Payment Hero of the Week (Obopay!)

Obopay is doing cool things in the mobile money space. This company is a pioneer in realizing the dream of the truly mobile wallet. The idea that consumers can employ mobile devices at retailers or transfer funds was hindered in the past because of a combination of inadequate technology and questionable business models. But the market has seen a flurry of activity in the last 18 months with startups, retailers and financial institutions rise getting in on the action to help consumers spend with their mobile devices. Obopay is leading the way with deals with MVNOs, Operators like Verizon and banks like Citi for a service that 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 Prepaid MasterCard cards are accepted at 24 million merchant locations and over 1.1 million ATMs around the world. Obopay recently inked an impressive deal with Citi to allow Citi customers to send and receive money from their phones. Peer-to-peer services like Obopay's account for a small percentage of the overall mobile payment space today, but their business model is more viable long-term given the likelihood consumers may well 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. They recently began the launch of their peer-to-peer mobile money transmitter service in India where it is in hot and growing demand: ""We are in talks with more than 15 banks and are close to sealing deals with three banks. We hope to launch our service here within a month," said Obopay Vice-President Business Development Balachandra Unni." For such smart and agile moves we chose Redwood City California's Obopay as our Payment Hero of the Week. Congrats on this most illustrious recognition which we trust will reassure your Board, Investors, partners and customers of your future prospects!