ProPaym which provides merchant services, end-to-end payment security, credit card processing, and electronic payment services, has introduced its new social mobile payment (m-payment) platform, provisionally named Zumogo,  during the 2011 Sundance Film Festival.

Zumogo is a mobile payment application that facilitates payments and bi-directional communication between merchants and their consumers, allowing customers and businesses to connect. With Zumogo (pronounced “Zoo-MOE-Go”), businesses can market to new and existing customers and improve operating efficiencies, while customers can communicate with and make payments to businesses — all through a smartphone.

“The mobile payment movement is definitely in full gear and ProPay is excited to be at the forefront,” said Chris Mark, Executive Vice President of Emerging Markets at ProPay. “Not only does Zumogo allow consumers to connect with and pay merchants in an entirely new way, it does so in a manner that protects the sensitive payment data. Zumogo combines data security with the flexibility of mobile payment options, and the connectedness of social media, giving merchants and consumers the best aspects of each.”

The application provides benefits to both consumers and businesses. Consumers no longer need to carry all of their payment cards with them to make a payment. They can locate nearby Zumogo merchants, and even announce themselves to the merchant and ask questions via Zumogo’s chat function. Businesses can more efficiently service their customers while developing a deeper relationship with them. In addition, Zumogo can enable businesses to expedite the payment and checkout processes, allowing them to more efficiently serve their customers.

Zumogo leverages ProPay’s PCI DSS-compliant ProtectPay system, which combines end to end encryption and tokenization to secure payment data, and no sensitive data is exchanged between the merchant and the consumer.

According to Gary Goodrich, ProPay’s Chief Executive Officer, “Our new social m-payment platform demonstrates our commitment to leading the industry in both innovation and in the protection of consumer data. The addition of this mobile payment application to our existing product suite is a natural evolution of our secure payment services, and we’re excited to introduce it to our merchants.”

Zumogo is currently available on the Android Market and the iPhone App Store, and  will be available for the Windows Phone 7 platform by the end of the first quarter 2011.

Source: MarketWire