The National Payments Corporation of India
(NPCI) has reduced its proposed switching fee for mobile money
transfers from 25 paise to 10 paise in a bid to encourage the use
of m-payments.
There is currently no switching fee for
transactions conducted through the Inter Bank Mobile Payment
Service (IMPS), however, a fee is to be implemented at the start of
the new financial year.
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The fee changes, originally planned to be 25
paise per successful transaction were reduced to 10 paise to
continue the growth of mobile money transactions.
“Given that IMPS can be of help in the
financial inclusion objective as well, with the reduction in
charges to 10 paise per successful transaction – probably the least
switching charges in the world for similar services – NPCI expects
the banks to promote this service aggressively and increase the
transaction volume two to three times more than originally
envisaged.” said M Balakrishnan, NPCI’s COO.
Fourteen banks have joined the scheme and over
10 more are due to follow. The Union Bank of India (UBI) is among
the banks that have already joined and its partnership with Nokia
India demonstrates its increasing appetite for the mobile financial
services market.
The ‘Union Bank Money powered by Nokia’
initiative aims to target users who do not currently have a bank
account – over 50% of the population. The service claims to allow
users to make P2P money transfers, cash withdrawals and pay bills.
The service will work with all Nokia handsets and can be installed
on existing models.
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By GlobalData“We strongly believe Union Bank Money will
augment financial inclusion amongst the unbanked and under-banked
consumer segments by bringing financial services through the mobile
device,” said Shri M V Nair, UBI’s chairman and managing
director.
The service, which is already available to
consumers in Gurgaon and soon to be offered in Delhi, Faridabad and
Noida, will be rolled-out nationwide within the next few
months.
The product plans to offer widespread banking
services to over 10 million customers across 32,000 villages by
2013 via UBI’s existing 3000 bank branches and Nokia’s retail
outlet network.
