MOBILE BANKING….the next big thing
Banking is always in its infancy in India. Banks are trying hard to spread its tentacles to every hinterland of this country. Their efforts seem to be limited in luring the general masses into making their way to banks and opening bank accounts. It is quite obvious when half of the population of the country is living below poverty line.We can’t expect these people to have bank accounts. Banks have tried every means to reach out these people lying at the lowest strata of the pyramid. From opening of new branches , opening of ATM’s , internet banking , widespread use of credit and debit cards etc. all these methods seems to be accessible for the people belonging to upper two levels of the pyramid. But one device seems to find its way with people across all stratas is the mobile phone irrespective of its form.
I came across a number of people who earn a modicum amount of money as their daily income and end up spending it all for lack of a bank account. That was until they heard of mchek. Mchek is a mobile payment services company in association with Bank of India. BOI offered them mobile bank account s through which they not only can save money but also send money to their families. Mobile banking has made life easy for these people . It has not only given them the means to channelize their earnings but its easy to use feature has given them a chance to become a part of the financial revolution which is sweeping the country. Only 40% of Indians have bank accounts and far fewer have access to the internet. There are 670 million mobile users in our country and 20 million being added every month.
With RBI relaxing the guidelines for mobile banking , more and more companies are set to start their services. The government had advised banks to start mobile banking by July 31st,2010 and complete the rollout by early next year. The government has set the target to avail the maximum number of financial services to the unbanked population by early next year. Mobile banking is about convenience for the people belonging to the top of the pyramid and converting plastic money into mobile money for the people belonging to the middle of the pyramid. People can pay their electricity bills , transfer money , buy railway tickets , buy movie tickets and check account balance.



According to a report mobile banking usage in India will grow from 10 million active users in 2009 to 53 million users in 2013 a CAGR of 51.8%. Banks believe most net banking clients will sign up for mobile banking as it offers convenience. Mobile operators can also increase their ARPU ( average revenue per user) by charging service fees. In 2008 Obopay started pilot project with Nokia and Yes bank offering full fledged services called Mobile Money in Pune and Chandigarh. In September BSE announced trading on mobile.
Thus in future mobile holds the key for all banking transactions thus swapping plastic money with mobile phones.


How to Transfer money using a cellphone.