“Easter European and Ex Soviet Union countries are still difficult to access for most of the western internet companies “, – says CEO Fortumo Martin Koppel. “Fortumo sees itself as a gateway, which helps those companies monetize their user base in region without risks and costs”, – adds Koppel.

Besides mobile payment, with Fortumo everyone can create SMS-services without any technical background or cost in 5 minutes. Basic services are targeting at users without any technical skills, while advanced services enable experienced service providers to benefit from the multi-country functionality, flexible user interface and competitive revenue sharing.

“Typical Fortumo users are online game portals, social media application developers and different internet entrepreneurs, while radio stations, local newspapers and ad agencies also benefit from the media convergence.” says the CEO of Fortumo Martin Koppel. “At the moment people have created nearly 85 000 revenue generating SMS-services,” adds Koppel.

Fortumo is providing its services in 29 countries from Nordics, Europe to Southeast Asia, and is available at Fortumo.com without any startup or monthly fees.

Fortumo Ltd, headquartered in Estonia, provides a simple mobile payments platform for internet entrepreneurs to monetize online games, social networking sites and other web-based businesses. With ready to use solutions, there is no need to complicated setup and additional technical knowledge. Fortumo services are available in 29 countries, which makes the market with more than a billion mobile subscribers available to everyone. Founded in 2007, the company is experiencing rapid growth, having launched its service in 29 countries in Europe and Asia. In 2009, Mobile Monday chose Fortumo as one of the TOP20 most potential mobile startups in the world and TechCrunch featured Fortumo in its list of the TOP100 most interesting startups in Europe.

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VeriFone’s payment solution for the iPhone (www.paywaremobile.com) puts mainstream payment processing capabilities in the hands of small business merchants who need a mobile card acceptance solution for enterprises such as home repair, small cafes, door-to-door sales, or virtually any other type of business. The hardware and software solution will begin shipping January 15 and is available free to those who sign up for a PAYware Mobile secure gateway service agreement.

PAYware Mobile includes a PA-DSS approved payment app and a sleek and durable card reader that slips over the iPhone to accommodate card swipes and allow merchants to avoid high-cost “card-not-present” fees. The combined hardware and software provides the strongest card payment security available for the iPhone, including VeriFone’s VeriShield Protect end-to-end encryption solution as a standard feature.

“The complete PAYware Mobile solution brings secure payment capabilities to merchants who previously could not justify a dedicated payment acceptance device. We believe this represents a potential market of millions of small businesses worldwide,” said VeriFone CEO Douglas G. Bergeron.

“Banks and processors are concerned about the security issues of unapproved merchants using unregulated software and insecure fobs to accept card payments,” Bergeron added. “PAYware Mobile leverages VeriFone’s proven payment and security expertise to provide the ultimate in end-to-end protection against payment fraud and misuse on an open and unregulated platform such as the iPhone.”

VeriFone’s iPhone payment solution will be available through existing bank acquirer and ISO channels, as well as direct from VeriFone. VeriFone also expects to eventually make PAYware Mobile available wherever mobile phone accessories are sold. Customers who sign up directly with VeriFone without existing merchant accounts will be directed to a variety of payment processor options.

PAYware Mobile is connected to First Data, and will be available for shipment through TASQ Technology, a First Data company.

Edward (Ed) Labry, president of First Data’s retail and alliance services business unit, said: “We are pleased to support VeriFone’s new iPhone payment solution, and believe it will generate many new electronic payment transactions.”

Transactions initiated by PAYware Mobile will be managed through VeriFone’s PAYware Mobile secure gateway and routed to one of many credit card processors for authorization and settlement. VeriFone expects to make PAYware Mobile fully available to most other processors.

The PAYware Mobile card reader utilizes a secure magnetic stripe read-head and firmware certified to the Federal Information Processing Standard FIPS 140-2. Card details are immediately encrypted during the card swipe process, meaning no sensitive data ever reaches the payment app, eliminating the possibility of compromise either on the iPhone or when information is transmitted over WiFi or cellular wireless.

Merchants can reserve a system and view service options and fees at www.paywaremobile.com. An EMV version for international payments will be available in the spring.

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Itau Unibanco and Redecard, along with mobile network operator Vivo, will be the first to use the MasterCard Mobile Payments Gateway to deliver mobile payment solutions to the banks’ customers in Brazil. The service will give consumers the ability to use their phone as a mobile wallet and link their existing credit, debit or prepaid MasterCard or Maestro card accounts to their mobile phone to fund mobile-initiated payments.

The Mobile Payments Gateway is a turnkey mobile payment processing platform that allows issuers, acquirers, merchants and mobile network operators to quickly and cost-effectively provide customized mobile solutions in developing payments markets by tapping into the MasterCard Worldwide Network, the payments industry’s only fully globally integrated network. As a result, banked and unbanked mobile consumers gain access to a wide range of MasterCard Mobile payments solutions that provide greater payment convenience and security over cash–using their mobile phone to make purchases, send and receive money between family and friends, transfer funds between accounts, pay bills, deposit funds such as payroll or social benefits, top up mobile airtime, load value to prepaid accounts, get cash from ATMs, and keep track of their balances and activities with mobile alerts.

MasterCard is working with Smart Hub, Inc. (SMART HUB, a subsidiary of Philippine-based Smart Communications, Inc.) to leverage its mobile payments technology to develop the MasterCard Mobile Payments Gateway. Requirements for development of a mobile payments infrastructure vary from market to market. By integrating SMART HUB’s capabilities, MasterCard has created an open mobile payment processing platform through the MasterCard Payments Gateway to facilitate the launch of MasterCard Mobile payment solutions in developing markets.

MasterCard is helping to transform financial services with mobile innovation to fulfill a global market need. Consultative Group to Assist the Poor (CGAP), an independent policy and research center housed at the World Bank, and the GSMA Association report that there are more than 4 billion people worldwide who have a mobile phone, but far fewer mobile phone users have a bank account- with the number to grow from 1 to 1.7 billion by 2012(1). The Mobile Payments Gateway enables them to benefit from secure and convenient mobile payment services that were previously unavailable to them. At the same time, participants in the mobile payments value chain can realize the significant potential for mobile growth outside of the markets they traditionally serve–providing opportunities for financial institutions to introduce payment and financial services to unbanked consumers and mobile network operators to offer value-added services for mobile payments.

“The Mobile Payments Gateway will help to make mobile payments a way of life for mobile phone users around the world,” said Joshua Peirez, group executive of Innovative Platforms for MasterCard Worldwide. “Through our global, integrated payment network we are efficiently connecting financial institutions, merchants and consumers together to mobilize MasterCard payment solutions in a way that truly reflects today’s on-the-go lifestyles.”

“We are pleased to introduce a mobile payments solution that reinforces our innovative positioning in the market,” said Fernado Teles, managing director, Itau Unibanco Holding. “For Itau, it is important to not only bring cutting-edge products but also ensure that it offers our customers the security and convenience they expect from a banking transaction.”

“The MasterCard Mobile Payments Gateway is complementary with the existing Redecard solutions and we are honored to be part of this project,” says Roberto Mediros, President and CEO of Redecard. “This platform reinforces our leadership in mobile payments solutions. This is a breakthrough for mobile payments around the globe. Democratization and innovative solutions have always been priorities for Redecard and the MasterCard Mobile Payments Gateway is precisely aligned.”

“Vivo, the largest mobile operator in Brazil with over 48 million customers, is a natural choice for this partnership, due to its installed user base and broad service outreach, in more than 3,400 cities nationwide,” according to Hugo Janeba, Vivo’s Executive Vice President of Marketing and Innovation. “This is an important service we are glad to offer to our customers, empowering their connectivity so they can make the most out of their mobile phones. The mobile payments market is an expanding opportunity in the local scenario and we are sure this initiative will be a success.”

“While in the region there are some mobile payments solutions in the market that help unbanked mobile users transfer money or top-up prepaid accounts, these solutions have been limited in providing the breadth of payment transaction services for the underserved consumer to completely manage their finances,” said Richard Hartzell, president, Latin America and the Caribbean region, MasterCard Worldwide. “I am pleased that the Latin America and Caribbean region will be the first to offer the MasterCard Mobile Payments Gateway, which will benefit every constituent in the payments ecosystem–helping financial institutions and mobile network operators reduce their mobile operating expenses and costs to serve consumers while enabling merchants to cost-effectively expand payment acceptance using their mobile phone. This will allow consumers to enjoy a more robust suite of mobile payment services that makes their lives easier.”

Following the launch in Brazil, MasterCard will introduce MasterCard Mobile payments solutions through the Mobile Payments Gateway in select markets around the world.

“Successful growth of mobile payments around the world requires participation, communication and collaboration among all members of the mobile payments value chain,” says Napoleon L. Nazareno, President and CEO of Philippine Long Distance Telephone Company and Smart Communications, Inc. “We are excited to build upon a successful history with MasterCard to advance mobile payments innovation in the industry by delivering compelling solutions that combine the global MasterCard brand and world-class payment network with our extensive digital telecommunications capabilities and world-first wireless data services.”

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