India has graduated from the offline world to ordering products and services online and even using apps and the mobile Internet for purchases. It’s time to take the next step; it’s time to use the mobile wallet. Mobile wallets can be broadly defined as: “payment services operated under financial regulation and performed from or via a mobile device” and have evolved to become a viable alternative to paying with cash, cheque, or credit cards.
Such a virtual wallet acts as a place to store cash online. You make payments using this money instead of using a credit card, debit card or net banking. Therefore the bank account remains untouched and secure. However, adding money to the wallet will require you to use the above methods. For added security, mobile wallet account values in India are limited to a maximum of Rs. 10,000. Most wallets have their mobile apps to easily check the balance and make purchases.
The foremost wallet service providers in India are Paytm with Paytm Wallet, MobiKwik, and Oxyigen Wallet. Telecoms also offer wallet services like Vodafone’s limited-release M-Pesa, and Airtel Money. As was the case for companies convincing customers to migrate to new platforms like ordering online or through mobile apps, since the concept of a mobile wallet is new, most such companies offer great discounts, deals, and free top-ups on sign-up.
The MobiKwik wallet offers a ‘cash pay’ facility which is a doorstep cash collection service to load the mobile wallet.
As mobile wallets are gaining in acceptance and popularity, a rising number of online merchants are starting to accept mobile wallets as a payment channel.
In 2014, Airtel Money partnered with Satyamev Jayate so users could donate directly for their favourite causes simply through the Airtel Money system.
In India, the instrument permitted is that of a ‘semi-closed wallet’; therefore, once you have transferred money to the wallet, it cannot be withdrawn directly by you.
With the Reserve Bank’s latest update, mobile wallet companies may soon be able to morph into Payment Banks in the due course of time, thereby bringing the benefits of an organized financial system to the mobile as well as the unbanked sections of society.
