TORONTO, CANADA: Mobile banking and mobile payments are just two kinds of  financial applications coming on cell phones. Western Union has now unveiled mobile money transfers in Canada–a move indicating that despite security worries, mobile financial transactions are going to be common in developed economies.

Western Union and EnStream want to change the paradigm, maybe even democratize the way money is sent and received, a company press release said.

EnStream, creators of the Zoompass Mobile Wallet, is a mobile-commerce joint venture company owned by Canadian wireless service providers Bell Canada, Rogers Communications, and TELUS Corp. With Zoompass, people in Canada are able to send, receive, and request digital currency within that country using their cell phones.

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“Until now, our alliances have been with mobile operators in developing countries. This is our first strategic alliance with a mobile operator consortium in a country where 96 per cent of the population has a bank account,” Brian Fox, Western Union’s Senior Vice President and General Manager for Canada, said in a release.

“Together we are changing the way money moves around the globe. International remittances are a logical extension of the Zoompass functionality, and they build on our vision to give every Canadian mobile subscriber the ability to send money to anyone, anywhere in the world,” Robin Dua, President of EnStream LP, also said. 

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