Nokia to offer mobile financial services

Damian Koh | Aug 31, 2009

The world's largest phone-maker has announced that it will set up a new mobile financial service early next year. This is based on US mobile payment solutions provider Obopay's platform and will allow both Nokia and non-Nokia handset users who don't have a bank account to carry out basic financial transactions in selected emerging markets.

The range of services includes sending money to another party via the person's cell phone number, paying utility bills, goods, as well as topping up prepaid SIM cards at any time. While this may not have a huge impact on developed nations like Singapore and Japan, in countries where banking services are not prevalent or easily accessible, it will be significant.

Nokia didn't announce which telco operators or financial institutions it is working with, although the company said it will have a network of Nokia Money agents that will let users withdraw and deposit money from and into their bank accounts. The service will be shown at Nokia World in Stuttgart September 2. We'll be there at the event, so look out for more news updates later this week.

Filed under: Mobile Phones
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