“Can you please send a cheque?” This question could become a joke in a few years. If you doubt it, can you tell when was the last time you received or sent a money order? There may be some who would have received or sent one recently, but the number of people using it seems to be on the decline.
ECS has been around for quite some time. So have bank-to-bank transfers. Many institutions seeking donations now prefer to provide their bank account details rather than ask for cheques or money orders. This is because the benefits are many, and the in-thing now is mobile payments.
Again, mobile payments are not new. ICICI Bank has had its mobile app for several years now. You can do almost anything, except withdrawing or depositing cash, through the app. For bank accounts, you can check the balance, see the last five transactions, transfer funds, request cheque book, find the status of a cheque, issue stop payment for a cheque and open fixed and recurring deposit accounts.
For credit cards, you can't do much but to check the balance, last payment details and payment due details.
You can also use the app to pay bills or even buy air, train and bus tickets, apart from recharging mobiles or DTH connections.
ICICI calls its app iMobile and it is available for almost all platforms but the Windows app is not compatible with the latest Windows Phone 7. The phone in which the app is installed must be the one you have registered for mobile banking.
HDFC Bank does not have an app, but you can access its services through its mobile banking site. State Bank of India has a wap site and also apps, apart from USSD (Unstructured Supplementary Service Data). Among public sector banks, Union Bank of India and Indian Overseas Bank are some banks that offer mobile banking — both through wap/mobile site and apps.
There are mobile apps other than by banks that you can use for almost everything. NG Pay has been there for quite some time. NG Pay is different from the bank apps in that you can make a purchase from the stores listed in the app. You can even buy mobiles, books, televisions, order flowers and gifts, book air, rail and bus tickets, recharge mobiles and DTH connections, book movie tickets and much more. Payment can be made through debit or credit cards and Internet banking. NG Pay is a store in itself and also often comes out with discount offers.
Atom is similar to NG Pay. Many stores and telecom DTH operators not supported by NG Pay can be found in Atom. The latest entrant to the mobile payment space is Airtel. The telecom major has come out with Airtel Money, which is totally different from other mobile payment services.
The main difference is that you have to load money into your Airtel Money account to use the service (it goes without saying that you have to be an Airtel mobile subscriber).
You can even register for Airtel Money online. Once you do, you can load your account from any Airtel dealer or online from the Airtel Money site.
The first step is the Express Account, where you can recharge Airtel mobiles and Airtel DTH accounts, pay Airtel bills, and make electricity, gas and insurance payments (not all utilities are supported).
The second step, the Power Account, allows you to shop at other establishments using Airtel Money. For this, you will have to submit residence and identification proofs and a photograph. The Power Account will be activated after Airtel Money verifies your account.
Once it is verified, you can use Airtel Money at other establishments. Though the number of establishments accepting Airtel Money is not much, Airtel says the number is increasing.
There is no app for Airtel Money. The primary method to access it is either USSD or SIM toolkit. The latter is available on almost all handsets. In the rare instance of the SIM toolkit not available, it can be accessed through USSD. You have to dial *400# which will download a menu. After that it is just selecting the option you want.
The downside with the USSD menu is that the limit for a transaction is Rs.5,000, because of Reserve Bank of India norms. The limit is Rs.50,000 for other modes. So if you are buying a home theatre worth Rs.20,000, it is better you use a phone with SIM menu.
One attractive feature with Airtel Money is the ability to send money to other users instantly. Money can be transferred to another Airtel Money user or to any bank account. Obopay, in tie-up with Nokia, which also enables mobile payments, offers the service through banks. At present, it has tied up with Yes Bank and Union Bank of India.
While mobile banking and payments are picking up, one company, Nokia, has just announced that it would quit the mobile payments biz.
