The partnership will expand the on-device self-service capabilities of Nuance Mobile. This will enable wireless subscribers to make payments and handle other payment-related functions directly via their handsets.

“Partnering with Vesta will provide fully compliant transactions with the PCI Data Security Standard (PCI DSS), which is mandated by leading credit card issuers, to ensure that requirements for payment data security are met,” said Hetal Pandya, director of product management, Nuance, Sunnyvale, CA.

“Mobile operators will benefit from full payment fraud indemnity enabled by Vesta’s detection and risk management capabilities providing their consumers with a sense of trust and security when making payments with their mobile device,” she said.

Vesta is an electronic payment services company.

Nuance provides speech and imaging services to businesses and consumers around the world.

Mobile money
Consumers can check bill presentment and account balance, balance alerts, bill payment, prepaid top-up, payment history and general account inquiries via their mobile device.

Nuance and Vesta are looking to eliminate wait times for customer service agents and reduce the number of queries being handled by the wireless carrier’s customer care facilities.

Additionally the companies want to drive down costs and improve customer service.

According to the Vesta, 50 percent of customer care calls to wireless carriers are payment related and the partnership will ensure that innovative and user friendly, end-to-end secure payment capabilities can be delivered directly from the handset – doing so will reduce the number of customer care calls operators.

“As a result of this collaborative offering, mobile operators will now have the ability to provide a comprehensive and secure self-service experience to consumers via the mobile channel,” Ms. Pandya said. “Consumer research indicates that nearly a quarter of all mobile customers, and nearly a third of the youth market, prefer to pay through their handsets.

“Mobile consumers like the convenience and flexibility that mobile payments deliver,” she said.

Vesta’s technology complies with the PCI Data Security Standard, which makes sure that requirements for payment data security are met.

The service also has detection and risk management capabilities, helping wireless carriers from payment fraud insurance.

Wireless carriers can provide consumers with a secure experience, according to Vesta.

“Mobile payment users will reach 190 million in 2012, representing more than 3 percent of mobile users worldwide,” Ms. Pandya said.

“Mobile payment will see faster uptake in developing markets than mature markets because developing markets in general have less-established conventional payment tools and lower Internet penetration,” she said.

 “To date Vodafone Spain has adopted both Nuance Mobile Care and Vesta’s payment platform.”