Mastercard and ING trial system to turn mobiles into payment terminals for PC-based shoppers

Mastercard and ING, two giants of the financial industry, are pushing their joint-testing of mobile payment systems into new ground after launching a trial in Holland that will allow those who shop via their PC to turn their mobile phone into a payment terminal.

The trial, which extends the work that the duo are carrying out around the Mobile MasterCard PayPass application, will bring the potential of contactless payments via mobile to online retailers.

The pilot is addresses two usage cases, those that shop and pay for items from their phone or tablet and, more interestingly, those who browse via their PC but want to complete purchase via a mobile device. In the latter scenario, users that find an item they want on their PC are served a securely generated QPR code which then allows them to connect to the merchant’s checkout to seal the deal through via their phone.

That latter usage case may sound like overlap, given the myriad of existing payment solutions for PC-based customers, but the two firms believe that there is plenty of logic to it, and cite a Gartner report which highlights “a substantial shift” in online shopping from traditional PCs to smartphones and tablets.

Said Gartner report estimates that mobile based transactions will grow from an estimated $172 billion this year to $600 billion by 2016. While it remains unclear how the trial will go, Mastercard and ING are certainly floating an interesting idea that really would turn the mobile phone into a payment terminal.

The companies are eyeing a more simple approach to mobile and Web shopping as Mark Buitenhek, global head of payments and cash management at ING Group, explains:

“This innovative mobile payment product enables ING to offer our customers a one-click-buy experience. The trial allows us to explore which new type of mobile payments products and technologies will meet our client’ needs,” Buitenhek said in a canned statement.

Looking at its rivals, iZettle is developing into Europe’s primary mobile payments firm. The Swedish startup followed its launch in Germany last month with a rollout in the UK which went live today.