Remember last month when we learned that T-Mobile stores would stop reloading T-Mo Visa Prepaid Cards on April 11? At the time, T-Mobile said that it’d have more Mobile Money news in April, and now that news has been revealed.
T-Mobile has confirmed that it’s ending its Mobile Money service. A T-Mo spokesperson explained the move to FierceWireless, saying that more prepaid banking services have come to market in the two years since Mobile Money’s launch. The spokesperson did say that it’ll continue to keep an eye on “the mobile-first financial services industry” and that it does support Android Pay, Apple Pay, and Samsung Pay.
Mobile Money will be shut down on July 27, and T-Mobile is telling users that they should spend any remaining balance before that date. One month before the end date, on June 27, users will no longer be able to reload their accounts or use the Mobile Money apps. Mobile Money users are also being told to remove any recurring payments or direct deposits attached to their Mobile Money accounts by June 27.
Mobile Money launched in January 2014 as a way to help consumers avoid ATM, overdraft, and monthly maintenance fees that are typically associated with banking services. With Mobile Money, users had a Visa Prepaid Card that could be reloaded and used to take out cash at ATMs and pay for goods and services like a regular bank card. The Mobile Money apps would let users manage their card, find ATMs, and more.
We haven’t really heard much about Mobile Money since its debut in 2014, and while I’m sure that there are people out there using the service, it doesn’t appear that it ever gained a great deal of traction with consumers. The good news is that at least we’ve gotten plenty of notice about the program’s shutdown, so anyone that is using Mobile Money now has time to shift their assets to another service.
Source: FierceWireless