By the end of the year, people using Google’s (News - Alert) Android phones will be able to monitor their bank accounts while on the go.

 

 San Francisco-based electronic payment service provider Visa Inc has now teamed up with search engine giant Google as part of a broad effort to make this type of service ubiquitous in the United States.

 

The Android (News - Alert) phone service will be tested first on customers with Chase Visa cards because the software required for this service is being written by the Visa.

 

In a press statement posted on its website, Visa said it is developing a payment service that will enable consumers to make mobile payments on the go, like a credit card, or over wireless networks.

 

If you own the Android phone, Visa will notify on your mobile devices about account activity. Along with such notifications will arrive business proposals or offers from merchants. The additional advantage is Google will extend its map service to find businesses that accept Visa cards.

 

Visa planned this service because the company says wireless customers expect their mobile devices to carry a multitude of applications.

 

Visa will focus first on these three services — alerts, offers and location help. Later it plans to add the ability to actually buy things with the phones.

 

According to Associated Press, Visa also announced an agreement with U.S. Bank, lead bank of US Bancorp, to launch a mobile money transfer pilot program. Expected to begin on a trial basis by year-end, the program would allow Visa's U.S. cardholders to use their mobile devices to send funds directly to another Visa cardholder's account.

 

 T-Mobile (News - Alert) has developed the first phone using Google’s Android system, and it is likely to go on sale next month.

 

Visa says it is also developing a payment application that will enable consumers with Visa accounts to make mobile payments in retail locations nationwide.

 

"By developing these mobile services for the Android platform, Visa has taken a major step toward combining two of the world's most powerful and ubiquitous consumer innovations, electronic payments and mobile technology," said Elizabeth Buse, Global Head of Product at Visa Inc.

INTERNET TELEPHONY Conference & EXPO West 2008 — the biggest and most comprehensive IP communications event of the year — concluded Thursday in Los Angeles, California. Thousands of attendees flocked to the event for three valuable days of exhibits, conferences and networking opportunities. Mark your calendar now for ITEXPO East 2009, February 2-4, 2009, in sunny Miami, Florida.