REDWOOD CITY, Calif., May 11 /PRNewswire/ — Obopay, the pioneer in mobile payments, today announced Mobile Money for Banks, which will allow banks to deploy their own branded mobile money service.  Designed to make bank accounts the anchor for all current and future mobile money transactions, the service combines complete brand control and a full range of mobile transactions and applications with simple low-cost integration and deployment.  Mobile Money for Banks includes the ability to send and transfer money, makes payment card acceptance available to everyone and can be implemented in 30 days or less.One of the biggest advantages of Mobile Money for Banks is the opportunity to replace a substantial amount of cash and check transactions, which turns a cost center into a revenue opportunity for the bank.  Cash and checks remain the predominate payment method used by consumers and cash alone is still projected to make up over 27 percent of all consumer payment methods by 2012 according to The Nilson Report, this despite continued growth in debit card usage.  According to Payment News, less than 30% of all small businesses accept any form of electronic payment.  It’s not surprising therefore that mobile payments are among the top areas in which banks plan to invest in 2010 according to Ovum, and that they will be "mainstream" and a top ten mobile application by 2012 according to Gartner.  Smartphones are at the center of this movement.  In the U.S., there was a 39% year-over-year increase in shipments of smartphones in the fourth quarter of 2009.  In that same period, Apple’s iPhone shipments grew by 98%.  Smart phones are expected to continue to grow to make up nearly half of all phones in the market by 2011 according to Nielsen.

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