The mobile payment market may finally be getting somewhere in the U.K.: today the five biggest mobile operators got together to jointly—that’s right, not in competition with each other—launch a new payment service. Called Payforit, it’s actually based on a Vodafone m-payments scheme, and its use will be limited to transactions under 10 pounds. Some of the companies offering content that have already signed up for the service include I-play, Gameloft, EA, Multimap, SonyEricsson and Samsung. Users will be able to make transactions from mobile Internet sites but also access a separate site to view their overall payment history. Unlike past micropayment schemes, transactions will be handled by third party entities rather than the operators themselves—although users will still be billed for the service through their mobile contract agreements. Paul Hunt, an m-commerce consultant from Atos Origin, quoted by the BBC: “There’s a much wider age range of mobile users and the capabilities of handsets have changed. The click to buy reality is catching up with the hype.” The Payforit organization was established in May 2006, but it’s taken some time for operators to agree on best practices for the service and to try to convince the industry that this is not just another short-lived attempt at bringing m-payments into the mass market. Only time will tell us if users are convinced.