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Mobile-payments company Obopay Inc. has found a new issuer for the prepaid debit card linked to its services. Obopay said Wednesday that Bancorp Inc. of Wilmington, Del., has started issuing prepaid debit cards linked to its mobile-payment accounts. Erin Mitchell, an Obopay spokesperson, said it previously had offered similar cards through First Premier Bank, a Sioux Falls, S.D., unit of United National Corp. But that relationship ended in February, she said. "Obopay wanted to make sure that they were providing the best card out there," Mitchell said. "They took a little bit of time to investigate different potential relationships, and Bancorp was definitely the best option." The prepaid debit cards linked to Obopay mobile-payment accounts run on the MasterCard Inc. network. They can be used to initiate purchases and to access ATMs. Cardholders can check balances and reload funds with Obopay's mobile-software and Web service, or through text messages. Obopay, a Redwood City, Calif.-based company, already had partnerships with Citigroup Inc. and Grameen Solutions Ltd. of Bangladesh to offer its mobile-payment services domestically and abroad. Obopay also has a partnership with MasterCard, which has said it is working on a mobile person-to-person payments system for all of its issuers. MasterCard expects to introduce the system early next year. Bancorp, which offers private-label and prepaid cards through its Bancorp Bank, said it has more than 300 national partners for those products.
