CEO Carol Realini on What’s Next with Obopay and Mobile Payments
Carol Realini, CEO Obopay, Inc.
Carol Realini is the driving force behind Obopay which has allowed customers to send and receive money through mobile phone SMS since 2005. In this exclusive NEXTcast interview, Realini reveals Obopay’s strategy to bring mobile payments to the masses. Listen to the interview
Add comment March 9th, 2010
Recently, over at Banktastic, we were talking about the possibility of the whole “mobile wallet” idea being a flying car, but no such thing! In a few year’s time, or perhaps even sooner, using your phone for money transactions is going to be as common as the way we already use phones for communicating, listening to music and creating content.
The Wall Street Journal reporter Amol Sharma has certainly picked up on this, writing about Vodafone and Western Union jumping on the mobile wagon, and of course, pioneering company Obopay.
Obopay, based in Redwood City, Calif., offers domestic money-transfer services in the U.S. and India. Users set up a PayPal-like account online, and then send money via text message, mobile Web browser or specialized software applications they download onto their phone. They can withdraw money from their cellphone accounts using special Obopay debit cards at automatic-teller machines. Obopay is trying out a service with Citibank that allows users to link their existing bank accounts directly to their cellphones, so it is easier to send and withdraw money.
Chief Executive Carol Realini said Obopay is working on a service to handle remittances between the U.S. and India, whose $27 billion in cross-border receipts leads all countries. Regulations have been a hurdle, she said. Besides getting approval from 41 U.S. states and meeting requirements of the U.S. Patriot Act and Bank Secrecy Act, Obopay must comply with various Indian government rules as well.
In India, Obopay plans to link mobile money transfers to electronic-payment services, so consumers can refill their prepaid phone minutes or pay their utility bills. “This may be the first time many of these people have access to electronic payments — previously they’ve been a cash-based consumer,” Ms. Realini said.
Mobile payment capabilities is going to make our world even more connected than ever! It’s a very exciting time to enjoy and take advantage of this technology.
Want to learn more? Read visit CitiObopay and also read about Obopay’s work in India.
Link to complete article here (subscription service).
Technorati Tags: obopay, wall street journal, carol realini, news, mobile payments, india, citiobopay
1 comment December 11th, 2008
T-Mobile in Germany announced that they will sell you the 8GB iPhone 3G for 1 euro if you have a contract that cost 69 euros or more. That comes out to be a little more than $100 a month for the monthly contract.
That’s some genius marketing. They give you the phone for free basically, but requires you to pay more for the contract so they can make the money back in the long run. That’s a great selling point though… “Get your new iPhone for 1 euro!”
Technorati Tags: 3g, cell phone, iphone, 3g iphone, iphone 3g, money
June 16th, 2008
Will the Google phone have you hanging up your iPhone?
Technorati Tags: digg, news, fox news, iphone, google phone, gphone
June 5th, 2008
The US Patent and Trademark Office has recently published an extensive patent application, seemingly for the 3G iPhone and software version 2.0, both now expected to be released next Monday. Features detailed: IM and blogging applications, Video Conferencing (with front-facing camera), etc.
Technorati Tags: digg, 3g iphone, iphone, 3g, apple iphone, phone, mobile, phone, cell phone
June 5th, 2008
Huge story today. Verizon announced their plan to buy Alltel for about $28 billion! With the new 80 million subscribers that they would acquire from Alltel, Verizon is now officially the mobile largest carrier in the US.
This just makes sense. A bigger CDMA and BREW network buying out a smaller CDMA and BREW network. Apparently this isn’t the first time they tried to buy Alltel:
Verizon Wireless, which is a joint venture of Verizon and Vodafone, has tried to merge with Alltel before, in 2007, but that transaction did not go through. Since that time, though, Alltel changed ownership; it’s now owned by private equity, rather than being a publicly traded company.
Of course, everything is assuming that the Feds will approve the merger. There could be some changes coming up ahead though. You can read everything here.
Technorati Tags: verizon, news, alltel, cdma, cell phone, mobile, mobile phone, merger, business
June 5th, 2008
Android application scan finds pricing and metadata for anything with a barcode. You will be able to source detailed reviews, search online/offline stores for better prices, get directions to other local stores, preview cd’s (yes people still buy cd’s unbelievably!) and check for books in the local library.
Technorati Tags: android, phone, mobile, google, digg, news, google android
1 comment June 3rd, 2008
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