Mobile-banking firm Monitise PLC now supports more than 2,000 different mobile handset models in the United Kingdom and U.S. markets, the UK-based company announced Tuesday.
"It is evidence that we have an open ecosystem approach to mobile money, connecting as many operators, handset manufacturers and financial institutions as we can," a spokesperson tells CardLine Global in an e-mail statement. "We believe that this gives our partners the greatest flexibility and a real line of sight to the future."
Consumers whose banks offer Monitise can use the mobile-banking service to check their account balances and recent transactions, move funds between accounts and set up text alerts to warn against unexpected overdrafts, the company says.
Monitise eventually will support payments as offerings become more sophisticated, the company said in a statement.
Chris Malin, managing associate at Auriemma Consulting Group LLC's London office, says it is more important to have banks on board promoting the mobile offering than it is to have the handsets ready. "It's the first step on the pathway to having fully integrated mobile banking, but it's not the critical step," he says. "It's academic."
Montise's mobile-banking platform already is used by UK-based banks HSBC, Lloyds TSB and RBS Group, and by more than 100 banks in North America. In June, Monitise signed a deal to supply its Mobile Money Manager platform to Visa Inc.
Monitise also has deals in place in Africa and in the Middle East and plans to expand into India and the Asia-Pacific region.
