Send money around the world: from your cellphone

By Stuart Corner
Tuesday, 04 December 2007 11:07

Home IT

KPMG has tipped an Asian mobile payment opportunity for Aussie banks, but they may have missed the boat. KPMG has produced a report entitled 'Mobile Payments in Asia Pacific' and says "Australian banks looking to Asia for growth should explore the potential of mobile payments, particularly in countries like India and China where there are a large population with mobile connectivity but without bank accounts."

According to Peter Russell, KPMG head of banking in NSW. "Unlike Europe where early mobile payment trials have failed to take off because of public apathy and lack of trust from banks, Asia Pacific may offer more potential due to the size of population and the high levels of mobile penetration."

However global money transfer specialist, Western Union, appears to have taken the lead, entering into an agreement with 35 mobile operators under the auspices of the GSM Assocation, which represents 700 mobile operator, to facilitate the development of cross-border mobile money transfer services, and specifically planning a pilot scheme in India with a major cellular operator.

Western Union and the GSMA are developing a commercial and technical framework that mobile operators can use to deploy services that enable consumers to send and receive low-denomination, high frequency money transfers using their mobile phones. The Western Union mobile service will connect operators to Western Union's existing global money transfer system, which processed approximately 17 percent of the world's remittance volume in 2006.