Obopay Announces New Offering: Mobile Money For Banks

REDWOOD CITY, Calif., May 11 /PRNewswire/ -- Obopay, the pioneer in mobile payments, today announced Mobile Money for Banks, which will allow banks to deploy their own branded mobile money service.  Designed to make bank accounts the anchor for all current and future mobile money transactions, the service combines complete brand control and a full range of mobile transactions and applications with simple low-cost integration and deployment.  Mobile Money for Banks includes the ability to send and transfer money, makes payment card acceptance available to everyone and can be implemented in 30 days or less.

One of the biggest advantages of Mobile Money for Banks is the opportunity to replace a substantial amount of cash and check transactions, which turns a cost center into a revenue opportunity for the bank.  Cash and checks remain the predominate payment method used by consumers and cash alone is still projected to make up over 27 percent of all consumer payment methods by 2012 according to The Nilson Report, this despite continued growth in debit card usage.  According to Payment News, less than 30% of all small businesses accept any form of electronic payment.  It's not surprising therefore that mobile payments are among the top areas in which banks plan to invest in 2010 according to Ovum, and that they will be "mainstream" and a top ten mobile application by 2012 according to Gartner.  Smartphones are at the center of this movement.  In the U.S., there was a 39% year-over-year increase in shipments of smartphones in the fourth quarter of 2009.  In that same period, Apple's iPhone shipments grew by 98%.  Smart phones are expected to continue to grow to make up nearly half of all phones in the market by 2011 according to Nielsen.

While banks hope consumers would prefer to use a mobile payment system from their trusted financial service provider, banks are going to face increasing competitive pressure from non-traditional players outside the industry as well as their traditional competitors.   The roughly five million people who donated by text message following the disaster in Haiti, for example, were facilitated by carriers rather than banks.  In Canada, carriers have come together to establish a competitive mobile payment service.

"Any bank that isn't looking at how to enter the mobile money market as quickly as possible is risking the loss of business to competitors, the carriers, or PayPal", said Bob Hedges, Managing Partner of Mercatus, "Given the considerable level of consumer interest, what banks need is a solution that is easy to implement, inexpensive and fast to deploy.  We should anticipate a wave of bank deployments over the next six months."

Mobile Money for Banks gives financial institutions the opportunity to bring to market quickly branded smart phone, Blackberry and iPhone applications, as well as Mobile Internet, SMS and IVR services and a full range of website capabilities.  It is quick and low cost for banks to deploy because it leverages established connections and payment processes to existing payment networks and it provides maximum mobile coverage through established distribution with mobile carriers.

"We have been at the forefront of mobile payments for five years," said Obopay CEO Carol Realini.  "Mobile Money for Banks incorporates our knowledge and expertise in the most successful use cases, applications and capabilities with technology that makes it extremely easy for banks to get into mobile payments with their own brand."

Mobile Money for Banks includes the following products:

• Get Paid by Obopay

Enables payments to be received for products or services.  Anyone, including small businesses or individuals, can accept debit card or ACH payments from anyone.  Money is received directly into the recipient's bank account.  This includes the capability to accept payments directly from a mobile phone, website or email.  Obopay offers a number of tools that people can use to get paid including payment buttons for websites, payment links for emails or email invoices, and social networking widgets.  

• Mobile P2P by Obopay

Enables bank customers the ability to link and send money to anyone directly from their own bank account using a debit card.  Obopay takes care of validation and regulatory compliance.  Recipients don't have to be signed up for the service to receive the money and can direct the funds into their own bank account using their debit card number or bank account and routing number.  They can also direct the funds to a pre-paid card, if they choose, and get instant access to the funds for online shopping.

• Family Money by Obopay

Enables bank customers to send money instantly to family members for emergencies or regularly scheduled payments.  Family members receiving the money can direct it to their own bank account if they have one or, if the senders prefer, they can provide them with their own personalized prepaid card, which is great for teens.  Parents can "top-off" funds instantly from their accounts or on a regularly scheduled basis.  Use of the prepaid debit card allows parents to monitor spending in real time.  

• Transfer Money by Obopay

Enables account-to-account transfers, allowing customers to exchange funds from their bank accounts to accounts outside of their bank.  This is accomplished by simply linking the accounts they want to send money to by entering that account's debit card number or its bank account and routing number.  

Obopay offers a variety of inexpensive and flexible integration options including fully branded standalone service offerings for web and mobile applications, as well as single sign on (SSO).  Payment system integration options enable the bank's accounts to be anchors for all mobile transactions through integration with existing debit card network connections, or through the ACH network.  Core banking integrations are also available.

About Obopay

Founded in 2005, Obopay, Inc., (banks.obopay.com) offers financial institutions an open, trusted, secure and interoperable mobile payments service by transforming any mobile phone into a convenient and easy way to send and receive money.  The company's Mobile Money for Banks offers bank-branded, account-centric mobile service quickly, painlessly and at low deployment cost.  Obopay's broad-based offering addresses the needs of consumers and businesses around the world by providing a ubiquitous service that delivers value, empowers lives and improves opportunity for merchants both in the physical and virtual worlds.  The company provides innovative mobile money services making it easy for mobile phone users to securely send and receive money, top-up their mobile, buy online, buy via mobile, pay bills and pay small businesses.  Obopay believes the power is in the network and has established global partnerships that include Nokia, MasterCard, Citibank, AT&T, Verizon, Essar, Yes Bank in India, Blackberry and Societe Generale.  Global headquarters are in Redwood City, CA with operations in India.

SOURCE Obopay