MAKATI CITY -- Local coffee chain Figaro will pilot a mobile ordering and payment system developed by newly established player i.Can Worldwide.

The service allows mobile phone users to place orders and pay for purchases either via local bank consortium Bancnet or local bank BPI.

Users need to download and install the i.Can applet into their phones (which includes Figaro's menu) and pre-register a mobile PIN (personal identification number).

Concepcion Octaviano, i-Can's chief operating officer, said the service will be expanded in partnership with more commercial establishments.

"We are working with partners that already have their own customer base. We are targeting 12 to 25 year old segment who are natural adopters of m-commerce," Octaviano said in a briefing announcing i-Can.

By partnering with industry consortium Bancnet and BPI, Octaviano said the service can link with at least 12 local banks, according to Octaviano. The system also links with point-of-sale (POS) systems of merchant-partners such as Figaro.

i-Can partnered with UK-based Logica and New Zealand's Fronde Anywhere in designing this mobile commerce or m-commerce service.

Fronde has deployed similar mobile phone-based services in New Zealand, Germany, South Africa, United States and Middle East, according to its chief executive Caroline Dewe.

Moreover, Octaviano said the company plans to introduce more commercial services running on RFID next year.