Obopay has teamed up with
Verizon to offer mobile payments. It has inked deals with the likes
of Citibank and AOL and concluded a successful third round of
fundraising, as the company bets on m-payments taking off in the
US, writes Douglas Blakey
Go deeper with GlobalData
Verizon, the second-largest US mobile phone operator, has teamed
up with US-based mobile payments supplier Obopay to offer the
carrier’s 61 million customers the ability to use their mobile
phone as a credit card, make purchases and conduct person-to-person
funds transfers.
No annual fee will be charged by Obopay for the facility but
customers will pay $0.10 for each transaction once the service goes
live on 15 August.
Customers will be required to download the Obopay application to
an internet-enabled mobile phone and then visit the Obopay website
to deposit money into their account. Once customers have
registered, a unique PIN is given to the user to verify all
transactions.
Customers will need to use a Java-enabled phone to access the
Obopay facility, rather than text messaging as used by competitors
such as eBay’s PayPal Mobile and TextPayMe.
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By GlobalDataThe Obopay service comes with a prepaid MasterCard card, which can
be used at any affiliated ATM or retailer. Subscribers will be able
to check their account balances, collect money owed from other
mobile users and view transaction histories.
Obopay will initially run on Verizon mobile phones as an
application that can be downloaded from the Verizon’s wireless
online catalogue.
To sign up friends, users send cash to prompt others to participate
or issue mobile alert invites. As an incentive, Obopay is giving
new account holders a $5 bonus when they join up and will also give
$5 for each friend signed up by its customers, to a maximum of $500
per customer.
Obopay, which was formed in 2005, has now raised $46 million in
venture capital from investors including Citigroup and Société
Générale. It has struck similar deals with other mobile operators
including Cellular South, Helio and Earthlink. In February this
year, the California-based start-up teamed with Citi to launch a
pilot person-to-person mobile payment service for credit and debit
card customers.
Obopay has also teamed with internet provider AOL to offer money
transfers via its instant messaging facility, which extends the
range of options for customers to access their account.
“This round of investment brings Obopay to the enviable position of
being the best-funded independent mobile payments company in the US
and enables us to enhance our branding and marketing efforts as we
launch additional partnerships and continue to augment our service
offerings,” said Carol Realini, CEO of Obopay, in July following
the company’s third round of fundraising, which raised $29
million.
