This was triggered by an article based on the Visa announcement of Visa Mobile Prepaid (VMP), aimed at banking the unbanked. (Read here). The author (Bryan Yurcan) makes the point that the US has an estimated 40 million un- (or under-) banked market. This makes it one of the bigger markets in the world for these types of products. While the new Visa product is relevant, it is currently not targeted at this market. This is why many other solutions are made available to this market to serve their needs, ranging from cheque-cashing services to new mobile payment solutions.
One such a service, referenced in this article is the new Boom services recently launched by m-Via. (Read here). The service is a mobile based payment solution focussed on the underbanked market with a lot of emphasis on remitting money offshore, especially to Mexico. If it was not for the ssss, m-Via could have been confused with the new Visa product.
1 comment:
Online banking is usually done through an encrypted connection so that hackers cannot read transmitted data, but consider the consequences if your mobile device is stolen. While all banking applications require you to enter a password or PIN, many people configure their mobile devices to save passwords, or use insecure passwords and PINs that are easy to guess.
Post a Comment