O2 (UK) telephone line and broadband business of Telefónica UK, trading under the O2 and Be brands. The company agreed to pay £180 million initially, followed by a further £20 million after all customers had been transferred to Sky's existing business. The sale was subject to regulatory approval in April 2013, and was subsequently approved by the Office of Fair Trading on 16 May 2013. O2 began trialling a Near Field Communication (NFC) payment system in 2007. In 2009, O2 was in discussions with large retailers, such as Tesco and W. H. Smith, for the deployment of the necessary electronic point of
O2 Money to recognise "customer service, excellence and innovation" in the UK and Irish payment industry, O2 won the Best New Prepaid Card Product of the Year and Best Prepaid Card Marketing Campaign of the Year awards, receiving judges were particularly impressed with the concept of the card. O2 Money was critically praised at the event, particularly in regard to the high profile, customer-centric campaign used to promote the service for "[blowing] away the cobwebs surrounding payment cards and [lifting] the stigma of prepaid as a product for low-income consumers." Additionally, the judges at the event were thankful to O2 for helping