MoBank, the first mobile-only
banking and payments service in the UK that lets users buy and pay
for items and check account balances via the internet, has launched
on the Apple iPhone.
The fee-based service provides subscribers
with a PIN via which they can authorise payments from their debit
or credit cards. The company expects that MoBank will be available
on other smartphones such as Blackberry and Google Android devices
within the next 12 months.
Further improvements will see the introduction
of person-to-person transactions and money transfer services, with
users also being able to pay bills and track budgets.
In September 2008, one of MoBank’s
co-founders, Steve Townend, told RBI he believed the
service would “revolutionise transaction banking” and said the
firm’s long-term business plan involved taking commission from
retailers (see RBI 598).