Weve, the UK’s mobile operator-backed m-commerce venture supported by Vodafone, O2 and EE, has reiterated plans to launch targeted advertising campaigns through apps this summer and a NFC-based mobile payments service next year.

In an interview with the Financial Times (FT), the venture’s CEO David Sear confirmed that more than 17 million UK customers are set to start receiving advertising on their mobile phones and tablets as the group opens up its large stores of data to major British brands.

“Mobile is your first screen, the one you look at most and longest – it is now the primary way to interact with the world digitally,” said Sear. “We want to connect with audiences in a way which hasn’t been possible before.”

The FT report notes that Sear said the data was only collected from customers who proactively agreed to be part of schemes run by the operators and reminders of the opt-out options will be included in all advertising. Sear added that Weve cannot access the identities or mobile numbers of customers.

Sear also confirmed that the venture will take this approach a step further next year by moving into the mobile wallet space, claiming that an agreement with the UK’s major banks should be reached in the next few months. The report states Weve aims to have a banking service accessible to half the UK debit card market by the end of next year. It hopes to have a system in place whereby mobile users can tap their NFC phone at the till to use a discount offer, tap again to collect loyalty points, and then a third time to pay a bill. The idea is that this entire process has been encouraged through initial advertising sent to the user’s device.

“There is a single deal, single technical agreement with a neutral, device-agnostic platform,” said Sear. “We want to be mass-market straight away – which means at least 50 per cent of consumers by the end of next year.”

The group has already run text-based advertising and offer campaigns, carrying out 282 campaigns since November last year with consumer goods and retail brands.

For more Mobile World Live coverage of Weve, watch this video interview here.