Firethorn, Verizon Work to Introduce Mobile Banking, Payments Solution

Functioning as a federation to financial institutions and wireless carriers, Firethorn assembles, connects and manages the complex web of partners, network standards, and platform interfaces that make mobile banking and payments possible. To encourage adoption, Firethorn is working with all federation partners to launch joint marketing efforts and embed the Firethorn application which will enable and encourage consumer adoption.

"The mobile banking and payments industry took a giant step forward today, as Verizon Wireless agreed to join the Firethorn federation," said Firethorn Chairman and CEO Tripp Rackley. "We welcome and look forward to working with them to deliver the control and convenience of mobile banking and payments to every consumer."

The Firethorn solution is a single, secure application, authorized by the wireless carrier and controlled by the consumer. The application, which is designed to work for any institution on virtually any mobile device, enables comprehensive banking and payments capabilities.

Through the Firethorn solution, consumers can view account balances and history, transfer funds, receive and pay bills, and quickly clear contents if their mobile device is ever lost or stolen. Consumers can perform functions on any supported wireless handset, even when their device is offline.