Norwegian operators boost Strex with Amdocs partnership

Norway’s three biggest operators, Telenor, TeliaSonera and Tele2, have picked Amdocs to power the newest incarnation of their mobile payments venture.

The new platform is part of a revamp of the SMS-based payment services offered by the three telecoms since 1999. In 2012, they formalised the offerings into a company called mPayment, which was rebranded as Strex at the end of 2014.

Strex will consolidate the payment services offered by the three operators into a single mobile wallet, which will offer a number of funding and payment options. Users will now be able to top up their wallet from a bank account, credit or debit card, or mobile phone bill. The new service will allow P2P money transfer and bill payment, Mobile World Live reported.

Strex, which is often used where a point-of-sale terminal is not in use – such as paying for cark parking or digital goods – currently handles “more than 75 million” SMS-based transactions per year, plus an increasing number of payments via internet and apps. In fact, the company says that many people in the country have used the mobile payments method without realising the ownership of the product.

Those with older devices can still use the new platform, as it will work with SMS, web and USSD as well as apps.

TeliaSonera’s plan to acquire Tele2 has come up against opposition from the country’s telecoms regulator.

The solution will be deployed on a public cloud by Amdocs, which will also manage Strex’s daily operations under a multi-year managed services engagement.

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