Google Patent Triggers Mobile Rumors - But Text Message Payment Already Exists
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This kind of payment is not common in the US. But if it sounds very familiar to you, you’re not alone. There are a number of countries which boast companies that already offer this kind of service to their subscribers.
Let’s start with the Philippines. Their population may be only a third the size of ours, but they’re way ahead of us in the text message payment department. Two companies based in that island nation support it: Globe Telecom and Smart Communications. The former offers Globe GCash, a service that “enables any Globe or TM subscriber to send and receive money and make payments just through text/SMS.” The latter offers Smart Padala, which it bills as “the first cash remittance service via text.” Judging from the description, however, it seems to be designed for people who are sending money on a regular basis to a specific person or beneficiary based in the Philippines.
One poster to a version of the story about Google’s patent noted that “It seems more like a profane copy of the mobile payment services that are available in Estonia for several years now.” Another poster to that same forum observed that the same system has been operational in Croatia since at least 2002.
The folks across the pond are way ahead of the US here as well. Benjamin Cohen, writing for the Channel 4 news site, stated that “Here in Britain, mobile users have been able to purchase ring tones and mobile content via shortcode text messages for some time…all parking meters in the City of Westminster in London now only accept payment by either text message and phone call…[and] the five major mobile operators came together to launch Payforit, a universal payment system that will eventually turn a mobile phone into a digital wallet.
Even here in the US, though, Google would have some competition. Secure Wireless Transfer Corporation (SWT), founded in 2005, offers a service called KushCash. It comes in several versions, including one that works on compatible mobile phones. Obopay offers a similar service, and even pays users to sign up. Verizon started offering this service to its subscribers in June, a move that may have helped privately-held Obopay close a round of venture funding worth $29 million.
And then there’s PayPal. Google is already in a battle with the online payment company thanks to its less-popular service, Google Checkout. But PayPal is innovating on its core business. In 2006 it introduced as service that enables cell phone users to buy DVDs and other products by sending text messages. This year, it added the ability to pay online merchants via the mobile web.
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