Obopay by Verizon Wireless Lets You Pay By Cell Phone

Verizon Wireless today announced the upcoming launch of Obopay, which will let users send money to each other via their cell phones.

To use the service you need to open an Obopay account and transfer money from a credit card or bank account. You can then send that money to a phone number with text message command, via a mobile web browser, or if you’re a subscriber with a participating carrier such as Verizon Wireless, by downloading the Obopay application which puts an easy-to-use interface on your phone. Each purchase transaction costs ten cents. To claim money that someone has sent to you, you simply need to log into or create an account associated with your phone number. Receiving payments is free.

This new Verizon Wireless service will eventually let customers pay for purchases or conduct other simple financial transactions by waving their phones in front of a sensor. No word on how soon yet. If you were a telecom geek in the late 90s, you’ll remember that this technology was one of the examples everyone always talked about in regard to wireless “convergence” (”convergence” was to the 90s what “Web 2.0″ is to today). The other example everyone always used was of your refrigerator calling the grocery store to order more milk when it sensed you were running low.

I’ll continue running out of milk on a regular basis for the foreseeable future, but maybe soon I’ll be able to run to the grocery store to restock without needing any cash on hand (the other thing I always run out of).