Orange and Barclaycard today announced a long term strategic partnership to develop a range of mobile, financial and payment services. Customers will be able to use their mobiles to pay for goods and services at retailers using contactless technology; by simply waving their handset against a reader. Both companies will be looking to expand the partnership to include other contactless services within ticketing, transport and rewards. MasterCard will provide the payment capabilities for the transactions.

Tom Alexander, CEO of Orange UK, said: “Today you pay for things by cash or on your credit card. Tomorrow, you’ll use your mobile to buy the things you want, whether that’s on the high street or the internet. These are the services that will change the way we live and work for the better, and are evolving the way we interact with each other and the way that companies serve us.

“The mobile industry is being looked to more and more by companies wanting to evolve the way they do business with their customers, and a key part of our strategy at Orange is to grow and evolve our business in order to provide people with services beyond talk and text. This new partnership with Barclaycard is at the forefront of that kind of thinking, and our customers will benefit from the leading-edge technology that both Orange and Barclaycard can provide.”