Industry coverage, news, original feature articles, how to guides, videos, podcasts and reviews of BlackBerry service providers, software, accessories, hosted exchange providers and more

This seems like a nifty service, but I’m sure there are going to be plenty of questions about its security. Obopay has announced that their online banking application will be available to BlackBerry users later this month. In essence, Obopay is the PayPal of the mobile world. You set yourself up with an account and add funds to it via your linked checking account. You can then send and receive money from other Obopay users. So, in theory, you could send $5 to the dude sitting right next to you.

“The typical BlackBerry user epitomizes our need for convenience as professionals and consumers. This merges perfectly with Obopay’s commitment to giving people everywhere expedient means to send and receive money and pay for goods and services,” said Obopay Chief Executive Officer, Carol Realini.

Obopay presents a typical situation: Your child is hundreds or thousands of miles away at school, but they don’t have enough money for books/food/booze, whatever. How are you going to get them the money if you’re not near a bank or even a computer? That’s where Obopay claims it shines. With just a few clicks, your kid is funded and ready to go.

It can also be used for online purchases, or so they say.I’ve yet to see any vendors that accept Obopay, though if the service is all it says it is, I can see more and more of them picking up Obopay. They also offer a prepaid MasterCard which allows you to withdraw funds from your account at an ATM or wherever MasterCard is accepted.

So yeah, it sounds neat, but there are certainly still security issues that need to be addressed before I’m totally sold. So for now this stays filed under “cool, but we’ll see.”

[Obopay] [CNN Money]

Share on Facebook | Add to De.licio.us | Digg This! | Technorati