‘Breakthrough industry collaboration’ leads to NZ’s first mobile wallet

At the Semble launch in Auckland

Semble – New Zealand’s first mobile wallet – has been launched following a ‘breakthrough industry collaboration’ among two banks, three mobile network companies, and payments network Paymark.

“Other mobile wallets have launched around the world, but Semble is the first to present a united front, with many industry leaders working together,” says Semble CEO Rob Ellis.

Joining Ellis at the launch were the CEOs of the organisations behind Semble: Stewart Sherriff, 2degrees; Simon Moutter, Spark; Russell Stanners, Vodafone; Barbara Chapman, ASB; Anthony Healy, BNZ andMark Rushworth, Paymark.

Semble, previously known as TSM NZ, is an independent company owned by Paymark, 2degrees, Vodafone and Spark. The mobile wallet app for smartphones uses Near Field Communication (NFC).

Semble is available on a range of Android NFC-enabled (near field communication) smartphones, and personal user information is stored securely within individual SIM cards. To set up, users need to request a Semble ready SIM from their mobile provider, download the Semble app from Google Play, add their cards and make their first payment.

The mobile wallet is based on MasterCard’s Mobile Transaction Platform (MTP), providing a single entry point for the delivery of the banks services through a common wallet application.

Ellis says they are talking to other banks who are not part of Semble, including ANZ, Kiwibank, TSB Bank and Cooperative Bank. ANZ Bank had announced last week it will launch later this year a mobile walletwithin its goMoney app.

Semble CEO Rob Ellis

Merging the wallet with the smartphone is the obvious next step. Rob Ellis, Semble

Aside from banks, Ellis says the group is welcoming more providers to the Semble marketplace, which include loyalty cards, public transport cards, ticketing and vouchers.

Snapper was announced as the first new partner, which from June will see Snapper card holders extending the use of their smartphones into many more daily activities, including jumping aboard public transport.

Semble also announced that it will commence next month an active trial testing special offers for redemption at point of sale using the Semble app, initially with BurgerFuel.

This marks the beginning of a third Semble category offering (voucher and offers capability) following payments and transit categories, with more details of other services to be announced in coming months.

“Semble is a natural evolution of how we already use our smartphones for so many different things on a day to day basis. Merging the wallet with the smartphone is the obvious next step,” says Ellis.

Semble has been designed as a ‘one stop shop’ system and the company aims to replace all the cards in the over-stuffed wallet within one integrated app.

“Semble will take us into the future where ultimately, the physical card will become a thing of the past,” concludes Paymark CEO Mark Rushworth.

At the Semble launch in Auckland

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