LIVE FROM GSMA MOBILE MONEY SUMMIT 2011: Dutch operator KPN today unveiled more details on its NFC joint venture in the Netherlands, claiming that the initiative is vital to both operators and banks if they are to remain a major player in the future value chain. 

Last September KPN and rival operators T-Mobile and Vodafone announced plans to create a unified m-payments system, along with finance players ABN Amro, ING and Rabobank. The aim is to enable m-payment transactions using NFC technology, with the supporting payment software to be stored on a secure part of the SIM card. It could also potentially be opened to support contactless ticketing or loyalty cards.

With a goal to cover the entire country, KPN’s Peter Van Leeuwen, strategy and business development manager, said that vendor selection for the project will begin next month, with commercial launch in Q2 or Q3 next year, “probably in a small city, and then weeks after, nationwide.”

Van Leeuwen was refreshingly honest in why this scheme is of critical importance to operators and banks. He claimed that the emergence of social networks such as Groupon and Facebook, as well as the likes of Paypal, is threatening the role of banks. “Banks may become the ‘bit pipe’ of the financial industry,” he warned. “Banks need to accept that mobile is the new form of communication with consumers.”

He fired a similar warning shot to the operator community. “Threats for the operator world are social networks, VoIP and internet messaging, and handset manufacturers. The worst case vision is for us to become the ‘bit pipe’ of the communications industry. We need to change. So it makes sense to work together with the banks.”

“By working together, banks and operators can strengthen their position in their own markets. NFC will come to the market anyway; let’s take the market share where possible. We need to own the market space and prevent market differentiation before any other party enters the market with enough money.”

He concluded with a simple but stark message:  “The mobile world is changing; it’s better to embrace it than fight it.”