Mobile Payment system pago Launched

The new new service is available in New Zealand and allows mobile payments between parties using SMS or e-mail. The company launching the services suggests people can use it to split restaurant bills, share petrol costs, pay the babysitter and buy low value goods online,.

pago (pronouced "pay go") allows New Zealand bank account holders to send cash via a digital wallet to another person. The service is aimed at low value transactions, up to a total of NZ$200 a day.

To make a payment the pago wallet holder only needs to know the mobile number, e-mail address or pago name of the person being paid.

The new service uses ASB bank's real-time system, leveraging the bank's knowledge of interbank systems.

To register for pago, people visit the web site and sign up for the service. Once signed up, a pago wallet is created where people store their money. To activate the wallet and make it easy to top up a wallet, a link is established to the wallet holder’s bank account.

Once the pago wallet is activated with an initial deposit, people can make payments from it using SMS from their mobile phone or through pago’s website. If the person being paid already has a pago wallet, the money is transferred immediately, otherwise the payment is available for 7 days so the recipient has time either to create a pago wallet themselves to receive the transaction, or to direct it to a bank account of their choice.

The company says auction site Trade Me will back the service by recommendeding as one of the methods of paying for goods sold on the site.

Some transactions are free, but sending money between pago members and transferring money back to a bank account incurs a fee of 30 cents.