Silicon Valley-based contactless payments outfit Vivotech has secured an undisclosed equity investment from Citi.
The NFC vendor says it will use the new funding to continue development of its mobile commerce technologies.
"NFC mobile technologies are connecting banks, merchants, and mobile carriers with their customers anywhere, anytime," says Michael Mullagh, CEO, Vivotech. "Through our collaboration with Citi, we anticipate improving the customer experience - from how they shop, make payments, and enjoy personalized promotions using their mobile phones."
Jaidev Shergill, EVP, growth ventures and innovation, Citi, says the investment in Vivotech "demonstrates our commitment to leverage emerging technology and opportunities to offer our customers greater speed, simplicity, convenience, and security".
Shergill says the bank is continually looking to transform consumer financial services through new ventures, particularly in the mobile payments and applications space.
Last year Citi partnered with California-based start-up Obopay to launch a pilot person-to-person mobile payment service for its credit and debit card customers. Participants can make person-to-person fund transfers after downloading the Obopay application their hand sets.
Citi is the third high-profile firm to invest in Vivotech in the past year. Last August US ATM vendor NCR made an undisclosed strategic investment in the business and agreed to use Vivotech's NFC technology to deliver self-service kit and services for contactless and mobile transactions.
Earlier in the year US e-payments firm First Data led a series C funding in Vivotech and also committed to use Vivotech's contactless payments technology and services.