Mobile Wallets, which are electronic accounts, are based on NFC (near-field communication) technology and are the current and modern trends in India. Mobile wallets, which can be easily maintained on cell phones, have completely changed the way people make payments. The consumers can use their mobile phones to pay for various types of services rather than making payments in cash or by cheque and credit cards.
As the carrier charges were high, Java-enabled and internet-based phones were rarely used and the utilisation was only limited to SMS and calling options before the arrival of smartphones. Current growth of the International Mobile Wallet market has been very much fascinating and challenging.
According to TechNavio’s analysts, the Indian Mobile Wallet market will grow at a CAGR of 140.87 percent from 2013 to 2018. India is a developing market for mobile payments and offers a tremendous opportunity for non cash based payments. The easiest and effective way of tapping the Indian consumer base is via mobile phones.
Various e–commerce and telecommunication companies have started their digital wallet services for the benefits of the consumers. . The only thing a consumer has to do is to preload money and then it can be used for services or transfer to other accounts. Paytm, Citrus, Oxigen, Freecharge, Mobikwik, Airtel Money, Vodafone M – Pesa etc are some example of the mobile wallets.
The service providers for the Mobile Wallets mainly target the young tech-savvy people who have bank accounts and those who do not have any bank account at all.
According to Udit Sharma, Vice President of Oxigen, as told to iamwire, “Users can be classified into four categories. First category is of people who have credit/debit cards and are at ease using that mode of payment. Second category people are those who have cards but still prefer using COD. Third category is people who do not have cards, so they have to use COD. And the fourth category is of people who want to use COD but merchants do not deliver products to their pin codes. Mobile wallets address issues of all four categories of people. It caters to users convenience over using cards. Availability of a person to make COD is mandatory, however with the wallet this problem also gets solved. It a tough pull for the industry to get all COD users to mobile wallet but ultimately it holds immense scope.”
Benefits for the Consumers
• The main benefits are convenience and speed while doing transactions.
• Making payments becomes very convenient and easy when you are on the go. It is not only secure but also extremely flexible.
• People who do not carry their debit or credit cards can go to their nearest recharge kiosks and load their wallets against cash.
• This new trend of payment has easy accessibility which makes the choice very reasonable and genuine.
• Mobile Wallets do not charge money on every transaction like banks.
• In this mode of payment the consumers remains hassle free as they do not have to enter card details and pin number for each and every transaction.
New RBI Norms
To make the online payment more simple and easy, the Reserve Bank of India has initiated one- step authentication process. This will definitely have an impact on the fast growing mobile wallet industry as the debit and credit cards will provide same facilities as the m – wallets. This will take away the benefits and dominance of the m – wallets.
Presently two – authentication process is required for online transactions where the user has to give card details and for authentication one – time password (OTP) or 3D secure pin is provided.
How does Advertising Help
Advertising plays a very significant and vital role in providing high visibility, faster brand recalling and gaining customer trust. According to Suresh Sethi, as per adageinidia story “Our very first campaign announced the launch Vodafone M-Pesa in India. The overall objective of the campaign was to position M-Pesa as a fast, safe and easy way of transferring money. We received an overwhelming response to this campaign”.
But there is a big question mark on whether these advertisements are making it more metro city trend. But Sethi says, “Today, we have 90,000 outlets or banking correspondents, 60% of which are in rural India, and all of them have the ability to cash out. The Vodafone M-Pesa customer education campaign has been rolled-out in different markets in three phases – Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, Delhi, Kerala, Kolkata, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, UPE, UPW, M&G & Mumbai. ”
Soma Sundaram, CEO and Founder, iKaaz Software, says as per adageindia story, “Though the acceptability rate is faster in metro cities but the tier 2 and tier 3 cities are the potential market for mobile payments. With services dedicated towards small merchants and sellers, the consumers in tier 2 and tier 3 cities are slowly adapting to the new technology.”
Few Mobile Wallet Apps in India
• Paytm is used for prepaid online mobile recharges, data card recharge, DTH recharge, mobile postpaid, landlines, utility bills and even online shopping. It is used for almost all the telecom companies like Airtel, Vodafone, Idea, Reliance, MTNL and others. It also does DTH recharges for Airtel DTH, Dish TV, Videocon D2H, Tata Sky and other operators also. It is absolutely free and the users can shop from innumerable number of products across hundreds of categories. It is used for data card recharges for BSNL, Tata Photon Plus, Reliance Net Connect and more.
• Oxigen Wallet is India’s first non bank wallet which has tied up with NPCI for Instant Money Transfer. It transfers 365 day, 24X7 from mobile anytime anywhere. This wallet can be used for mobiles, DTH recharges and post paid payments for most of the telecom companies and DTH service providers, buying movie tickets, flowers, ordering pizza, sharing bills and rent with friends, online shopping and much more. It can transfer money to any mobile number on any network or to any bank account all over India by using IMPS Or NEFT transfer to all main banks like SBI, HDFC, Citi Bank, ICICI Bank, Axis Bank etc.
• YPAYCASH is another most trusted and secure app for Mobile Recharge, DTH, Post Paid Mobile Bills, Utility bills like gas, electricity (34 electric distribution companies) and also Insurance for 20 insurance companies which include LIC. It can transact at 1000+ e – commerce portals. It can make payments at retail shops which are accepted in more than 6000 merchants in South India.
Though mobile wallet has not penetrated 100% till now, it will play a very major and important role in our daily life. As people are getting more and more aware of this new concept, the adoption of mobile wallet is also increasing. Ajit Narayan of Mobikwik, Social Media Head told iamwire, “Over the last financial year, MobiKwik’s user base has grown by close to 300% and has reached over 15 million now. One has to realise that this is a new technology and hence will have a ‘warming up’ period. However, the pace will be much faster and we are already witnessing some disruptive growth.” People are depending more on digital lifestyle now and mobile wallets make things more suitable and trouble free.
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