MasterCard Inc. on Wednesday released a dedicated application for BlackBerry owners who want to use MoneySend, the card company's mobile person-to-person payment system.
MoneySend, which is based on technology from Obopay Inc., allows MasterCard issuers to provide a mobile P-to-P payment service to their customers. Consumers can also sign up for the service directly, moving funds via a prepaid card issued by Bancorp Bank, a unit of Bancorp Inc. of Wilmington, Del.
Besides Bancorp, MasterCard has not announced any other banks that offer MoneySend, which was introduced last year.
In addition to supporting Research In Motion Ltd.'s BlackBerry devices, MasterCard also offers the service through an app it launched in June for Apple Inc.'s iPhone.
MoneySend can also be used from other phones through text messaging and a mobile browser.
MasterCard is promoting MoneySend as way to exchange money among friends as well as a way to handle small-business payments, such as to "a personal trainer … babysitter, gardener, housekeeper or repairman," Andrew Ong, the P2P group head for MasterCard, said in a press release.
Obopay's work with MasterCard was an early step in the vendor's transformation of its U.S. business model from one focused on direct sales to consumers to one focused on selling to banks.
More recently, Obopay announced a pact with First Data Corp.'s Star network to provide instant transfers. First Data is owned by Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co.
