Federal bank launches Mobile money transfer service

The service, which enables real time fund transfer via mobile, is now available with 12 banks. Allahabad bank will launch the service next month.

Federal Bank, a private sector bank, has launched the Interbank Mobile Payment Service (IMPS), a real-time fund transfer facility through mobile phone, in association with National Payment Corporation of India.

The new facility was launched by Dileep, Malayalam film actor in the presence of Shyam Srinivasan, managing director and chief executive officer of the bank.

Inter-bank Mobile Payment Service (IMPS) is operated by National Payment Corporation of India's (NPCI), which is the umbrella organisation for all retail payment systems in the country owned and operated by banks.

There are 12 other banks which offer this service including SBI, ICICI, Axis Bank, Kotak, Bank of India, HDFC, Lakhsmi Vilas bank, Union bank of India, Yes Bank, Corporation bank, Indian Bank, and Oriental bank of commerce. Allahabad bank is also in the process of starting this service.

At present, a majority of interbank mobile fund transfer transactions take place through the National Electronic Fund Transfer (NEFT) system. Under this, the transactions are processed and settled in batches during the working hours from 9am to 7pm, and not in real time.

IMPS scheme, allows customer to transfer funds instantaneously to any other bank account using mobile phone. The other account, however, needs to be IMPS registered as well. The service is offered without any restriction on timings.

The customer who wants to transfer funds or to receive funds has to register for mobile banking with the bank. Once registered, an MMID (Mobile Money Identifier) is generated. The MMID is a seven-digit number issued by the bank upon registration. Customer also has an option to register for receiving funds only.

The unique combination of mobile number and MMID is all that is required for the transaction to take place. The customer will simply need to enter the beneficiary's mobile number and MMID along with the amount to be transferred. Both the remitter and beneficiary will receive SMS confirmation of the transaction.

These transactions can be initiated by downloading the mobile banking application of customer's banks in his mobile or by sending an SMS in a predefined format. However using SMS only Rs 1000 can be sent everyday and there is a cap of Rs 5000 for a month. This cap is higher with the use of an application (downloaded on the phone), and allows transfer funds up to Rs 50,000 daily.

The service providers a unique preposition to bank and users, the banks gain as the service reduces the cost of fund transfer, customers benefit as the save on time. The service was launched in the last quarter of 2010.source

Mobile money transfer service wins award

VODAFONE's mobile transfer services including M-PAiSA in Fiji scooped the Mobile Money for the Unbanked award at this year's Global Mobile Awards in Barcelona, Spain.

M-PESA in Kenya, Tanzania and South Africa in association with M-PAiSA in Fiji, Afghanistan and India, and Vodafone Money Transfer out of Qatar came out tops at the event this week.

The awards are part of the annual Mobile World Congress which brings together players in the global telecom market and is organised by the Global System for Mobile Communications Association (GSMA).

The category topped by M-PESA and M-PAiSA recognised innovative, sustainable, pioneering mobile money services around the world that brought low-cost financial services, through mobile, within the reach of low income groups.

The award also recognised the mobile money service that has had the most significant impact on unbanked customers in developing markets over the last year.

"This year's entry, put together jointly with Vodafone, covered M-PAiSA in Fiji, M-PESA in Kenya, Tanzania, South Africa, M-Paisa in Afghanistan and India, and Vodafone Money Transfer in Qatar, bringing together the strengths and benefits of the service to the firm's customers across the group," a Vodafone statement said.

"The success story continues," the judges said in their citation.

"This solution is enhanced further with the addition of new features and territories.

"It is winning ground in a way seldom seen in the mobile industry and is a true and sustained success story."

The GSMA represents the interests of the worldwide mobile communications industry.

Spanning 219 countries, the GSMA united nearly 800 of the world's mobile operators, as well as more than 200 companies in the broader mobile ecosystem, including handset makers, software companies, equipment providers, internet companies, and media and entertainment organizations.

For M-PAiSA and Vodafone Fiji, this marks a second, in terms of such recognition, at an international level. M-PAiSA was short-listed as one of the five finalists at the Global Mobile Money Transfer awards in Dubai in November 2010.

"We have been confident of the prospects and range of possibilities with M-PAiSA," Vodafone Fiji M-PAiSA product manager Shailendra Prasad said.

"The recognition at the highest echelons is testament to the ingenuity and effectiveness of this service particularly for taking basic financial services to the unbanked. "With over 310,000 customers adopting this service in seven months it is an indication of how desperate people have been for the launch of such a service.

"Whilst there is still work to be done particularly in improving M-PAiSA footprints and accessibility in rural areas.

"For a completely new product in a market the size of Fiji the results are very promising indeed."

Mr Prasad said the results so far had been most satisfying with more than $4 million in transactions to-date.

M-PAiSA now offers a range of business to customer (B2C) and customer to business (B2C) payment options such as bill pay, loan payments, wage and salaries payment and even payment for any goods and services that can be customised to individual business needs.source

Mobile finance: A new way to manage your money

Mobile finance services are gathering steam as mobile banking is the easiest way to do money management.

Convenience is the buzzword in today’s rapidly changing world. And since mobile finance services are growing remarkably, they are driving convenience for consumers and helping companies to cut operational costs. Many consumers and even companies, however, have not yet fully acknowledged the potential of these trendy services.

Stock market digital highlights some key benefits brought by the mobile finance services.
Result-oriented service
Besides being convenient, Mobile finance service is a solution-based service. There will be a very strong organic growth in the mobile finance service segment just because it gets your quicker results with a click of a button.
Advantageous applications
Mobile applications come with excellent benefits. Mobile applications like Money Transfer can assist you in sending money via SMS messages.  Mobile Payment is another application that will soon erase the traditional practices of money deployment.
Mobile-Wallet
Since mobile is omnipresent and does not require special arrangements to communicate the way internet does, every Tom, Dick and Harry can use his mobile as a wallet. Plus, the M-wallet will take care of the payment delay issues and will ensure timely delivery of money.
Mobile finance service is not a new phenomenon anymore. Intensive consumer adoption has led the technological innovation and we will see improved ways of managing money through our inseparable, sixth finger – Mobile. source