The Wall Street Journal reports that Verizon Wireless is expected to announce a deal today with mobile-payment company Obopay, a Fierce 15 2007 winner. The deal will give Verizon Wireless' subscribers access to Obopay's mobile-payment application through its mobile store. Obopay has been gaining momentum of late, with agreements with AT&T, Amp'd Mobile and Helio, to name a few. The service allows users to set up stand-alone accounts, Obopay Prepaid MasterCard cards, that can be used to send and receive money between users or make purchases. The company charges 10 cents per transfer of funds between users, paid by the sender. Retailers are charged based on the amount of each transaction.
Obopay also made an impressive deal for a pilot program to allow Citi customers to send and receive money from their phones. Peer-to-peer services like Obopay's may account for a tiny fraction of the overall mobile payment space today, but should offer a more viable long-term business model. Consumers might be willing to pay a few cents per transaction to transfer funds or send money to a friend, and financial institutions are scrambling to lure new customers with such services.
For more about Obopay's pending deal with Verizon Wireless:
- read this Wall Street Journal article (sub. req.)