mCommerce growing in India!

How is mCommerce ecosystem in India? 

mCommerce services have a huge potential primarily in the developing economies. India like any other developing economy has a substantial population which is unbanked and underbanked and still wants to have some sort of financial instrument which basically gives them a safe storage for their money and gives them a medium to transact this money without physical exchange of cash. We, therefore, see a huge potential for these services picking up in the country when the regulatory environment becomes more conducive. The regulator in India is cautiously and step by step moving towards such a situation.

You provide mobile transaction and payment solutions to banks, mobile operators and micro finance institutions. Share any success stories in India? 

Utiba's platform in India is currently being used to launch electronic top-up services and it has created an unparalleled success story with the product. The product has fuelled the growth and penetration of the prepaid mobile segment as never before. India is possibly the largest single operator topup system in the world in terms of volume. In India, Utiba's platform today is used by Airtel Mobile Services, Airtel DTH, Airtel Landline, MTS, Uninor and MyWay IPTV for their E top-up service. 

Elaborate on the mobile-to-mobile international funds transfer? 

According to World Bank estimates, in 2008 alone, migrant workers in developed countries transferred funds amounting to US$400 billion back home to their families and friends. An equal, if not larger, amount is believed to have changed hands via unauthorized remittance channels like Hawala. The sheer size of the market creates opportunities for multiple agencies to provide these remittance services and profit from them.

In the current scenario, the conventional remittance service providers like banks and remittance agencies are not equipped to service the entire demand for international fund transfer services. Some of the factors contributing to this are high operational costs, limited reach, complicated service partnership, etc. The mobile phone network with its global coverage, low-entry barrier, and capability to conduct secure and accurate transactions has been recognized as the best tool to provide international remittance services to millions of people worldwide. Mobile operators can potentially solve the access problem and extend remittance services to millions of people in remote, rural areas with a less expensive and more convenient alternative to the expensive brick and mortar based money transfer service outlets. 

GCash which is deployed on Utiba's platform allows its subscribers to make payments for purchases such as food, mobile prepaid credits, and medicines and the service also allows utility bill payments, school tuition fees, insurance, loan amortizations, etc. Utiba has linked the wallets of its another customer, Maxis in Malaysia’s with that of GCash enabling the Maxis subscribers to send money to the GCash subscribers through a pure wallet to wallet transaction. Recently, Utiba got certified from Western Union to support its services in its mobile wallet and mobile banking platforms. The certification will technically enable Utiba's clients (mobile operators and banks) to facilitate Western Union Mobile Money Transfers. It will extend the reach and accessibility of Western Union Money Transfer services to mobile financial initiatives in Latin America, Africa, Middle East and Asia.

Do you think with the rollout of 3G, mCommerce would get a boost? 

Though mCommerce, in the broader sense of the term, is not really dependent on 3G services, we expect to see a definite rise in the uptake of services like mobile banking, ticketing and digital content selling which will all benefit from the richer online experience that will be delivered to the end-users via a handheld device. One realizes the true value of a mobile commerce initiative when the underbanked/unbanked sections of the society start to use it as a tool to access financial systems and services. The services that are relevant to the masses like fund transfers, bill payments, remittances, safe storage, etc. work fine even without a 3G network.

For more contact :
beenish@varindia.com