Monthly Archive for October, 2009

In my recent trip to Silicon Valley, I had the privilege to meet with Carol Realini, CEO of Obopay, a mobile payment startup that is fueling a social revolution worldwide by enabling scores of unbanked people to avail of financial services for the first time in their life.

Obopay’s technology allows consumers and small businesses to buy, pay, and transfer money through any mobile phone via a simple text message (or by using the Mobile web browser or Obopay’s downloadable mobile app). People who send money via Obopay can fund their account either with cash or by linking it to their credit card or current account. Receivers can get the money either through an Obopay account or have it transferred directly to their bank account.

Mobile banking services like Obopay are a hot new phenomenon in developing countries in the Indian subcontinent and Africa where hundreds of millions of people face financial exclusion. For instance, India is home to 600 million unbanked citizens. If these millions of Africans and Indians can’t go to the bank, then the bank must reach out to them. That’s what Obopay is attempting to do with its clever micropayment service model.

To provide money solutions to customers on any mobile network and any handset

Monitise Americas, the provider of mobile money solutions, said that over 50 financial institutions have now signed up for its full service solution, which consists of real-time balance inquiries, mini-statements, account transfers, bill payments and same-day payments, delivered by a downloadable application, iPhone app or a secure browser.

Monitise said that a further 100 financial institutions have signed up for its text services, which include weekly balance texts and account updates delivered via SMS. These financial institutions are accessing the mobile money manager solution through their relationships with FIS, a provider of banking and payments technology, and NYCE, an US-based electronic payments provider and an FIS company.

Monitise Americas claimed that it now covers more than 2000 different types of handsets, meaning that its financial institution partners are positioned to support their customers now and in the future as smartphone ownership becomes more mainstream.

Soren Bested, managing director, Monitise Americas, said: “We are delighted with our progress. A key factor in our success has been the ability to provide services to customers on any mobile network and any handset. We built our technology with the changing needs of the end-user in mind. A customer can sign up for text message banking with their flip phone and then seamlessly upgrade to the full-service application without having to re-register. It’s the first truly intelligent “triple-play” mobile financial product.”