m-Via Booms into mobile payments space

m-Via has developed a mobile payment network, Boom, designed to provide immigrants with a low-cost, safe alternative to high-fee money transfer services, American Banker reports.

According to Bank Tech, Boom members can use their mobile phones 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 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.

GigaOM sates that Barhydt said almost $500 billion is remitted each year internationally, with fees generating between $40 billion and $50 billion. He said m-Via is trying to crunch down those fees, making it easier for people to distribute a lot more money, more often.

“Our goal is to crunch those fees down to a three-to-four percent range, rather than the eight-to-eleven percent, and provide more banking service so it's better for consumers, safe, easier and more economical,” he adds.