Vodafone India has signed an agreement with ICICI Bank to launch a mobile payment service, joining other telecom firms which have already launched such services.
The service, m-pesa, will be launched in Kolkata, West Bengal, Bihar and Jharkhand, and will then be rolled out to other parts of the country in phases.
Deposits, payments
The service will enable customers to deposit cash and transfer money to any mobile phone in India, and withdraw cash from designated outlets, the companies said in two separate releases.
The service also enables mobile recharge, recharge for direct-to-home services, utility bill payments and money transfer to any bank account in India and payments at shops.
However, the details of how consumers can adopt ‘m-pesa’ were not revealed. These will be announced later, during the launch.
“Vodafone is the world’s largest and leading provider of mobile payment services. Vodafone ‘m-pesa’ is offering millions of people basic financial services, beyond the reach of traditional banking,” Vodafone India Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer Marten Pieters said.
“This offering has been customised to serve the Indian customer in compliance with all applicable regulatory requirements,” he added.
Mobile wallet
It will comprise a mobile money account with ICICI Bank, the country’s largest private sector bank, and a mobile wallet that would be issued by Mobile Commerce Solutions Ltd (MCSL). MCSL is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Vodafone India.
“This will help us reach out to segments that currently do not have access to banking services, towards our objective of achieving greater financial inclusion,” ICICI Bank Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer Chanda Kochhar said.