Bharti Airtel announced the launch of Airtel Money – the first mobile wallet service by a telecom operator in the country.
Aimed at offering customers with an efficient alternative to cash transactions, Airtel Money will provide millions of Airtel customers across the country with a convenient and secure way of making payments through the ubiquitous mobile platform.
Launched in Gurgaon
The service has been launched in Gurgaon and will soon be launched across several other key cities in India in a phased manner. This comes after Bharti Airtel was granted the licence to use the ‘Semi-Closed Wallet' by the Reserve Bank of India.
In Gurgaon, Airtel has already established partnerships with several merchants (including coffee shops, restaurants etc) to accept payments via Airtel Money – which will gradually be scaled up to over 3,000 merchants across the city. Customers will also be able to avail themselves of Airtel Money exclusive discounts and attractive offers that will be available at various merchant outlets in the market – and save money as they shop.
KYC process
To activate the mobile money account subscribers have to first go through a Know-Your-Customer (KYC) process.
Once this is done the subscriber's SIM card will be upgraded with Airtel Money application loaded on it.
Subscribers will then be able to load cash into the Airtel Money account by visiting the nearest retail outlet and buy stuff from merchants who have partnered with Airtel.