Alltel Wireless, which is owned by Atlantic Tele-Networks, Inc. (ATNI), has signed a deal with mobile bill payment start-up, Check Inc. Alltel is expected to become part of AT&T Inc. (T) in the second half of 2013.
Apple Inc.’s (AAPL) iPhone and Google Inc.’s (GOOG) Android device users pay their bills using Check’s application, Bills & Money. The application will allow 600,000 Alltel customers to pay bill via their smartphones. Alltel customers can download the app from Alltel App shop, Google Play Store, and the iTunes App Store.
Alltel will encourage customers to download Check’s program, which is available free of cost. Alltel customers will be able to gather bill details, track their recurring bills and make schedule payments using Check’s app.
In Jan 2013, the U.S. telecom giant, AT&T Inc. agreed to buy the remaining portion of Alltel’s wireless operations from Atlantic Tele-Networks, Inc. for a cash consideration of about $780 million.
Unprecedented adoption of smartphones has paved the way for mobile commerce, which in turn has led to the formation of various types of start-ups looking to simplify the mobile payment process. Check Inc. is one such start-up, which already has 8 million registered members and handles almost $1.5 million worth of bill payments per day.
Recognizing the significance of mobile commerce, Alltel added Check to provide this value added service to its customers. Meanwhile, post the Alltel acquisition by AT&T, Check will be added to the latter’s mobile payment solution portfolio, which already has Zong and Boku as its partners.
Both AT&T and Atlantic Tele-Networks currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).
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