LONDON -(Dow Jones)- Carphone Warehouse Group (CPW.LN) Friday said it will launch a prepay card with partners Monitise (MONI.LN) and Metavante Technologies (MV) that can be used to shop in millions of outlets worldwide.

Using a secure application stored on a mobile handset, users will be able to top up their card directly from their bank account, the companies said in a joint release.

Users will be able to check the balance on the card and view recent transactions, and can't exceed the amount of credit they have on the card, the companies said.

"Our customers look to us to help them get more from their mobile phone or online experience," said Andrew Harrison, Carphone Warehouse U.K. chief executive.

"In the U.S. we already process over 80 million payment cards for consumers through a whole range of distribution partners," said Frank Martire, president and CEO of Metavante Corporation. "Consumers tend to use them to budget and manage their day to day spending."

Metavante Technologies Ltd., the parent company of Metavante Corporation, is a leading European debit and prepaid card payments processor. Metavante Corporation delivers banking and payments technologies to over 8,000 financial services firms and businesses worldwide.

The new prepay service is part of a strategy to help retain the mobile phone customer base by including more interactive and consumer friendly services, a Carphone Warehouse spokesman said. The scheme will be rolled out from August with a major credit card company, he said, and payment will be accepted wherever that card is valid. He declined to name the credit card company.

Some analysts questioned the relevance of the prepay card to the U.K. market, seeing it as more targeted to consumers without bank accounts in emerging markets or a niche youth demographic.

However, Monitise, the mobile banking and technology solutions provider, expects the new system to become popular with medium-to-small enterprises with its ability to simplify audit trials through cashless expense transactions, said Ben Evetts, the firm's head of corporate communications.

Carphone Warehouse Thursday said it is forming a GBP1.1 billion retail joint venture with U.S. partner Best Buy Co. (BBY).

Carphone Warehouse said it will put its European and U.S. retail business, which operates from more than 2,400 stores, into the joint venture, in return for a cash payment of GBP1.1 billion from Best Buy.

The two companies said the deal aims to accelerate the development of Carphone Warehouse's retail business and to introduce Best Buy stores across Europe.

Analysts said the deal is positive but earnings dilutive in the short term, which pushed Carphone Warehouse's shares lower Thursday. The shares resumed their fall in Friday's trading amid continuing concerns over cash conversion and a disparity between investment levels, capitalization policy and net debt.

At 1255 GMT Friday, Carphone Warehouse shares were down 21 pence, or 7.2% lower, at 269 pence, while the FTSE 100 was down nearly 1.5%.

Company Web site: www.carphonewarehouse.com

-By Elliott Ball, Dow Jones Newswires; 44-20-7842-9314; elliott.ball@ dowjones.com

(Molly Neal contributed to this story)

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  05-09-08 0927ET
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