Turkcell Launches World's First SIM-Based, Mobile, Contactless Road Toll Payment with its Smartphone: T11

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02 Feb, 2012, 15:57 GMT

ISTANBUL, Turkey, February 2, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --

Turkcell (NYSE: TKC, ISE: TCELL), the leading communications and technology company today launched the world's first SIM-based, Near Field Technology ("NFC") road toll payment application on its own branded smartphone T11, in collaboration with Bank Asya. Currently only applicable on Turkcell's T11, the system eliminates the need for plastic transmission cards (KGS) when crossing bridges and freeway turnpikes. Turkcell subscribers with a T11 can easily request a Bank Asya KGS application and upload cash through the Cep-T Cüzdan (mobile wallet) application on their mobile phones without having to physically visit a bank or payment point at the turnpikes.

Turkcell Chief New Technology Business Officer Cenk Bayrakdar has commented that "We have opened a new era with Turkcell Cep-T Cüzdan, having become the first operator in the world to introduce a commercially available Mobile Wallet solution, supporting multi bank applications based on a MasterCard solution. And now, in collaboration with Bank Asya, and with the participation of Smartsoft, we have taken a revolutionary step, marking yet another global first with Cep T-Cüzdan in the transportation arena. With this application, we not only offer our T11 customers the convenience of contactless transmission when using bridges and toll roads, but also remove the need to carry plastic cards by providing an end-to-end mobile experience that ranges from topping up TRY to applying for a KGS. Going forward, we will continue to pioneer ideas that facilitate our customers' lives, while revolutionizing their shopping behavior."

Turkcell Cep-T Cüzdan, Turkcell's mobile wallet service based on NFC technology, aims to bring the physical wallet to the mobile world. Cep-T Cüzdan offers consumers added value by providing functionalities that exceed payment; these range from loyalty and ticketing to ID applications and physical access. Customers having a Turkcell SIMPlus 256 SIM card with an NFC featured mobile phone can download the Cep-T Cuzdan application at http://www.t-market.com, Turkcell's application store. Turkcell, in cooperation with MasterCard, has succeeded in becoming the first mobile operator in the world to present more than one bank application on its Cep-T Cuzdan platform. Three of Turkey's leading banks, Yapı Kredi, Garanti and Akbank, have now completed their integration and made their applications available on Cep-T Cuzdan. Having been presented with a case study and nominated "the best mobile money innovation" award on Global Mobile Awards by the GSMA, Turkcell Cep-T Cüzdan was also made available for BlackBerry® Bold™ 9900 smartphone customers in Turkey following Turkcell's own branded handsets the T20 and T11. Besides, Turkcell CepT Cuzdan was awarded as "Best Mobile Transaction (NFC)" Solution in SIMagine 2011. Turkcell will now be enriching its platform with both payment and other applications over the coming days.

ABOUT TURKCELL

Turkcell is the leading communications and technology company in Turkey, with 34.4 million subscribers and a market share of approximately 53% as of September 30, 2011 (Source: Operator's announcements as of September 30, 2011). Turkcell is a leading regional player, with market leadership in five of the nine countries in which it operates with its approximately 63.3 million subscribers as of September 30, 2011. The company covers approximately 87% of the Turkish population through its 3G and 99.07% through its 2G technology supported network. It has become one of the first among the global operators to have implemented HSDPA+ and achieved a 42.2 Mbps speed using the HSPA multi carrier solution. Turkcell reported a TRY2.5 billion (US$1.5 billion) net revenue with total assets of TRY16.6 billion (US$9.0 billion) as of September 30, 2011. It has been listed on the NYSE and the ISE since July 2000, and is the only NYSE-listed company in Turkey.