Mobile money solutions provider Monitise has partnered with near field communication (NFC) software developer ViVOtech to deliver mobile phone payments services to banks across the United States.

Thanks to this partnership, customers of participating banks can now turn their handset into a mobile wallet -- linked to registered bank accounts, credit and debit cards -- and purchase items using contactless payments at merchants with NFC capabilities.

Moreover, service users will be able to transfer money from their registered accounts to other bank accounts, perhaps in response to an overdraft alert or to friends and family. The service is also expected to deliver retail coupons and discounts directly to the user on their mobile phone.

Companies’ officials said that the partnership offers banks and other financial institutions a secure mobile financial management and purchasing service which they can deliver to their customers.

The partnership with ViVOtech is part of Monitise’s program to broaden its range of contactless payments capabilities worldwide. Lisa Stanton, executive director of global alliances at Monitise, said that Monitise has partnered with ViVOtech to deliver the next generation of fast, secure contactless payments to many financial institution clients in the U.S.

“Combining the power of ViVOtech’s OTA software with our Mobile Money technology platform will ensure that we continue to deliver what the banks and their customers are looking for,” Stanton said.

Through the combination of ViVOtech’s over-the-air (OTA) software and Monitise’s Mobile Money technology, the NFC service is expected to be delivered.

With ViVOtech’s software, data, such as credit, debit or prepaid card credentials, can be remotely loaded onto a secure chip. Company officials said that this can be in an NFC phone, a SIM card or a chip contained within a microSD card that can be inserted into the majority of existing smartphones such as BlackBerry, Android, Nokia (News - Alert), as well as in various iPhone cases.

Monitise will be using ViVOtech’s over-the-air provisioning technology for NFC mobile handsets, said Michael Mullagh (News - Alert), CEO at ViVOtech, adding that with this initiative, Monitise will help to accelerate the development of NFC-enabled smartphones, allowing banks to deliver enhanced shopping and payment experiences to cardholders using their existing mobiles as well as the new breed of smartphones.

Last month, Monitise agreed to form a joint venture to setup Mobile Money Network with Best Buy (News - Alert) Europe Distributions Limited and Charles Dunstone to deliver mobile marketing and payments network.