By combining ViVOwallet mobile phone software and ViVOplatform Over-The-Air Provisioning Server Software for NFC Mobile Phones with the Obopay mobile payment service, customers will be able to access Obopay's m-commerce functions - from sharing money with friends and transferring funds using a mobile device to making physical payments at merchants sites as well as a host of financial transactions and related services using the mobile pay service.

"We are empowering consumers to make payments in the most convenient way possible," said Michael Mullagh, CEO, ViVOtech. "Using ViVOwallet phone software, customers will be able to extend Obopay to make contactless point-of-sale purchases in a single solution, thereby arming them with the broadest set of payment options available on the market today."

Now With Obopay, ViVOwallet users can use their mobile phones to make person-to-person (P2P) payments as well make purchases at physical stores that are enabled with ViVOtech contactless readers.

"Mobile phone adoption and evolving mobile user attitudes have combined in the U.S. to present a colossal, present-day market opportunity," said Carol L. Realini, CEO and founder of Obopay. "We are seeing in the U.S. the same trends that sparked massive adoption of mobile payments abroad, which makes our partnership with ViVOtech a very timely and exciting one."

Using Obopay mobile payment service, consumers can instantly get, send and spend money using their mobile handset. Obopay accounts can be managed completely from the mobile handset, allowing users to check balances, request payments from other mobile users and view transaction histories. The service also allows e-commerce sites to accept payments directly from Obopay accounts, eliminating the awkward process of inputting credit card information.

The companies plan to offer ViVOwallet and Obopay as a single integrated application in 2007, simplifying the person-to-person and traditional POS payment experience even further. Committed to open standards, ViVOtech and Obopay are delivering key technologies to drive the mobile contactless payment industry which, according to a study published earlier this week from research firm Strategy Analytics, is poised to reach sales of $36 billion by 2011 at which time 30% of all mobile phones, i.e., 450 million units, shipped in that year will be NFC-enabled (ABI Research).