Mobile Phone Maker Nokia on Wednesday announced the launch of a financial service called Nokia money for consumers, let us pay the bills and merchants to send money to friends and family using their cell phones.

Nokia believes that the service will help people in the U.S. and emerging markets that are not serviced by banks or other traditional financial outlets.

“In many countries, ownership of mobile phones is much higher than using a bank account, suggesting that many users of mobile phones have very limited or no access to basic financial services,” said Mary McDowell, senior development director of Nokia.

The new service can find a special niche in the U.S., which lags behind countries such as Japan’s ability to pay for the items on the fly using a mobile phone.

“Rural consumers will be particularly useful in remittances, and for urban consumers is used for interactive services, we help services such as paying utility bills, purchase of railway and movie tickets, top-UPS, for all their mobile phones,” said Teppo Paavola, Nokia VP, head of corporate business development.

Nokia money will be united with Obopay, a mobile payment provider, which allows its customers to pay for items through their mobile phones. Nokia has invested heavily in Obopay earlier this year.

Nokia says the service is designed to work with networks and various financial institutions. At the end consumer, it also can work with any mobile phone, not just Nokia models.

The new service is installed on their first demo on the Nokia World Cup in Germany next week. Gradual deployment of the Nokia money for selected markets will shoot early next year.

Nokia follows other financial companies trying to connect to the mobile market. For example, USAA Bank has recently updated its iPhone App Deposit checks to customers through their phones. MyMoneyManager Sprint allows consumers to bank and pay bills via their mobile phones.

The popularity of mobile banking naturally expressed concern about the security and confidentiality. But some experts questioned the technology feel safe, at least for some time.