Boom, a mobile banking provider, and money transfer service owner m-Via have announced both a new low-cost pricing model and a deal with surcharge-free ATM network provider Allpoint to offer Boom users access to more than 37,500 ATMs located in retail stores across the U.S. and Mexico.

Boom operates on a membership-based business model for banking and money transfer. Membership in the U.S. costs $25 per year; outside the U.S., membership is free to individuals who receive money from a U.S.-based member.

The new Boom pricing model includes three free cash withdrawals per month at participating ATMs and unlimited surcharge-free access to those ATMs, which they can find by using an Allpoint ATM locator app downloaded to their smartphone. Boom users can also text the word "balance" to 22334 to look up their balance or text the word "send" to initiate free person-to-person money transfers.

"Boom is now the most cost effective way to save, share and spend money," said Bill Barhydt, CEO of m-Via. "Our goal is to eliminate all transaction fees where possible in favor of a simple, membership-based pricing model for a service that is safe, secure and convenient. We continue to develop new ways to help the unbanked, and our new pricing model now offers our target customer the least expensive banking and money transfer option on the market today."

"Consumers expect convenient access to their account, and to their cash. With Allpoint Network, in addition to being convenient, ATM cash withdrawal transactions are surcharge-free, and that fact makes Allpoint a vital customer acquisition and satisfaction enhancer for any prepaid program," said Ben Psillas, president of Allpoint. "And with both Allpoint Network and Boom users on both sides of the U.S.-Mexican border, coupled with Boom's support of person-to-person transfers, Boom account holders can retrieve funds, surcharge-free, at Allpoint ATMs conveniently located at premier retailers in both countries."

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