LUXEMBOURG-Millicom International Cellular S.A. released an Internet-based payment system for shopping online using Global System for Mobile communications telephones. GiSMo is a secure payment alternative to using a credit, debit or charge card, the company said.
GiSMo shoppers purchase items by giving their GSM telephone numbers at the point of sale. The retailer then transfers the number online, via a dedicated Internet access connection to GiSMo’s processing center in Luxembourg, where a personal identification number (PIN) code automatically is generated randomly for each transaction.
The code is then sent as a text message or via short message service to a shopper’s mobile phone on the GSM network. The purchase is executed only if the PIN is given to the retailer and entered online for verification with the processing center within one minute. The center then sends a final message back to the seller and shopper confirming the transaction.
Shoppers and merchants are sent statements by e-mail. Users must visit the company’s Web site to provide personal information and their mobile phone numbers and to select a user name and password.
The service was launched in Sweden with rollout in the rest of Scandinavia and Germany planned by the end of the year.
