Submitted by Mike Grenville on Tue, 06 Jan 2004 14:49

Norwegian based E-bank Contopronto claims to have been granted the first-ever European E-banking license allowing for payments and money transfers to any bank, credit card, business or individual through mobile phones from Europe

"Rather than buying the technology for their own subscribers mobile carriers now have available an open technology that can be used with other carriers, effectively eliminating one of the barriers to the full adoption of e-banking" said Mr. Morten Hofstad, Contopronto CEO

The system has already been trialed for a one-year pilot program in Norway with hundreds of merchants in the country connecting to Contopronto, and thousands of individuals taking advantage of the system. Companies such as McDonald's, Peppe's Pizza, and Norway's number one loyalty program Trumf are participating in Contopronto's e-banking system.

To use the system, Contopronto customers dining at a restaurant receive their bill at the end of the meal with a code printed at the bottom. The customer then sends a text-message including the bill's printed code and the payment is instantly transferred to the restaurant's account.

In early 2004 the system will also be available in taxis in 25 cities in Norway. "For the passenger it is convenient by accepting payment with just one click on his mobile, the payment is collected instantly and safely", says Mr. Jan Bekkevold, CTO at Oslo Taxi.

The Norwegian horse betting association, Norsk Rikstoto, is another Contopronto adapter, "Online gambling is among the most popular uses of mobile payment technology," said Arne Herberg, Norsk Riksoto CEO, and "Contopronto's ease of use creates new opportunities for industry growth."

"Another potential use of the Contopronto e-banking system is international money transfers", Mr. Hofstad said. "Contopronto users only send a text message and within a matter of seconds, rather than days, the transaction is completed for a fraction of the cost of a traditional funds transfer. Funds can be sent in any currency. For example a person in Denmark can send either kroners, pounds, euros or other currencies to someone in London."

"We have clients now who pay their employees salaries directly into their mobiles,"says Mr. Knut Brundtland, Chairman of Contopronto.

Funds can be sent to anyone, even if they are not Contopronto members. Once a payment is accepted an account will be automatically opened. It all happens in a matter of seconds.

The new license allows for transactions up to approximately 1250 euros, Mr Hofstad said.

Contopronto has just added a London office and expects to soon have E-money banks across Europe.

www.contopronto.com