or NFC — providing retailers with the flexibility to use their prefered choice of POS hardware to close the “last inch” at the point-of-sale.

MoCa Alliance
MOCA ALLIANCE: A presentation slide shows the range of participants. Click to enlarge.

Korean mobile network operator KT has launched MoCa, a cloud-based mobile wallet offering that is open to all consumers, regardless of their carrier, and enables merchants to accept payments from MoCa users online as well as in-store, via traditional barcodes, QR codes or NFC. Both Android and iOS versions of the MoCa Pay mobile wallet app are available.

MoCa also includes a range of coupon and special offer capabilities and allows customers to link their payments cards and their bank account as well as a range of loyalty and membership cards to their wallet, providing shoppers with a full range of options for how they pay for their purchases at the point-of-sale.

And, because MoCa supports 1D and 2D barcodes as well as NFC, merchants wishing to accept payments from MoCa users are also able to choose from a wide range of hardware options.

All card and other personal data is stored in the cloud and access is protected by a six digit PIN. If a user’s phone is lost of stolen, just one call to MoCa is needed to put their account on hold and prevent fraudulent transactions.

MoCa has been developed by KT and IT provider Harex Infotech and the carrier says it has applied for a number of international patents for the technology behind the MoCa platform. KT has also formed the MoCa Alliance to build out the new solution as quickly as possible. Sixty banks, card issuers and retailers have signed up at launch, including some of Korea’s largest merchants. Participants include Kookmin Bank, Standard Chartered Bank, NH Bank, Shinhan Card, BC Card, eBay, Home Plus, Shinsegae Department Store, Shinsegae Mall, and Caffe Bene.

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