Firm aims to become m-commerce pioneer

A Scottish-based software company has announced a £12m package to develop plans which could see credit cards replaced by mobile phones.

Aspects Software has secured the venture capital funding to enable it to create highly-secure SIM cards which will allow people to pay for calls or conduct transactions at the touch of a button.

The company, which is based in Edinburgh, claims the technology will make it a pioneer in the field of mobile e-commerce, also known as m-commerce.

It has set up a new subsidiary, mobEcom, to develop the project, which has been backed by a £5m investment by 3i, £3m from Commerzbank AG, £1.5m from Scottish Equity partners and £2.5 m from the Helsinki-based SFT 99 Technology Fund.

The technology will allow mobile phone users to buy pre-pay credits for their phone, perform debit or credit transactions and pay for information from the internet.

Aspects founder and mobEcom chief executive Neil Stewart said: "With more than one billion mobile phone subscribers anticipated over the next four years, we anticipate that more than 30% are expected to need the sort of security currently being developed by mobEcom.

"The growth in m-commerce will ensure a huge demand for secure applications. The mobile phone can at last evolve to become a payment device as ubiquitous as the credit card."

Gillian Hastings, of corporate financers Ernst & Young, who brokered the funding package, said: "In mobEcom we have a company which has developed groundbreaking technology and is poised to become a world-beater in a market which is enjoying exponential growth".