The signing of these agreements comes on the heels of 10 financial institutions that were announced earlier in January. The most recent institutions to offer mobile banking and payment services from Monitise Americas and NYCE include: Commerce Bank of Arizona, Tucson, AZ.; Forest Park National Bank & Trust Co., Forest Park, IL.; Industrial Credit Union, Boston; Patriot State Bank, Fuquay-Varina, N.C.; and Wedbush Bank, Los Angeles.

Customers of the participating financial institutions will be able to check their account balances, view recent transactions, transfer funds and receive text message alerts. Over the coming months many additional services including bill payment and person-to-person payments will be introduced.

"By partnering with Monitise Americas and NYCE Payments Network, we are able to offer the most advanced services to our customers, enabling them to keep track of their money whenever and wherever they require," said Scott Racusin, president and chief executive officer, Wedbush Bank. "By leveraging our existing connection to the NYCE Network, we are able to offer a world- class level of consumer service today, with a clear line of sight to the future payment technologies of tomorrow."

Celent LLC estimates that by 2010, 30 percent of U.S. households that use online banking - about 17 million - will use some form of mobile banking(1). According to these numbers, the demand for services such as balance inquiries, funds transfers, mini-statements and text message alerts will increase exponentially, as consumers increasingly demand a mobile "remote control" to their finances.

"The ease with which financial institutions - regardless of their size - can integrate our technology through the ATM switch will further drive growth in the adoption of mobile banking and payments," said Lisa Stanton, chief executive officer of Monitise Americas. "With relatively little technical effort or start-up costs required to add this technology to their expanding set of services, as well as the convenience it provides to the consumer, financial institutions can immediately see a positive return on their investment."

The Monitise Americas solution differentiates itself by leveraging existing ATM and point-of-sale network connectivity to deliver mobile financial services directly to consumers' mobile devices. This creates a scalable solution that financial institutions can capitalize on regardless of their size, charter or mobile strategy.

"Expanding our ATM/debit network to provide the rails for delivering a secure mobile banking offer provides the enhanced security that issuers and consumers are looking for," said Steve Rathgaber, president and chief operating officer at NYCE. "Financial institutions are clearly seeing the benefits of providing a new access channel to their customers and members that enables them to bank where, when and how they want."