M-Via Launches Mobile Payment Service for the Underbanked

Mobile payments company m-Via (Palo Alto, Calif.) today launched it's Boom service, a P2P mobile payments service targeted to the underbanked.

Boom members can use their mobile phone to make money transfers of any size ranging from $5 to $1,000, as well as make purchases and withdrawals at participating Boom merchants and ATMs. M-Via said it has built an extensive partner network for Boom where members can load money, withdraw money and make purchases from their Boom accounts.

The company said Boom is especially designed for migrant workers who rely on wire transfers to send money. The company said these individuals often pay more than $20 per cash wire transaction, and recipients have to travel for hours to pick up remitted funds. Smaller wire transfers are often not cost-effective for these individuals, according to m-Via, due to the fees associated with them.

Boom partners, including 7-Eleven, the Allpoint ATM Network, the Diconsa retail network in Mexico and PayXchange, will provide 150,000 Boom-enabled ATMs in the U.S. and Mexico, said the company.

Bryan Yurcan is associate editor for Bank Systems and Technology. He has worked in various editorial capacities for newspapers and magazines for the past 8 years. After beginning his career as a municipal and courts reporter for daily newspapers in upstate New York, Bryan has ... View Full Bio