MasterCard has announced that its MoneySend service will go live later this month in the U.S., allowing customers to send and receive funds by text messages, the mobile browser, mobile apps, or over the internet from a PC. It will initially only work with a prepaid Mastercard from Bancorp, but the company says it plans to get other issuers on board. MasterCard said Obopay, which is a Redwood City, Calif.-based company focused on money transfers over mobile, is providing the technology. Release.

The service is already available in 17 other countries, including Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, India, and the Philippines. MasterCard also has other mobile payment services in the U.S., such as an RFID effort with Blaze.

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