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Sep. 28, 2008

Sprint Nextel says its customers can now download mobile banking software for free, including access to PayPal, from a variety of its Internet-ready wireless handsets.

Kevin McGinnis, Sprint's director of consumer applications and entertainment services said the wireless operator announced its partnership with mobile banking specialist M-Foundry in April of 2007, and now the software is finally ready.

It is called MyMoneyManager and is available for most of Sprint’s handsets that use Qualcomm’s BREW and Sun Microsystems’ Java platforms. However, McGinnis said it’s not yet ready for the flagship Instinct phone.

Meanwhile, Sprint customers can use mFoundry software if they’re customers of BB&T, Citibank, IBC Bank or PNC Bank.

Features include such things as checking balances, paying bills online and finding nearby branches and ATMs. Sprint plans to add other bank partners in the future, McGinnis said.

Separate from the mFoundry software, MyMoneyManager also includes a PayPal element. Any mobile phone with a Web browser can already access the regular PayPal site. However, Sprint is able to keep the interface consistent and integrate it with other features by offering it an application instead, McGinnis explained.

Part of Sprint’s announcement is about keeping up with its rivals, as its competitors AT&T and Verizon Wireless all offer similar features, and have been for over two months now.

“So far, we’ve seen a lot of progress in the m-commerce space,” McGinnis said.

He added "however, the company will hold off on proximity payments – direct retail sales by using a phone as a wallet, as Visa, Nokia and others are testing – until the mobile and banking industries overall are more advanced on that front and until industry standards are developed, he said.

MyMoneyManager’s security features include multi-factor authentication, remote software deactivatation and data wiping after each use.

However, what customers won’t get is embedded advertising, although McGinnis declined to rule that out as a future possibility. No news from other Sprint officials when it plans to add embedded advertising.

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Source: Sprint Nextel.