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Mobile payments has been touted for some time as a way for the unbanked to participate in electronic commerce. That's all well and good for those who are "cash preferred," but it doesn't do anything for people hoping to use mobile payments to help build or repair their credit.
It's these consumers that PayToo, a Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.-based mobile payment company, is trying to reach with its new PayTooSafe account. PayTooSafe is the only free, secured mobile payment account that reports to the three main credit bureaus.
With PayTooSafe, users make a fully-refundable deposit to establish a credit line and begin using their card. The program is like a debit account in that it requires a prepayment, but the deposit is never actually used to pay down a balance. Instead, it simply secures the account.
The user demonstrates credit worthiness by using the card and paying off the amount. That performance is then reported to the major credit bureaus either to establish or to repair credit history.
"Offering the best product or services is not enough, we wanted also to offer the best way to save money using our services and to help the global economy," Michel Poignant, CEO of PayToo Corp.
The downside is that the security deposit doesn't earn any interest at this point, but this is balanced by the fact that the account also doesn't charge the onerous fees usually associated with prepaid or subprime credit cards aimed at the under- and unbanked. Not to mention the savings users might realize in preferred loan and credit card interest rates once their credit rating is established or repaired.
For more stories like this, visit the mobile banking research center.
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