Just read an article in The Economic Times about money transactions being tested by aam-junta through mobile phones.
The article however, does not mention details about payment gateways and what are the participating operators and banks doing for trust issues and security concerns.
If the scenario mentioned below is true, then this could be the next revolution for the great Indian masses.
Some excerpts-
“A pilot phase has already been successful between HDFC and Bharti Airtel in West Delhi. Chemist shops, general stores, residents, NGOs, anybody can register to become an authorized outlet. ET spent a day with one such outlet – Gupta Medicals doubling as an authorized mobile banking outlet in West Delhi to find out how the system works.
A customer (Kamla) comes to the shop in immediate need of Rs 200. She comes to the outlet and asks for withdrawal from her mobile bank account. Sumit Gupta, the outlet owner SMSes from Kamla’s mobile phone the following code – “*543*123*(the outlet’s mobile number)*200*Kamla’s 10-digit Pin code#”. He sends the SMS to 54321. Instantly, Rs 200 get deposited into the outlet’s account withdrawn from Kamla’s HDFC account. Mr Gupta hands over Rs 200 to Kamla with which she goes and buys fresh flowers for garlands. The transaction takes less than five minutes.
In order to confirm the transaction, HDFC bank sends an SMS to Kamla’s phone: – “Balance in your HDFC account as of 3/7/2008 is INR 900.” Kamla’s account is a no frills account. To graduate to a savings bank account she will have to submit additional documents.
With Mobile Money Transfer (MMT), the user can transfer funds to a mobile number, that is registered with mChek with a valid VISA card or to any 16digit VISA card number in the country. About Rs 20 is charged for a card-to-card transfer.
The SMS receipt can also be treated as a legal document under the new IT Act. Overall, while operators seem gung-ho on the service, it remains to be seen how much popularity mobile banking will find amongst India’s 270 million odd mobile subscribers and whether it will encourage 90% of the population which uses no bank to open a bank account.”
You can also read the full article.
Filed under: Copy+Paste, Indian
