ANZ to launch NZ mobile wallet

ANZ New Zealand has announced plans to launch a mobile wallet within its goMoney app that is used by over 120,000 of its customers with the newest Android smart phones.

ANZ NZ has over 500,000 active users of its goMoney app, which allows customers to send each other money and to send money to anyone with a mobile phone number.  GoMoney users were now making an average of 24 payments a month, ANZ said.

ANZ NZ's Head of Digital Channels and Transformation, Liz Maguire, said ANZ expected to offer goMoney as a mobile wallet in the second half of 2015. It would be available on Android Phones with NFC chips and the Kit Kat operating system, which ANZ estimated would mean around 120,000 customers could access it. It would not be available on Apple phones.

The mobile wallet within goMoney would allow customers to tap to pay at contactless terminals with their credit or debit cards, Maguire said.
 
"The key benefit of the goMoney Wallet is that it will be within ANZ's trusted mobile banking app, ANZ goMoney, removing the need for a separate app or SIM card upgrade," Maguire said.

The mobile wallet-enabled goMoney app would use Host Card Emulation technology and advanced encryption to protect customers' information, she said.

Maguire told Banking Day that ANZ in Australia also had goMoney, but had announced plans to develop a standalone digital wallet separate from goMoney, while ANZ NZ would integrate the wallet into the app.

Maguire said ANZ NZ's decision to develop its own mobile wallet did not preclude it from also becoming involved in the Semble consortium, which is backed by industry payments group Paymark, mobile phone carriers Vodafone, Spark, and 2Degrees, and fellow banks ASB and BNZ.

Semble announced plans last year for its own Android-NFC enabled mobile wallet able to include both payment cards and loyalty cards. Semble is scheduled to make a major announcement next week involving the CEOs of ASB, BNZ, Paymark, Vodafone, Spark and 2Degrees.

Westpac New Zealand has chosen not to be involved in Semble and launched its own trial of an HCE-enabled Android mobile wallet last year.

Maguire said it was still in discussions with Semble and would watch its announcements with interest.