Vodafone's product — M-Pesa — introduced in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana in association with ICICI Bank in April has gained considerable ground and it will make further inroads into the two States, according to Mandeep Singh Bhatia, business head of Vodafone in-charge of the two states.
Speaking about the product here on Thursday, he said it would enable a customer to deposit and withdraw cash from designated outlets, transfer money to any mobile phone in the country and remit money to any bank account. It can also be used for recharging any prepaid mobile phone and to pay postpaid mobile bills and for paying utility bills.
Vodafone has appointed 3,826 agents in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana and 64,000 in the country. "There are at present 232 ICICI branches in AP and Telangana and we can appoint agents with 30 km radius of each branch. We are serving the rural areas as well. It is like taking an ATM to each village," he said, adding that 1.5 lakh customers were added every month for the service.
Bhatia said more agents would be appointed in the two states to take the service to remote areas as well. He said tie-up with other banks may also be considered in future.
He said M-Pesa was popular in Kenya and in India also it was a very good tool for achieving financial inclusion. In effect, Vodafone would be the business correspondent for the banks and it would appoint agents to take banking to remote villages.