MasterCard Inc. said Citigroup Inc. would be the first card issuer to offer its inControl spending management service to U.S. consumers.
The Purchase, N.Y., card company's service allows cardholders to set budgets and other spending restrictions to determine how money is spent, such as setting a limit for spending in a certain time period. The service also allows for alerts to be sent by text message or e-mail as those limits are reached.
Citi agreed to use the service because it provides "increased transparency, greater spending confidence and more secure and efficient financial management," Ed Garofalo, an executive vice president with Citi Cards, said in a press release Tuesday.
Citi said it would offer inControl to its customers later this year.
The development of inControl was led by Garry Lyons, who headed Orbiscom Ltd., a Dublin payments technology company MasterCard bought in December 2008.
