Xipwire is a mobile payment

Mobile Payment

Mobile financial services, also referred to as mobile money, mobile payment, mobile banking, mobile money transfer and mobile wallet generally refer to payment services operated under financial regulation and performed from or via a mobile device....

 service provider allowing payments and money

Money

Money is any object or record that is generally accepted as payment for goods and services and repayment of debts in a given country or socio-economic context. The main functions of money are distinguished as: a medium of exchange; a unit of account; a store of value; and, occasionally in the past,...

 transfers to be made with mobile devices using simple text messages

Text messaging

Text messaging, or texting, refers to the exchange of brief written text messages between fixed-line phone or mobile phone and fixed or portable devices over a network...

. Mobile money transfers serve as electronic alternatives to traditional paper methods such as checks and money order

Money order

A money order is a payment order for a pre-specified amount of money. Because it is required that the funds be prepaid for the amount shown on it, it is a more trusted method of payment than a cheque.-History of money orders:...

s.

A Xipwire account can be funded with an electronic debit from a bank account

Bank account

A Bank account is a financial account recording the financial transactions between the customer and the bank and the resulting financial position of the customer with the bank .-Account types:...

 or by a credit card

Credit card

A credit card is a small plastic card issued to users as a system of payment. It allows its holder to buy goods and services based on the holder's promise to pay for these goods and services...

. The mobile-to-mobile service allows consumers and merchants to send and receive money through text messages, protected by a PIN

Personal identification number

A personal identification number is a secret numeric password shared between a user and a system that can be used to authenticate the user to the system. Typically, the user is required to provide a non-confidential user identifier or token and a confidential PIN to gain access to the system...

. Xipwire is free for users in 2010 but will start charging a flat 10 cent fee per transaction in 2011. Businesses will be charged one percent of each transaction amount in 2011, compared to the 2 to 2.5 percent credit charged for card fee transactions.

The fee does not apply to donations to FOSS

Foss

Foss may refer toPeople*Foss , people with the last name Foss*Foss Shanahan , New Zealand diplomat*Foss Westcott , English bishop...

 projects. On 7 December 2010 Xipwire announced it will also be accepting donations on behalf of the website WikiLeaks

Wikileaks

WikiLeaks is an international self-described not-for-profit organisation that publishes submissions of private, secret, and classified media from anonymous news sources, news leaks, and whistleblowers. Its website, launched in 2006 under The Sunshine Press organisation, claimed a database of more...

free of charge.