Back in March, Nokia invested $35 million into Obopay, a start-up that lets people transmit money to one another via text message, making it the single largest round of funding given to any such service this year. Apparently that move was designed to bolster Nokia’s own platform, as the mobile company announced a new mobile payment service called Nokia Money, that will allow consumers to send money, pay bills and recharge pre-paid phone cards–all using their cellphones. The system is set to come to Asia and Africa in 2010, though it remains unclear if and when we can expect to see it in the US. Speeding this release to market could pay huge dividends to Nokia in these countries considering the ubiquity of cellphones, whereas computers are far less commonplace.

This builds on the several key drivers of the overall market as consumer demand for ease of transaction, mobility, convenience and immediacy continues to grow. As more banks and retailers get on board it opens more doors for everything from traditional real world purchases to virtual buys.

In the US, the key component appears to be the widespread adoption of the smartphone and all of the functionality that comes along with it. Nokia enters tis emerging sector at a time when there are few competitors, but other players do exist – big names like Mastercard and Facebook and lesser-knowns like Boku and Zong – all trying to establish a universal platform. And this universality will be essential in determining who rises to the top, as developers look to seamlessly push their service across multiple platforms and handsets.

In the meantime, I’m curious to see how banks and retailers respond. Will they go for the appeal of reaching the largest audience and leverage every system or will they back a winner and negotiate lower transaction fees? This will be an interesting show to watch.

[image via whiteafrican]