Buyster

Buyster was a mobile payment service launched in France in 2011 by a consortium of major French telecommunications operators—Orange, SFR, and Bouygues Telecom—in partnership with the technology company Atos. The service allowed users to pay for online goods and services by entering their mobile number and a personal PIN code, with the transaction being charged either to their phone bill or a linked bank card. The mission was to provide a simple, secure alternative to traditional online card payments. Despite the backing of major industry players, Buyster struggled to achieve widespread consumer and merchant adoption and was officially discontinued in 2016.