When Google announced Google Wallet, its mobile payment service, it created ripples all over the world. And when there was news about Google releasing an update for Android with Google Wallet, I was one of those eagerly awaiting it. Then I realised the update was not for India.

The only consolation I had was that I was already using mobile payments right here. I have the NG Pay and Atom apps installed in my Nexus S. I pay utility services, buy products, recharge my mobile or DTH connections or get train or movie tickets through the two apps.

Another good service is Paymate. Unlike the services mentioned above, I have to ‘load' the money to my Paymate account or ‘buy' vouchers and then use my mobile to make payments.

Airtel Money is a service that allows you to pay bills and buy movie tickets apart from recharging prepaid mobiles and DTH connections. The additional advantage with Airtel Money is that you can also make payments in shops that have tied up with Airtel Money.

But the biggest surprise for online payments comes from our humble Post Office! The postal department, often derided for sloppy service, has a service called Beam that is similar to Airtel Money. Once you register with Beam, you can load money into your Beam account through post offices or online and use it to book train tickets, recharge your phone and DTH accounts, and make utility bill payments. The service has just been launched and will soon include payments for online shopping or at physical stores. I was sceptical about Beam initially, but was pleasantly surprised to find that the registration process was easy and the service efficient. Now my respect for the humble post office has gone up several notches!

So, as Google takes its own sweet time to bring Google Wallet to India, I am glad that I have my desi wallet services to fall back upon.

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