Blaze Mobile, the US mobile banking and mobile wallet services provider, has revealed that its active users are now accessing their Blaze Mobile Wallets an average of nine times a day.

The Blaze Mobile Wallet gives customers access to a variety of services such as performing mobile banking functions, purchasing movie tickets and paying bills. Since April 2009, customers have also been able to make payments via the Blaze Mobile MasterCard PayPass, a contactless sticker-based prepaid card issued by MetaBank. The company is now also working with Tetherball to enable customers to use their mobile wallet to collect and redeem mobile rewards and coupons and to make purchases using their mobile phone.

Over 50% of Blaze Mobile customers now use the service to view their account balance and receipts, the company reports. "The ability to safely & securely access your bank balances on your cell phone is critical to today's busy professional," says Blaze Mobile's CEO Michelle Fisher. "The usage data supports our belief that mobile banking will continue to gain traction with working professionals and young bank customers."

This article was first published at www.NearFieldCommunicationsWorld.com.

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HOT IDEA: Blaze Mobile's sticker brings contactless payment to ordinary mobile phones

Blaze Mobile and MasterCard Worldwide have introduced the Blaze Mobile MasterCard PayPass, a mobile payment sticker that can be used at any of the 141,000 merchant locations that are currently equipped to accept PayPass contactless transactions.

The mobile payment sticker is tied to a prepaid account that is issued by US-based MetaBank.

"This innovative mobile payment sticker leverages the ubiquity and convenience of mobile phones, as well as the increasing comfort level among consumers with converging technologies on mobile devices," said Art Kranzley, chief emerging technology officer at MasterCard Worldwide. "Contactless payment capabilities on the device will make life easier for mobile users who can quickly make purchases at retail locations without their wallets," he said.

MasterCard says it sees this approach as a bridge to fully integrated contactless payment capabilities using NFC technology. "Having a payment capability on the phone is a great way for consumers to see the benefit of having a payment capability in the phone," added Kranzley.

"We created this unique mobile payment sticker to meet the needs of today's busy consumer," said Michelle Fisher, CEO of Blaze Mobile. "With the help of MasterCard, we believe that this technology positions Blaze Mobile as a key enabler in the mobile commerce marketplace."

The mobile payment sticker was designed to complement the Blaze Mobile Wallet, a free service that enables mobile phone users to purchase movie and event tickets, manage bank accounts at more than 8,000 supported financial institutions, view electronic receipts and create expense reports. The Blaze Mobile Wallet also offers location based services such as maps and points of interest, including ATMs, restaurants and more.

This article was first published at www.NearFieldCommunicationsWorld.com.

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