21 Jun 2007
U.S.-based payment processor Vesta Corp. has introduced in Ireland a service that lets mobile-phone users purchase additional prepaid airtime with a credit card or debit card. The service, launched Wednesday in conjunction with O2 Communications (Ireland) Ltd., also allows mobile subscribers to use cards to purchase airtime for other O2 subscribers. O2 Ireland is a subsidiary of Spanish telecommunications giant Telefónica S.A. Vesta markets the service to mobile operators as a way to reduce fraud losses and improve customer relations, a Vesta spokesperson tells CardLine Global. In exchange for a processing fee from the mobile operator for each transaction, Vesta indemnifies the phone company for fraudulent transactions that might be accepted, the spokesperson says. Mobile subscribers to new mobile top-up service can use either Visa or MasterCard credit cards or a debit card branded with Laser, Ireland's domestic debit scheme, Vesta says. While Vesta has offered card-based mobile top-up in the United States for several years, the spokesperson says O2 is only the company's second European client for the service. In February, Vesta signed a similar deal with Meteor Mobile Communications Ltd., an independent Irish mobile operator, the spokesperson says.