Portland, Ore.-based Tyfone has raised $5 million in a second round of funding to support its mobile banking and payment solutions as the space heats up. Tyfone said the money will be used for producing its microSD cards that are used for contactless mobile payments, coupons and other commonly used loyalty programs. New investors include HDFC Holdings, Polaris Software Lab and an unnamed strategic manufacturing partner. Ojas Venture Partners also participated.
The six-year-old company has taken a number of large steps in the past year, including patenting some of its technology, bringing its technology to market through a partner and signing deals with financial institutions and launching its first banking customers.
Mobile banking is considered a potential area for growth among both incumbents in the space, like Visa and Mastercard, but also a slew of startups that are determined to make it easy to pay for everything from virtual goods to physical goods. The cellphone seems like the next logical step for many as the next form of payment, given that many people do not leave the house without it, and that many people are more likely to own a phone than a credit card.

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