Monitise plc (MONI.L) welcomes the news that Monitise Americas, the mobile money people, and Metavante today announced the launch of text message banking services.
The service will allow consumers to use text messaging to obtain any-time balance information on their accounts. It also enables consumers to set alerts, to notify them when their balance is low or when their payroll deposit has arrived, for example. Metavante Corporation is the first provider to deploy the new technology from Monitise Americas. Metavante (NYSE:MV) is a leading provider of banking and payments technology.
Monitise Americas is well-known for providing mobile money services using secure applications that consumers download to their cell phones. The company has added text message banking to deliver financial information to all mobile phone users, whether they have advanced, data-enabled handsets or more simple devices.
"Text alerts have become mainstream for many consumer services today. Many of us already receive news alerts on our mobile," said Lisa Stanton, chief executive officer of Monitise Americas. "Especially in this economy, consumers have told us that they want immediate access to their financial information. Mobile financial alerts will allow consumers to manage their money any time, anywhere, and I firmly believe that there is no better time to introduce this than now."
The integration of Metavante payments solutions - including bill pay, prepaid and the NYCE Network - with its mobile financial services creates a clear line of sight to mobile payments and commerce. This type of integration also creates the benefit of making mobile services available to virtually all account holders at a financial institution.
"Metavante is committed to keeping our clients competitive by moving consumers to mobile banking," said Frank D'Angelo, group president, Metavante Payment Solutions, and chairman of the board for Monitise Americas. "By enabling this text messaging functionality, we are making money management via a mobile phone available to virtually anyone, and making it easy for even reluctant consumers to engage with the idea of using their mobile phones to manage their finances."