Riverwoods and Schaumburg, Ill., -- February
13, 2007 -- Discover Financial Services,
a business unit of Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS),
and Motorola Inc. (NYSE: MOT), today announced
the launch of a mobile payments and account management
trial that enables participants to check their
Discover Card account balances, review payment
history, and make purchases using their mobile
phones in place of a traditional plastic credit
card.
The pilot project is being conducted
by Discover Network, a division of Discover Financial
Services, and Motorola, and involves up to 1,000
participants with Discover Card accounts and multiple
merchants in the Chicago and Salt Lake City areas.
The pilot uses Motorola phones and its “M-Wallet”
software, with Motorola's system integration and
hosting services enabling the solution. It is
designed to test the entire infrastructure associated
with accessing real time account information over
the air, as well as the use of near field communications
(NFC) technology, which is required for consumers
to make payments using their cellular devices.
“Not only will this pilot give us feedback
on the technology, but also it will provide valuable
information about how merchants and Cardmembers
interface with it,” said Joby Orlowsky, vice president
of marketing for Discover Network. “This ensures
that we deliver a customer experience that is
seamless and relevant, and that meets their expectations
every step of the way.”
Discover Network's
contactless platform, combined with Motorola's
“M-Wallet” software solution, allows cardholders
to download any of their Discover Card accounts
to their cellular device. Once the software is
downloaded, participants can check their credit
card balances, review payment history, and receive
statements and rewards information.
The
Motorola M-Wallet solution enables high-speed,
secure financial transactions via NFC mobile phones
in CDMA and GSM technologies. Key solution features
include an easy to use “virtual wallet” interface
and the flexibility to accommodate a variety of
functions, such as bill payments, mobile banking,
couponing, person-to-person transactions, stored
value cards, ticketing, and point of sale transactions.
As part of the Motorola Global Applications Management
(GAMA) framework, M-Wallet is device agnostic,
interoperable with a mobile network operators'
applications environment, and offered in a hosted
business model.
“The Motorola M-Wallet
solution creates value for financial institutions
and retailers by streamlining electronic transactions
and optimizing the customer management processes,”
said Navin Mehta, vice president, Services, Motorola
Networks & Enterprise. “For the end-user,
Discover Network's innovative platform combined
with M-Wallet's flexible end-to-end infrastructure
result in a reliable and easy to use experience.
Mobile network operators also benefit from the
solution, providing an added opportunity to increase
traction with their subscribers by simplifying
their day-to-day tasks.”
This mobile
payments trial is the latest initiative in Discover
Network's contactless payment program. Contactless
payment technology is gaining consumer acceptance
and offers value to merchants who are searching
for innovative ways to improve customer service
and transaction volume, and drive customer loyalty.
According to a recent study by the Aberdeen Group,
more than 58 percent of retail respondents in
the survey indicated that they plan to implement
contactless payment solutions within the next
18-24 months.
NFC is a new, short-range
wireless connectivity technology that evolved
from a combination of existing contactless identification
and interconnection technologies. Products with
built-in NFC will dramatically simplify the way
consumer devices interact with one another, helping
people speed connections, receive and share information
and make fast and convenient payments.
Discover
Network's contactless payment solutions will help
drive merchant transaction volume and customer
loyalty by enabling them to offer their customers
a faster, safer and more convenient way to pay
for purchases. Discover Network cardholders with
this technology can complete transactions at the
point of sale by simply waving or holding their
Discover Network contactless payment device in
front of a radio frequency (RF) reader.
About Discover Financial Services
Discover Financial Services LLC, a business
unit of Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS), operates the
Discover Card with more than 50 million Cardmembers,
and the Discover Network, with more than 4 million
merchant and cash access locations. Discover Financial
Services also operates the PULSE ATM/debit network,
which serves more than 4,200 financial institutions
and includes nearly 250,000 ATMs and approximately
3.4 million POS terminals. For more information,
visit
www.discovercard.com,
www.discovernetwork.com
or
www.pulse-eft.com.
About Motorola Motorola
is known around the world for innovation and leadership
in wireless and broadband communications. Inspired
by our vision of seamless mobility, the people
of Motorola are committed to helping you connect
simply and seamlessly to the people, information
and entertainment that you want and need. We do
this by designing and delivering "must have" products,
"must do" experiences and powerful networks --
along with a full complement of support services.
A Fortune 100 company with global presence
and
impact, Motorola had sales of US $42.9 billion
in 2006. For more information about our company,
our people and our innovations, please visit
www.Motorola.com.
Media Contacts:
Leslie
Beyer
Discover Financial Services
224-405-5154
lesliebeyer@discoverfinancial.com
Lisa
Barclay
Motorola, Inc.
Networks &
Enterprise
847-576-6931
MOTOROLA
and the stylized M Logo are registered in the
U.S. Patent & Trademark Office. All other
product or service names are the property of their
respective owners.
© Motorola,
Inc. 2007