After launching its mobile wallet service in Delhi-NCR, Pune and Chennai, Nokia is now mulling to extend the service across the country by next year.
Consumers, using the service, will be able to transact and make payments directly using their Nokia phones. They will also be able to top up their mobile money wallet at Nokia retail outlets.
“By 2012 it will become a pan-India product. The focused market is semi urban and rural markets and also below average income urban markets,” Chatterjee told reporters on the sidelines of the launch of Nokia’s dual SIM phone X1-01 and C2-00 in Andhra Pradesh market.
Nokia at present has a tie-up for the e-wallet facility with Yes Bank and Union Bank of India, and the company is considering a tie-up with other banks.
Nokia is the only handset maker which offers mobile money service along with partner banks, all the other mobile money services are offered by telecom operators like Airtel, Reliance, and Vodafone along with their partner banks. Nokia is in a position to offers such a service thanks to a wide network of retailers that it has.
Nokia has embedded its Mobile Money services on Nokia X1-01. The service provides the unbanked access to financial services through their mobile phones, thus empowering people and their business and driving financial inclusion in the country, said TS Sridhar, director-south markets, Noika India.
Nokia’s new dual SIM phones, X1-01 and C2-00, come pre loaded with mobile money applications, other Nokia users will have the option to use the service as well, for which they will need to download the application.
All other users, such as those who have account with the partner banks or the ones who do not have a bank account, can use it to access financial services through their mobile phones.
The service will be provided in two categories. A no-frill account will be given to users with limited identity proof and will have limitations on the maximum amount that can be kept in the account and daily transaction limit.
While customers who provide full verification will have no such limits. Customers, opening no frills account with limited verification, will have a limit of Rs 50,000 and a daily transaction limit of Rs 5,000, as per the current RBI guidelines.
The service will enable consumers to transfer money to other individuals, withdraw cash from Business Correspondents cash-out outlets (registered Nokia stores) and ATMs, pay utility bills as well as recharge prepaid SIM cards (top-ups) by using their mobile devices.
Notably, consumers of all telecom service providers can avail this service.