MasterCard starts phone banking

MANILA, Philippines - MasterCard International is launching a new program aimed at helping the more than 2.5 billion unbanked and under-banked consumers worldwide.

The effort, called the MasterCard Mobile Money Partnership Program, will include Indian mobile services provider Comviva, mobile messaging service Sybase 365, and Singapore-based mobile financial services company Utiba as initial partners.

The project is intended to give consumers who lack access to traditional financial services the ability to purchase goods and services using mobile phones at brick-and-mortar stores, or on ecommerce sites, and to transfer funds and pay bills.

“With about five billion mobile phone users worldwide, this program provides powerful, smart and convenient new payment options to people through a device that’s already in the palm of their hands today,” Mung Ki Woo, group executive for Mobile of MasterCard Worldwide, said.

Services offered through the new program include: prepaid companion cards for use at merchants that accept MasterCard cards; virtual card accounts that can be used for ecommerce purchases; person-to-person (P2P) payments between subscribers of even across different mobile money services; and, face-to-face or remote payments using mobile phones for goods and services at merchants that do not have traditional point-of-sale (POS) acceptance.

Woo said the company’s approach is to work with leading companies in the mobile money ecosystem to bring the benefits of electronic payments to those who does not have access to formal financial services without the service.

According to Comviva chief executive officer Manoranjan Mohapatra, the new partnership will provide the right impetus to foster financial inclusion globally.

He said that by providing solutions to emerging markets through a flexible partnership program, MasterCard is unlocking opportunities for innovation throughout the entire ecosystem.