Nokia announces dawn of mobile phone banking

Nokia has announced that bank customers could soon be able to carry out financial transactions via their mobile phone.

The company has joined forces with KPN Mobile and Interpay Nederland to carry out the first successful financial transaction using a mobile network.

It's hoped the system, which uses Wireless Identity Module for security, will enable mobile phone users to engage in e-commerce using a single PIN-code.

Further security measures will be built into mobile phones and their networks.

A pilot scheme using the technology is due to be launched in secluded surroundings with a limited number of users.

Janne Jormalainen, vice president of product marketing at Nokia's Digital Convergence Unit, says: "As a leading player in mobile communications, Nokia is pleased to facilitate the roll-out of easy and effective solutions for making purchases over the mobile internet.

"This secure payment solution is a benchmark example of the direction in which mobile commerce is heading. People expect convenient and simple payment solutions which do not compromise safety."