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  • Obopay Inc Secures $20 Million From Essar, Qualcomm, Promethean India And Others

    Indo-U.S. mobile payment company Obopay Inc has secured a $20 million in a fourth round of investment led by India's Essar Communications Holdings , and included Alliance Bernstein, ONSET Ventures, Redpoint Ventures, Richmond Management, Citi, Societe Generale, Qualcomm ( NSDQ: QCOM ) and Promethian India. Obopay has also named K.B. Rajendran, SVP Essar Global and Robert G Hottensen Jr, SVP (Public Equity) at Olayan America Corporation as new members of its board of directors. There had been reports last year of Promethean Investing $5 million in Obopay India, but there's no confirmation of whether that happened. [via release and GigaOm ] Obopay had raised around $48 million in its first three rounds; James Pearce, at mocoNews mentions that Obopay wants to become the Western Union/PayPal of the mobile world, and in order to do that it had to get 41 licenses to become a registered money transfer agent just in the US. I think the involvement of Indian companies in this round is significant, particularly for Obopay's operations in India: The Essar group is a shareholder in Vodafone ( NYSE: VOD ) India (earlier Hutch-Essar), and also is reportedly behind Loop Telecom. Essar is also in the mobile retail business - in partnership with Virgin, they've launched The Mobile Store in India.
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  • SK Telecom And Citigroup Launch Mobile Banking JV

    South Korean mobile operator SK Telecom ( NYSE: SKM ) and Citigroup, the US's largest bank, launched a joint venture today to offer mobile financial services in select markets in Asia and North America, reports Reuters . The two have invested $8 million into a joint venture, Mobile Money Ventures, that will give Citi customers banking services—including near field communication-based payments, stock management and advertisements--on their mobiles starting in the second half of 2008. According to the Korea Times , SK Telecom will develop the software and hardware for the venture, which it says is not an exclusive deal with Citi, and plan to sell the platform to other banks and carriers in the future. It will test out mobile banking first, then mobile payments and electronic coupon services. In South Korea, SK Telecom already offers a chip-based payment service called Moneta, where consumers can swipe their mobile phones at payment points at participating shops and restaurants, as well as buses and subways.
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