Project Overview
Smart phones are at the centre of most Australian’s lives, and increasingly they expect more from them.
Over 50% of Millennials expect to be able to pay using their phone. New developments too often only serve the newest phones, but Optus has customers across the spectrum, from unbanked to banked, using old to new phones.
Cash-by-Optus is a mobile wallet and payment solution, which allows Optus customers using their phone or payment accessory to pay online or face to face with Visa payWave, anywhere Visa is accepted.
It’s a hassle free way to carry money and pay.
Organisation
Team
Cash by Optus is distributed by Optus, and a joint development by Optus with Heritage Bank, using Visa technologies.
Project Brief
We live in a digital world, shopping online and downloading music/games. Face to face payments are now increasingly contactless. For all customers, being able to pay with convenience and peace of mind is a basic need. This demands a payment capability accepted by all merchants, both online and face to face.
In Optus studies, 57% of smart phone users prefer the “convenience” of contactless payments over cash. When transacting online, “security” at 69%, is still main issue of concern, followed by “ease” at 18%. Today’s solutions from financial institutions, are banking centred, rather than payment convenience and ease of use and not available to all.
Could Optus build a product which addressed these issues? But more importantly, make it accessible to all, irrespective of how old their phone, their age or if they are banked. Specifically;
<> Available to all mobile customers - irrespective of whether their phone was 4 years old or the latest
<> Secure: use telco capabilities to provide maximum safety, but best in class user experience
<> Contactless ready: Waving your phone or wearable to pay
<> Serve the unbanked: provided Visa payment details to all
<> Wearable: safely carry money on a wrist
<> A hassle free enrolment: 100% online with no 100 point check or messy paper work
<> More customer control: real access to information and better feature controls
<> No merchant impacts: rely solely on existing merchant technology
<> Create a secure separate store of funds: which behaved like real cash, but electronic
Project Need
Enabling customers to live life more mobile, and make their smart phone even smarter, we built Cash by Optus (CBO). CBO is a newer, easier and widely accepted payment solution for smart phones, and our range of wearables.
CBO is a Visa enabled contactless debit payment solution which is available on most Android and Apple iOS devices. It is designed to replace those small cash transactions of less than $100 in Australia, and enable users to have a separate store of their own funds with Visa payment details to confidently transact online.
Cash by Optus is unique as its;
<> Available to all Optus mobile customers – older phone models, unbanked/banked people, young people (with aid of a parent), Optus customers on a plan or prepaid
<> Visa payWave enabled: effortless contactless transactions
<> Separate secure store of funds: accessible via a smart phone or Optus wearable
<> 100% digital: from enrolment, payment, available balance, transaction history and more
<> No identity checks: technically seen as a stored value facility, CBO requires no 100 point check, messy paper work or visiting a retail outlet to enrol.
<> Designed for convenience, but maximum control: user controls product behaviour to suit their security preference and desire for ease of use
<> Wearable options: Optus payment accessories to safely carry money on the wrist; when at the beach or going for walk, without a phone being with them
<> More customer control: automated load options, real access to information and better feature controls than traditional banking services
User Experience
Cash by Optus was created with the foundation principles of security, convenience and ease of use. Distilled into a core ethos of, “no interaction user model”.
Australian’s today are time poor, desire greater convenience but tempered with this is a desire for security when it comes to their money.
Cash by Optus addresses these demands in some innovate ways, including;
<> 100% digital: no enrolment paper work or 100 point ID check. Just download the app and follow the registration process for the real time creation of the facility
<> Simply wave and pay: no need to unlock the phone or open an app to pay. It’s as simple as just waving the phone or wearable over a payment terminal (with in-app controls to disable payment, if so desired.)
<> No payment PIN: relying on Australian Visa scheme rules, of contactless transactions less than $100 requiring no PIN. That’s another thing a user doesn’t need to remember.
<> Security controls: in app features disabling contactless payments or changing CBO behaviour based on user’s security preference.
<> Leveraging Optus capabilities: background monitoring and risk assessing changes in the customer and device. This ensures ongoing ease of use in all those different lifecycle events related to a phone, such as lost and change phone.
<> Choice of load sources: manual or automated loads from 3rd party bank accounts, so you don’t need to remember to load funds. It just happens!
<> Wearables: Contactless payment using Optus wearable, so you can leave your phone at home.
Project Marketing
An extensive multi-channel marketing and PR strategy was successfully implemented across social, web, edm and direct mail to drive awareness to Optus customers.
The innovative nature of the product has led to significant media coverage across a number of major media outlets including print and online news, television, blogs and social channels.
To elevate the awareness in the young demographic, which can be difficult to address with traditional media, Optus worked with US independent film makers, the Duplass Brothers. The Duplass Brothers produced a range of short videos for social and online media. Being a financial product with regulatory constraints an innovative approach to creative content was employed to communicate the exciting proposition in what may be viewed a bland category.
The approach to market has been aligned with the Optus philosophy of looking after our customers and enabling them to “Live more YES”. This is represented in the ethos of enabling customers with more freedom, choice, and an attitude that anything is possible.
Cash by Optus is exclusively available to Opus mobile customers on a plan or prepaid.
Cash by Optus™ is issued by Heritage Bank Limited ABN 32 087 652 024 AFSL 240984
Project Privacy
Being a financial offering, privacy and security are foundation tenants to the product. Strict security and privacy controls that have been implemented cross the management of customer data.
As the Issuer of the product, all funds are held by Heritage Bank (not Optus). Heritage Bank also holds the card data and provides real time transaction and balance information to the app. As Issuer, Heritage Bank authorises and settles transactions with the Visa and enforces product controls and fraud monitoring using the management platform that was built for Cash by Optus.
Financial information including real time balance, transaction history and Visa payment details are solely accessible to the customer via the app, which also improves the customer experience.
Optus and Heritage Bank’s privacy policies are available from our respective web sites.
Tags
Best New Service or Application
This can be any new service or application from a start-up to an industry leader. It's not just bells and whistles we're after but true innovation, exceeding expectations and filling a void that had previously been open.
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