This post was published 3 years 3 days ago.
It\'s is possible that the information within this article is now out of date or updated.

There still is a lot of people who worry about purchasing off of the internet and managing their finances online. I for one have not mailed a bill for longer than I can remember. I love the fact of keeping things paperless. So when I read that Cingular is working with a third party software company to develop an application to allow mobile users to access their banking information and pay bills securely, I immediately got excited. My wife is a real estate agent and a full time mother of two. She is always busy talking on the phone or raising our children while I am away at work. She always is using our debit card buying gas, groceries and coke icies for the kids. My point? I cannot keep up with her! I do keep my finances on my PPC using Spb Finance. I can call or access the internet to try to keep up with her. Even with that I struggle to keep up. But, with what Cingular proposes, I am getting excited to once again regain control over our checking account balance. And if you travel like I do, the ease of paying bills anywhere becomes a life saver! I for one look forward to future with mobility finance applications and hope people will grow more comfortable with it. I know with this access to banking information will come the lure of advertisers and spammers alike. The wave of mobile purchasing will get to be a hot topic for some. But with our ever increasing busy lives, a little technology to save some time will be warmly welcomed!

Source: engadget mobile

Read the Reuters Store by Clicking Below 

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Cingular Wireless, the No. 1 U.S. cellular operator, said on Wednesday it is talking with banks about letting its customers manage their money by cell phone as part of a push to expand phone use beyond talking.

The wireless venture of AT&T Inc (T.N: Quote, Profile, Research) and BellSouth Corp. (BLS.N: Quote, Profile, Research) said a wireless banking application it is testing would let customers of participating banks view account balances, transfer funds and pay bills on their cell phones.

Spokesman Mark Siegel said Cingular hoped to launch the application commercially in early 2007. Cingular was talking to a lot of banks, but he did not name any potential partners or disclose whether the company had any firm commitments.

"We hope a lot of banks participate," he said. "The early signs are very encouraging."

Siegel said Cingular does not plan to charge a separate fee for the feature, which it hopes will encourage customers to sign up for data service subscriptions and potentially help Cingular win new subscribers and hold on to existing ones.

Customers would be able to use the banking feature by downloading an application that Cingular is currently testing from privately held Firethorn Holdings LLC.

The company and its rivals are constantly looking for new wireless data applications to boost growth amid falling phone call prices. Other data services being developed include music and video downloads for phones.

Doug Smith (163 Posts) - Website | Twitter | Facebook