Monday, June 24, 2013

Convenience of mobile payments in Poland

When you visit Poland you might be surprised with the number of mobile payments opportunities!
In my last post I wrote about the success of the IKO mobile payment app of the Polish Bank PKO BP.
There are however many more mobile payment opportunities...

While in Warsaw, I pay for the public transport using SkyCash. As a matter of fact you have a choice of three different mobile payments services: SkyCash, mPay, MoBILET. So far I haven't seen this many mobile payment services being advertised to pay for public transportion ticket as here in Warsaw.

This month Master Card Mobile has launched a special promotion offering public transportion tickets for 50% of the regular price! MasterCard Mobile is teaming up with several mobile payments services as SkyCash allowing you to also pay for parkings and cinema tickets. Unfortunately the current version of the MasterCard Mobile app only allows you to register with a Polish mobile number.

For over a year you can also buy Intercity  train tickets simply using your smartphone giving you the option to pay with your credit card but also using a variety of mobile payment services. The ticket you can download on your smartphone as the conductors can read it using similar scanners as we are used to at the airports.It saved me a lot of time during my frequent train travels from Warsaw to Krakow.

At the moment most of the mobile services requires you to have a  Polish mobile number, but as the volume of mobile payments  in Poland is growing dramatically I expect that mobile services will soon be available for international visitors.



Monday, June 17, 2013

App replaces bank debit cards in Poland


The Polish Bank PKO Bank Polski is the first one to introduce (in March, 2013) an app allowing mobile transactions, including ATM withdrawal, without a debit card. Two months after the app introduction over thirty thousands bank customers activated the app.

Last weekend, I for the first time withdrew Polish Zloty using the IKO app and issued my first IKO check to pay my friend for Katie Melua 'Cancer? It's curable' concert.
I cant wait trying more mobile transactions with IKO :)

On iTunes IKO got very high 4+ rating. This is how IKO app is advertised in Google store

“Make payments and withdraw money from ATMs with innovative PKO Bank Polski mobile application. Download IKO application now and see how easy is life without a wallet!

PKO Bank Polski application gives you access to fast and secure mobile payments. IKO allows you to pay with your phone in thousands of retail stores and make withdrawals in the Poland's largest ATM network. With IKO application you can also pay in online stores and send money to your friends giving only their cell phone number.”

Those concerned with security of such transactions I recommend a very good article in the Banking Technology Magazine “Wincor-Nixdorf predicts mobile cash withdrawal explosion” .

"There is an opportunity to make mobile banking even safer than internet banking is today" as stated in the article.

The mobile banking explosion is on the way....