Friday, a new service was launched in Germany starting a new chapter for mobile payment. Two of the country's largest carriers - O2 and Vodafone - have joined forces and launched "mPass".

With mPass direct debiting and SMS payment confirmation is combined into a new service that makes it possible for customers to purchase physical goods from the Internet or mobile portals, by using only their phone number and an mPass PIN of their own choice

When a purchase is processed using mPass, a message is sent to the customer's phone asking for a purchase confirmation. By replying, the amount is then debited from the customer's bank account. By doing so the need for entering sensitive and personal informations such as bank and credit card details is eliminated.

"Our customers ask for simple and smart solutions. Our payment system takes account of this request. Effective immediately and without the need to register, the system offers about 14 million contract customers of Vodafone and O2 the possibility to pay online in an easy, rapid and secure manner - at home and on the go." says Lutz Schüler, General Manager, Marketing & Sales for O2 Germany.