REDWOOD CITY, Calif.—Obopay inked its first carrier agreement, announcing a deal to provide mobile payment services for mobile virtual network operator Amp’d Mobile Inc.
Obopay allows users to set up stand-alone accounts that can be used to send and receive money between users or to 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.
The companies said they plan to work together to market the offering to existing Amp’d subscribers and on college campuses. The service is scheduled to come online “in the coming months.”
“Obopay will give our subscribers a mobile payment service that combines an intuitive user experience with real-time ability to access and spend money,” said Mike McSherry, Amp’d Mobile’s senior vice president of emerging technologies. “Our subscribers nationwide will now have the opportunity to revolutionize the way they handle their finances, managing their entire account on their phone and exchanging money with friends instantly through their mobile device.”
The company will square off on the mobile payment playground against PayPal Inc., which launched a wireless service earlier this year. But the two companies face a substantial hurdle in inking deals with the major wireless operators. Several carriers have blanket policies forbidding the use of credit cards or other billing methods, demanding content providers bill through consumers’ monthly statements.
Obopay Chief Executive Officer Carol Realini said earlier this year the company is in talks with “every carrier,” however.
“The cell phone will do for money what the iPod did for music,” she predicted. “Instead of having cash in my wallet, I’m going to have money on my phone.”
