Paymate’s Mobile Payment Service to Democratize Mobile Payment in India

National payments corporation of India (NPCI), an instituion  set up by RBI , had launched Inter Bank Mobile payment service (IMPS) in November, 2010. This service empowers  customers  by enabling  instant interbank  electronic fund   transfer through mobile phone. This service is being offered by close to 20 banks in India but still the adoption rate is very .The reason for low adoption is that the system is custom made for smartphones .The service is also available via SMS but the their is limit in transaction value. Another impediment is low awareness of the service.

Paymate, a mumbai based wireless transaction platform provider, has come up with a mobile payment platform which democratizes mobile payment system has the potential for mass adoption. Paymate’s hybrid SMS & IVR based mobile payment platform alongwith its BREW and J2ME application suite offers simplicity and thus can be used with a very basic phone too.

Paymate’s IMPS platform is now powering the Inter Bank Mobile Payment Service (IMPS) of three leading banks in the country. Currently live at Syndicate Bank, Lakshmi Vilas Bank and South Indian Bank, PayMate’s application is a shot in the arm to Inter Bank Mobile Payment Services in the country.

How it works on basic mobile handsets:

The SMS & IVR based hybrid system of Paymate, works like this. The registered customer selects paymate option and enters his mobile number . He receives an IVR call immediately asking for authorization which can be done by keying in 4 digit pin code. The account gets debited immediately. The similar procedure works both in online and offline payment environment. Apart from online and retail payments, the customers can pay for utilities and transfer the funds between  bank accounts.

Currently, the Reserve Bank of India has allowed 39 banks to launch mobile banking services and recently raised the limit for the amount which can be paid through mobile phones to Rs 50,000. As per the latest report released by Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), India has 538.38 million urban subscribers while 267.74 million rural subscribers. With just 19-20% of urban subscribers using smartphones, there is an urgent need to reach out to other subscribers and enable them to use IMPS and PayMate’s application will put IMPS within the reach of millions.