Tax preparation and financial services company H&R Block has backed mobile payments company Wipit with an undisclosed investment.
H&R Block said the strategic partnership "was aligned with its focus on innovation and extending value-added financial services to clients".
Clients of the H&R Block Emerald Prepaid MasterCard® will be offered a "virtual wallet" from their smartphones.
Wipit is targeting "underbanked" consumers, which also represent "a large segment" of H&R Block’s client base.
In late 2011, Wipit signed an agreement with Euronet Worldwide, a Nasdaq-listed electronic payments company, which allows companies to charge up their Wipit phones from a Euronet-enable retail location.
Wipit was launched in March last year.