Rabo Mobiel

[http://www.rabomobiel.nl Rabo Mobiel] is a Dutch Enhanced Service Provider operating nationally, launched on the 15th of November 2006 in the highly competitive NL MVNO market (over 50 ESPs/MVNOs in the marketplace). Rabo Mobiel runs in cooperation with mother company Rabobank Nederland with headquarters in downtown Amsterdam, The Netherlands and offers Postpaid and Prepaid mobile telecommunications services, as well as innovative mobile banking and payment services.

Originally launched to target the ~3 mln Rabobank internet banking customers and 1400 local bank locations, Rabo Mobiel has grown to use web and retail channels, and target different segments including youth, students and small businesses. At the end of 2007, it was reported that Rabo Mobiel had 125.000 customers.

Innovations

In addition to core telecommunications and mobile internet services, Rabo Mobiel focuses on mobile banking and payments functionalities and applications. This includes launched products like SMS alerts, mobile banking (via secure WAP) and SMS, GSM parking, etc. Since 2006, they have also worked on numerous trials and proof-of-concept programmes using NFC technologies and NFC mobile phones, including:

* C1000 Supermarket NFC Trial (6-month NFC debit card trial in partners KPN, Logica, NXP Semiconductors, C1000, Stichting RFID Nederland and Banksys
* Coca-Cola Vending NFC Trial (12-month proof-of-concept programme with partners Capgemini and Coca-Cola trialling NFC vending customer experience, security, latency and usability using a Java payment application, on-phone customer receipts and [http://www.minitix.nl MiniTix] micro-payments)
* FEBO NFC Trial (proof-of-concept programme with popular warm snack vendor FEBO in Amsterdam to demonstrate the use of NFC payments in a multi-machine vending environment, using MiniTix micro-payments, also with partner Capgemini)
* Diergaarde Blijdoorp NFC Ticketing Roll-Out (launch of NFC ticketing using the [Nokia] 6131 NFC handset and ticketing and entrance partner WheretoCard at the Rotterdam Zoo. Partners also included Rabobank Rotterdam and Yoonison, who presented an interactive NFC tour programme with extra information on animals available via a "smart postering" NFC experience.)
* American School in The Hague NFC Handset Trial (trial using NFC plastic cards and NFC mobile phones to enable a cashless school environment for lunchroom payments, NFC lockers and school entrance - with partner Chess.)

In July 2008, Rabo Mobiel also launched [http://www.rabosmsbetalen.nl Rabo SMS Betalen] , a product for person-to-person, as well as person-to-merchant, payments using SMS. SMS Betalen was a product launched by Rabo Mobiel, but is operator- and bank-independent. So, available to all customers, regardless of mobile operator or MVNO, and also regardless of bank.