Obopay buys into ‘social money’ with BillMonk acquisition

Mobile payment company Obopay announced it bought BillMonk, a company that provides “social money” services. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
The companies said social money includes transactions that encompass shared consumer experiences, such as splitting a check at dinner, sharing travel expenses or dividing living expenses among roomates. BillMonk users can record bills they wish to split via their mobile phone or the Web, and the service then calculates amounts owed, keeps track of payments and reports running balances.
“For a society that pays so much for convenience, it’s ironic how inconvenient money itself has become,” said Obopay CEO Carol Realini. “We’re making money convenient again with new social money services that let Obopay and BillMonk users easily send, spend, and track money via any mobile phone.”