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American express now investing in payfone

2011-04-24

One of the major credit card lenders in the United States, in all probability may announce on Wednesday, their plans to invest in Payfone, which is one of the mobile phone payment companies. With over $19 million in the form of investment, American Express will lead the pack of investors. In addition to American Express, other companies such as RIM and Verizon Communications have also revealed their interests in investing in Payfone.

With this move, American Express will move away from its age old practice of linking all its new services to the credit cards it issues. An American Express payment platform will be used by Payfone to provide customers with a digital account that will be linked either to their prepaid card or credit card. The prepaid or credit cards linked to this digital account need not be limited to just the ones that are issued by American Express. Cards issued by other banks and credit unions can be linked to this digital account as well. Customers who prefer the concept of “on the go” payments can link a distinct cell phone number to their payment account.

The platform that is going to be used by Payfone was recently purchased by American Express at the same time it purchased Revolution Money, another alternate payments provider. The name of the base platform is “Serve” and can be put to use all over the world since credit cards issued by any credit card lender can be linked to the digital account.