Hungary: MobilTárca pilot results show positive demand for NFC m-payments

Based on the results of the pilot and the research conducted in 3 phases during the test period, the Hungarian Mobile Wallet Association estimates that around 350-400 000 people would be open for the use of the service in the first round.

The active MobilTárca testers made 41,000 payment and more than 4,000 loyalty point transactions during the 12 months of the project. Users spent HUF 120 million (EUR 0.3873 million) within more than 20 countries.

Also, the Association revealed that the Hungarian acceptance network is also growing dynamically, with one third of the POS terminals being already contactless.

The results of the survey conducted in June by BellResearch indicate that 86% of the testers would use the wallet in the commercial phase. 87% of the testers would also consider the wallet compatibility when buying their next smartphone.

The MobilTárca pilot program started in July 2013 with the coordination of the Hungarian Mobile Wallet Association. During the test period participant could use the following 5 services in the wallet: OTP Bank’s MasterCard Mobile PayPass payment card, SuperShop’s NFC loyalty card, a sports facility access card, event tickets provided by InterTicket, employee ID card and in a limited edition a public transport card for the city of Szolnok.