Tunz Launches PayPerTunz, a JAVA Application for Mobile Payments

Tunz has just released PayPerTunz, a small JAVA application which enables you to make secure micro-payments with your mobile phone. The application is labeled ‘beta’ but is readily available for all registered Tunz members.

Before the release of PayPerTunz, users were only able to make small payments by simply sending an SMS to a cellphone number, without preregistration requirements. For security reasons, you had to enter a unique pin code to confirm the transfer. The money was then credited from a virtual account, which users can feed by bank transfer, credit card or SMS.

Tunz also introduced a nice feature for bloggers: TunzMe, a “Blog pay button” which people can embed on their blogs to let visitors make micro-payments, PayPal-style. Tunz keeps 10 eurocent commission fee per transaction.

PayPerTunz is supposed to allow users who have a JAVA supporting mobile phone to make small payments without having to send an SMS. (Update: the company checked in to let me know that you can actually send SMS through the applet. Future versions will support GPRS and Bluetooth). Users can also check their balance for the last 3 months. I tried installing the application earlier tonight, but it turned out to be a disappointment. I haven’t managed to get it to work on my phone (an HTC Vox) and have an e-mail in with the company to see if this is a temporary issue because of the beta status, a bug, or just incompatibility with my smartphone.

Tunz was launched by founders Grégoire de Streel & Jean Zurstrassen (former co-founders of both Skynet and Keytrade Bank) in May 2007. The company’s starting capital amounted to 1,5 million euro, half of which came from external investors (Brice le Blévennec, E-Merge and Compagnie Centrale 1909, an investment vehicle of Groupe Josi and COPEBA)

Tunz is not the only Belgian player on this field, they compete with Banksys‘ M-Banxafe service.

Of course, if Google is actually developing a mobile payments service as this patent suggests, both companies may be facing some serious competition soon.

(Via BelgiqueMobile - in French)