FinovateSpring 2010 / MPOWER Mobile
Presenter Profile:
How they describe themselves: MPOWER Mobile is an international mobile payments company dedicated to empowering consumers worldwide. By harnessing the mobile phone’s ubiquity and universal functionality like SMS, MPOWER Mobile delivers financial services through the mobile handset – including the ability to send money, accept payments and make purchases. Based in Austin, Texas, MPOWER Mobile is backed by MPOWER Ventures.
What they think makes them better: The new YAP Gift MasterCard from MPOWER Mobile is the world’s first universal mobile gift card. With YAP Gift, consumers can send gifts anywhere in the world, instantly from the handset, and recipients can use the gift card to buy virtually anything they want online, by phone or by mail, any place they choose that accepts MasterCard debit cards and U.S. dollars. Funding, sending or spending a YAP Gift requires no bank account, account setup or currency conversion fees, and recipients can enjoy YAP Gift from any mobile handset or email account. The only gift card designed for the mobile handset, YAP Gift opens up a world of new giving possibilities for today’s mobile lifestyles. YAP Gift MasterCard for iPhone will soon be available for download from the iTunes app store.
Contacts:
Bus. Dev.: Neeraj Bansal, 512-485-2560, neeraj@mpowermobile.com
Press: Meredith DeSpain Kelsey, 512-531-1191, meredith.kelsey@mpowerlabs.com
Website: www.mpowermobile.com
HQ Location: Austin, TX
Company Founded: 2005
Product Being Demoed: YAP™ Gift
Product Launched: 2010
Company Metrics: Less than 20 employees, 10 programs on 5 continents
- Key Executives
Roy Sosa (Chairman), Bertrand Sosa (President), Neeraj Bansal (Co-Founder and Executive Vice President, Business Development)
Key Stats
- Key Board Members
Lawrence Gleason (Vice President, American Towers), Mike Maples Jr. (Co-Founder, Floodgate), Vipul Ved Prakash (CEO, Topsy), Rick Rasansky (CEO, Yorn), Todd Smith (Investor and Co-Founder of Tivoli, now IBM)
- Key Advisory Board Members
Lawrence Gleason (Vice President, American Towers), Mike Maples Jr. (Co-Founder, Floodgate), Vipul Ved Prakash (CEO, Topsy), Rick Rasansky (CEO, Yorn), Todd Smith (Investor and Co-Founder of Tivoli, now IBM)
- Key Investors
MPOWER Ventures, Floodgate, Todd Smith (Investor & Co-Founder of Tivoli, now IBM)
- Key Partnerships
Rêv Worldwide, Raiffeisen Bank, IPKO, Central Bank of India
- Key Customers
MEXICO – Omnilife Group and Bancomer; ROMANIA – Raiffeisen Bank; INDIA – Central Bank of India; UNITED STATES – Horizon Bank and Mango Financial, Inc.