Financial behemoth Citi has raised the stakes in the increasingly popular mobile banking field with the launch of Mobile Money Ventures.

The mobile phone platform, in conjunction with equal joint venture partner SK Telecom, will go beyond simple balance management and payment services. Both firms will beta test Mobile Money Ventures with Citi customers in select markets worldwide in the second half of the year.

"For consumers, the joint venture company will develop a comprehensive mobile phone platform that encompasses all key mobile banking value propositions and links them together on the phone and online," said Steve Kietz, executive vice president of growth ventures and innovation for mobile ventures at Citi, San Francisco.

"The aspects of the value propositions are under development," he said. "New features for consumers will include mobile phone 'tap' based payments using NFC technology, budget planning and tracking, expense management and location-based advertisements and discounts."

Mobile Money Ventures will launch in the United States and other Asian countries, but not South Korea.

Citi is one of the largest financial services firms with 200 million customer accounts in more than 100 countries. The company's brand names include Citibank, CitiFinancial, Primerica, Smith Barney, Banamex and Nikko.

This mobile banking offering targets Citi customers ages 21-49 with mobile phone and retail bank relationships.

According to Mr. Kietz, the merchant strategy is yet to be determined. But the company is working closely with partners such as Vivotech.

Citi claims that there is no single service in the market that currently offers consumers the banking, payments and budgeting tools that Mobile Money will provide.

SK Telecom is the leading wireless carrier in South Korea, where it has more than 22 million subscribers taking up more than 50 percent of the total market.

Unlike the U.S., where mobile banking is provided selectively depending on the carriers or banks, in South Korea SK Telecom offers a full-package mobile banking service with all features of mobile banking.

SK Telecom first started offering mobile banking services in South Korea in 2003 with the launch of the Moneta service. These services have been upgraded and are now offered through a new brand named called M Bank service using an IC chip system.

With the introduction of WCDMA network, SK Telecom uses USIM cards to provide various financial services such as mobile transportation card service, mobile credit card service, mobile membership card service -- for use in stores with membership cards -- and mobile stock trading service.

"With the experience gained through our domestic mobile banking business and also through our joint partnership with Citi, we will target other markets around the world where we can export our technology and solutions for mobile banking," said Lauren H. Kim, spokeswoman at SK Telecom, Seoul, South Korea.