Mobile money roundup part 1: mobile banking around the world
There has been so much news about the rapidly expanding mobile finance sector this week that I’ve had to split it into two articles. First up we’ve got the run down on what has been going on round world in mobile money.
VISA enters 5-year, $13m deal with Monitise
This one is pretty big. Visa International Service Association has declared that a UK company called Monitise will be responsible for its mobile services. Monitise is a banking and payments company, and has entered into a 5-year contract with Visa. Visa has handed over $13 million for this deal. What is it getting in return? Monitise will be heavily involved in creating services like mobile payments, transactions and money transfer for Visa. It will even be handling the mobile marketing end of things. And Visa will own 14.4% of the issued share capital of Monitise, and get seats on the board.
Tim Attinger, Head of Global Product Innovation, Visa: “In aligning with Monitise, we expect to expand the delivery of Visa mobile services to consumers around the globe, enabling them to seamlessly use their mobile phones to purchase goods and services, make payments, receive valuable information and offers, and transfer money between accounts, in a safe and secure manner.”
Alastair Lukies, Chief Executive Officer, Monitise: “This alliance validates our unwavering commitment to building truly accessible, inclusive and reliable services over the past seven years. It is a landmark announcement in the mobile payment space and we are excited to collaborate with the world’s foremost payments company to accelerate the convergence of payments services and mobile devices. We are also proud to welcome Tim Attinger to our Advisory Board; his deep payments and mobile expertise will make him a valued member to our key contributing body.”
Mobile money experts Utiba join Western Union Digital Vendor Program
Two giants in money transfer are now working together towards mobile money. Western Union is one of the global leaders in money transfer. It has signed Utiba on for a new Digital Vendor Program. Utiba has been championing mobile money since 2001, creating services for operators all over the world, including the Philippines, Malaysia, Thailand and Pakistan. For Western Union, this initiative is intended to expand its services to areas where mobile finance makes more sense than other forms of cash transfer.
From the release:
Justin Ho, Co-CEO, Utiba: “Today in the form U:Market, Utiba boasts of a very mature product lineup and exhaustive knowledge base with respect to creating and deploying mobile finance systems. We have come a long way since our first mobile international remittance platform implementation in 2007 between Philippines and Malaysia. We are proud to bring our experience and expertise in mobile commerce to this program with Western Union. Our objective is to enable the subscriber to remit funds to anyone, anywhere knowing only their mobile telephone number.”
Delta Community Credit Union goes mobile:
American-based Delta Community Credit Union announced today that Fiserv will be providing its mobile finance services. Mobile Money will give the credit union customers the option to do all of their banking over their mobile device. The service allows for alerts, balance inquiries, transaction history, account transfers and bill payments.
The cool thing about this service is that it has multiple points of access. Fiserv has obviously been watching the market, because Delta customers will be able to use either SMS, a mobile browser client or a mobile application to use the service.
From the release:
Todd Marksberry, executive vice president and chief operating officer of Delta Community Credit Union: “Delta Community Credit Union has a diverse membership base, and a large number of our members travel frequently. We were looking for a mobile banking solution that could serve all of our members, regardless of their location, mobile device or carrier. Mobile Money from Fiserv will enable us to meet the current needs of our members quickly, while also providing the flexibility we need to adapt to future member expectations.”
Todd Lesher, division president, Electronic Banking Services, Fiserv: “Delta Community Credit Union is committed to delivering high-quality, easy-to-use services to its members. Mobile banking services will continue to grow in popularity among consumers in the next five years, proliferating even more quickly than did online banking. The selection of Mobile Money from Fiserv by Delta Community shows that they are not only responsive to the current needs of their members, but are also building a foundation that will enable them to deliver additional mobile services, such as mobile payments, in the future.”
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