US social communication services developer CircleUp has launched an internet payments service dubbed SmartPay.

The service is aimed at sports teams, class parents, faith based groups, endurance sports clubs and membership organisations and allows members of such teams and groups to collect money via credit or debit cards for expenses including coach and teacher's gifts, team banners, group photos, event t-shirts, group transportation or group parties. Requests and payments are recorded automatically online and participants are able to monitor payments, as they receive an email confirming the payments which have been sent and received. Payees will be charged a convenience fee of USD 0.99 plus 6.9 percent of the payment.

SmartPay uses Amazon Simple Pay provided by Amazon Payments as a payment method. Amazon Simple Pay is a set of payment-only products which enable customers to use payment information from their Amazon accounts as a payment method on a certain website. SmartPay runs on the SmartMessage platform, a messaging service providing messaging integration for membership applications, content management systems and destination websites.

CircleUp provides email and instant messaging for information gathering, collaboration and decision making in online and offline groups and communities.