Verizon Wireless Mobile Banking
Wireless Carrier to Offer Pre-Loaded Mobile Banking App
BASKING RIDGE, NJ and ATLANTA, GA (October 15, 2007) Mobile banking and payments enabler Firethorn Holdings, LLC and Verizon Wireless have partnered to provide Verizon Wireless customers with the ability to easily interact with their financial institutions using Firethorn’s mobile financial services application.
The relationship provides a unique opportunity for financial institutions assessing their mobile strategies. With Verizon Wireless’ mobile banking offering, powered by Firethorn, customers will be able to access and manage their financial relationships while on-the-go. In addition, Verizon Wireless and Firethorn will team with financial institution partners to conduct marketing and consumer education programs aimed at aiding and encouraging adoption.
Verizon senior vice president of consumer products Jim Straight said, “After carefully researching the marketplace and surveying consumer preferences, we concluded Firethorn will provide a secure, easy-to-use and flexible mobile banking solution that will deliver a superior user experience for our customers. We expect these mobile banking services will be valuable to our customers, paving the way for us to introduce more comprehensive payment capabilities.”
As financial institutions join the Firethorn Network that already includes Wachovia, SunTrust Bank, Regions Financial, BancorpSouth, Synovus among others, Verizon Wireless customers will be able to access these relationships in a simple and secure fashion. Verizon Wireless plans to pre-load the Firethorn application on devices in the future.
“Firethorn’s larger vision is to provide consumers with a safe, secure and consistent access point to their financial information through their ever-present mobile device,” explained Firethorn chairman and chief executive officer Tripp Rackley. “Viewing balances, making transfers and paying bills is the first step. Bringing new and exciting functionality to the mobile handset, such as the ability to view and redeem loyalty points, reload gift cards and perform purchases at the point of sale, including contactless payments, is core to our mobile financial services strategy.”
Source: Verizon Wireless (www.verizonwireless.com)
