US-based mobile payments company, Obopay, plans to launch this convenience-packed person-to-person mobile payment service in the country soon, a top company official said.

"We are in talks with more than 15 banks and are close to sealing deals with three banks. We hope to launch our service here within a month," Obopay Vice-President business development Balachandra Unni said.

Anyone having a mobile phone and bank account will be able to transfer money to another person at the other end provided that person also has a bank account and a mobile phone, Unni said.

For the service to gather momentum, much would depend on having lower transaction costs and Unni said, "We are working on it. However, it has to be minimal and less than the normal transaction costs to make the bank-account link model successful."

The aim is to make the bank-account link model into a full-fledged ATM, where people can undertake all transactions conveniently from their respective places.

"If there is more usage of the model, operational costs will definitely come down," he added.

"People residing in metros can easily send money to their native places even in rural areas through this highly convenient model and at a lesser cost. All one needs to do is go to the nearest bank branch and collect the money," Unni said.

The service would be of immense benefit to the retail sector as it would enable customers to make direct payments from account to account with adequate safeguards, Unni said.

"In credit and debit card transactions, there are some security concerns. But the bank account link-model has less security concerns since it is a direct transaction from one account to another," he said.