Boost, a pre-paid brand of Sprint, the third-largest mobile operator in the US, has unveiled a mobile wallet application to pay bills, transfer funds and top-up domestic and international prepaid wireless accounts.

An extra feature, “coming soon”, will allow pre-paid users to scan cheques on their phone and deposit funds into their digital wallet account.

For physical transactions, Boost is supplying a prepaid Visa card, which is linked to the mobile wallet. (Cash can be loaded onto the wallet account at authorised outlets.)

With the pre-paid Visa card, users have ATM access and can spend anywhere Visa debit is accepted.

“The pre-paid segment is continuing to grow, and consumers’ use of alternative financial services is on the rise,” said Kevin McGinnis (pictured), vice president of product platforms and services at Sprint.

The mobile money service, adds Sprint, allows customers to send money to family and friends in more than 135 countries.

The Boost Mobile Wallet application, developed by Wipit – a mobile payments venture focused on serving unbanked and under-banked consumers – is available as a free download at the Google Play Store.

The announcement references a 2011 FDIC National Survey of Unbanked and Underbanked Households which said more than 20 per cent of the country’s households depend on alternative financial services, giving an idea of the size of the market at which Boost is pitching its service.