Opera Software is diving deeper into the mobile payments spectrum with the introduction of the Opera Payment Exchange.
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Boasted to offer “the world’s best user experience in mobile payments,” the Opera Payment Exchange will bring support for mobile commerce transactions to the company’s mobile browser, Opera Mini.
The Exchange is going to launch on a worldwide basis, which would enable more than 160 million Opera Mini users to take advantage of this platform rather quickly. Opera boasts that its new Payment Exchange platform will bring mobile payments “to the 99 percent.”
Mahi de Silva, executive vice president of Opera Software’s Consumer Mobile unit, argued in a statement that “mobile payments have so far been a privilege for users of high-end devices in developed markets.”
With OPX, Opera is expanding this to all devices, no matter the location, carrier or payment instrument by giving the stakeholders in the ecosystem the right technology to carry out the transactions.
So far, Opera has already inked deals and formed partnerships with InMobi SmartPay, Yandex.Money and Bango, and the Oslo-based enterprise is planning to further expand coverage worldwide throughout the year.
The platform will work as a medium between content providers and publishers on one side, with mobile billing systems and digital payment gateways on the other.
Opera is encouraging publishers to get on board with the Payment Exchange to “maximize the potential of their existing billing connections with carriers, payment instrument providers and payment gateways,” while Opera Mini users are promised a secure but easy mobile payment experience.
To encourage usage of this system, Opera will provide APIs to developers for enabling mobile payment processes within the Opera Mini browser.
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