What is Obopay?

Obopay is a cross platform service software that links your bank account to your mobile phone. Once installed on your phone, you can send money to any other phone using Obopay. This is as easy as sending a sms.

Obopay, the company that offers this service is based in California. They specialize in mobile payment solutions for any phone model or carriers. It was founded in 2005 by Carol Realini who is still heading the company.

History of Obopay

The founder Carol got struck with the idea of mobile payment system when she was doing volunteer work in the villages of Africa. The fact that mobile phone are there with everyone, no matter if they have any bank account or even a wallet, led her to think more about it.

If the cellphones get the power of managing money, it would be easy for all those who can’t arrange for a trip to the bank far away. Keeping that in mind, Carol launched Obopay in 2005 with the help of a team of best in class finance experts and mobile engineers. Her vision of combining technology with convenience is now changing how the world do money transfers.

Obopay started off with its services in India in March 2008 through an own subsidiary. In August 2009 Nokia unveiled Nokia Money, its mobile money transfer services in India. The Nokia money works on Obopay.

Obopay Features

You can use mobile money for anything. Say you want to buy the gadget in your wish-list. That is possible instantly with Obopay. So what are the features that make Obopay suitable for all your money need?

Obopay offers Instant Access to your bank account- With Obopay on your mobile; you have immediate access to your bank account. You can transfer money to anyone located anywhere almost instantly. Apart from money transfer, it let you make payments or review your account status.

Obopay is convenient - The convenience is the most important of all. Who on earth wants to go to a bank or an agent to make a money transfer. Or even switch on your pc and go online to do one. With Obopay, just by sending a sms the money transfer is done. It is the easiest way of money transfer in use till date.

Receiving money is easy - The receiver need not have Obopay on his phone. But he will get a message regarding what he should do to avail the money. Receiving money is free where as the sending charges in US are 25 cents per transaction.

Obopay is safe - Safety is another issue when it comes to money matters. Obopay is built on a secure platform making sure that your account is safe. You will be doing it from your own phone and you don’t need to provide any of your financial or personal details to a third party.

Obopay allows Auto-Debit - By linking your bank account to your mobile phone using Obopay you get to enjoy many benefits. You can set to transfer your money debited in bank account to the obopay account for immediate use with the Auto-Debit feature. Obopay not being a bank account in itself, you don’t need to worry about keeping a minimum balance or overdrafts.

Special Prepaid Debit cards - Obopay offers the choice to own a prepaid debit card. You can load money to the card directly from your phone. Loading money in the card is instant with Obopay. The cost for using a card is $1.95 per month.

Obopay also offers a Family Prepaid MasterCard that has lower fees than most of the other cards. The usage as family money let you give a card to your kid and track his expenses. The advantage is that he can spend only what you give. Unlike giving cash, it is easy to take care of the card. Also it is far better than giving your teen a credit card as they would end up in overdrafts usually.

Move your money easily - You can move your Obopay money back to your bank account or the Obopay prepaid debit cards any time. And it won’t cost you anything.

Multiple options to use Obopay - You can use Obopay on your phone or online. You can use sms text, mobile web browser or mobile application to get the transfer done. That surely is more convenient than any methods in use.

Obopay as a payment solution - Obopay is a quick payment option. Small businesses and online merchants prefer Obopay as it is easy for customers to send money safely. You don’t need to set up an expensive credit card reader for the business to run. Also lots of time and fees are saved unlike that with check payment processing. And it is free.

The customer or client need not have an Obopay account to make the payment. It just costs 25 cents for making a payment.

Send Money Home Easily - Many use Obopay to send money home. Lower fees, instant transfer and extreme convenience make it the best option for domestic remittance.

How does Obopay Work?

Obopay is a way to use your money from your mobile. So how does your money come to your mobile? Well it is no magic and the working of Obopay will explain that.

What you have to do is just sign up at: www.obopay.com.

You will need your mobile number. Once the registration is complete you can add money to your Obopay account using your bank account, debit or credit card.

The sign up process will take around 5 minutes and you can start sending and receiving money right away.

Well you really need not worry about linking your bank to mobile as Obopay is a strong and secure service. Obopay money service can be used in four main ways – to transfer money to any mobile phone, or accept payments from your clients or customers, or as family money or as an extra debit card for your other needs.

How much does Obopay transfer cost?

Obopay transfers are cheap in comparison to other money transfer services. It costs just 25 cents to send money to someone whom you love. And to receive money, Obopay doesn’t charge you anything.

The sending charge is independent of the amount of money sent, be $10 or $500 it is always 25 cents. Obopay is free to download too. Your bank may ask for a sign up fee, do call them to make the math clear.

The basic Obopay account has a maximum balance limit of $2500. You can make 50 transactions amounting up to $1000 per day using Obopay.

The competitors Paypal and Western Union charges a huge amount (around $12) for a $500 transfer. The 25 cents is nothing in comparison with that. So Obopay transfer is as equivalent to free money transfer.

Facts about Obopay

Obopay vs. Paypal

Paypal is the most successful online payment service provider so far. But Obopay will soon replace Paypal as the charges are very low. That is because it doesn’t involve any credit card processing fee. You really don’t need to set up anything other than an Obopay payment application in your website to start accepting the payments.

Transferring money to different bank accounts is as simple as sending a sms with Obopay. Surely it is more convenient than using Paypal.

Obopay vs. Western Union

Western Union money transfer methods are really fast and convenient. But the charges for the same are very high. Western Union transfer charges builds up when the transfer amounts are high. It is the same with Moneygram for that matter. On the other hand, Obopay has fixed fees of just 25 cents to make a transfer.

You can enjoy the advantages of electronic transfer at incredibly cheap rates using Obopay on your mobile.

A perfect implementation of Digital Money

Obopay lets you transfer money to any bank account. For example, you have a HDFC account and want to send money to someone having a Citi bank account; it is possible instantly with Obopay mobile money transfer. Can there be a better implementation for digital money?

Obopay is the Future

With the convenience offered, Obopay is surely set to be the future of money transfer services. Obopay along with the pioneers in technology and finance sectors are bettering it to meet every money need of humans across the globe. The traditional methods will soon get outdated as they lack convenience for the sender and receiver.

Obopay work on all phones!

It doesn’t matter to Obopay if your phone is GSM or CDMA. Or even if it is a high end touch phone or a phone that offers mere text transfer. It works on all phones as it is implemented targeting the global users.

Obopay in India

In India, Obopay has launched its services with YES bank. Nokia has signed a deal with Obopay and the money transfer services will be called by the name Nokia money.

Obopay is regarded as Paypal for your phone. Isn’t it wonderful that the money handling now reaches your mobile phone?