Anam Mobile unveiled a service that allow global money transfers via SMS for North American wireless users last April.

This service allows users to send money via SMS by simply type a text message starting with the phrase “#cash” followed by the amount they wish to send.

According to the company, after a simple, but highly secure, verification process the money is transferred and the recipient receives an SMS to inform them of that.

Anam has previously estimated that operators globally could increase revenues by at least €3.6bn by introducing this service

SMS Money Transfer allows consumers to send money to people in their contact list using a simple three-step procedure. Firstly the user writes an SMS that begins “#cash” followed by the amount they wish to send and selects the person they want to send it to from their address book. Then the system confirms the transaction and asks for the sender’s PIN. When the PIN is entered correctly the money is instantly debited from the sender’s bank account as a virtual ATM transaction and simultaneously credited to the bank account of the recipient.

The service could be used by parents to send emergency funds to their children at college. Similarly it could be used by migrant workers to send money back to relatives in their home countries. The service could even be set up to pay bills or invoices for work transactions.