Mobile chip maker Qualcomm on Wednesday said is has agreed to acquire Firethorn Holdings, a mobile banking startup, for $210 million in cash.

The purchase of Atlanta-based Firethorn gives Qualcomm a solid presence in the promising but slow-moving United States mobile banking market, and it is also a departure from Qualcomm's strategy of acquiring companies that drive chip sales.

"Qualcomm most likely is hoping to use its influence with the carriers to establish security and other standards for mobile banking and then bake it all into silicon," said Joe Nordgaard, director of wireless consulting firm Spectral Advantage.

The San Diego, California, chip maker could also be hearing the heavy footsteps of Nokia, which has shown interest in mobile banking as a means of broadening its uncomfortably tight focus on the ultra-competitive and increasingly difficult handset business.

Firethorn has established a number of relationships with banking institutions and a partnership with AT&T. On Tuesday AT&T announced a mobile banking application based on Firethorn's technology for its customers who bank with Wachovia and SunTrust Banks.

But Firethorn could benefit immensely from Qualcomm's close relationships with major CDMA carriers such as Verizon Wireless, Sprint Nextel, and Alltel.

And Qualcomm's size and leverage could generate more confidence among large banks that seem skittish about adopting mobile banking, due to concerns about security and the software that connects the banks to the mobile network, Mr. Nordgaard said.

Qualcomm supports a number of mobile banking and mobile commerce (mCommerce) applications with carriers such as China Unicom and specialists such as Brazil's EverSystems.

But the U.S. mobile banking industry and the related mCommerce market, which involves using cell phones to pay for purchases or to redeem coupons, have emerged at a snail's pace in the United States. 

Qualcomm expects to complete the acquisition in 30 days.