On The Near-Term Horizon: SMS Money Transfer
by Russell Shaw
I believe the era of SMS Money Transfer is close to being a dominant force in our mobile economy.
The reason I’ve capped SMS Money Transfer bears out my point. This is actually a branded service of a UK-based company called Anam.
How it works- if you want to transfer money, you, the sender, types in #Cash and then the phone number of the receipient. The message is sent to a person in your address book. The recipient also receives a text message from Anam, asking them to phone a number included in the text message.
You, the sender, are not done yet. You key in a PIN number, and your recipient receives a text saying that you’ve received the amount to be sent.
The big leap forward will be when financial insitutitions sign on board. Possible other markets include remittance activities for various partners, such as cell carriers or utilities.
In just one example, a parent (that could mean you) might wish to SMS money to their child’s cell phone account. (Providing of course, your child’s SMS surcharges aren’t too high).
