(H)Obopay

Fishy? Hell yes.

is a Palo Alto start-up that boasts it will be the first service to allow customers to pay for just about anything with their mobile phones.

The company is being coy with the details. We talked with Peter Kellner, a partner at Richmond Management, who has just pumped $10 million into the company, together with venture firms Redpoint Ventures and ONSET Ventures.

If this lives up to the hype, it should be pretty cool stuff.

He said product details are secret (note that the company's Web site is password protected), and that we will find out more in the second quarter when Obopay hits the market. He wouldn't say whether the payment will be linked with a credit card account, a bank account, or whatever.

silicon beat

WOW!

Not surprised..


not surprised at all..

It dooes appear to be a legit attempt. It would seem simpler to use bank to bank exchanges.

I have been waiting sometime for mobile phone companies to pick up on this style of money transfer. Ie your mobile phone account is in credit (say by 50.00) You owe John shopkeeper for goods to the value of 25.00. You punch in your pin number on the phone select the amount punch in Johns Account number and "send" to Johns mobile account.

I guess its the tracking system and fail safe security that is holding things up.