I lost my debit card yesterday. The first thing that came to my mind was to block the card. I took my mobile to check out the phone banking number for my bank. Oh my god ! I don’t have the phone banking number. What should I do? I immediately called the local phone helpline took out the number for phone banking & in the next two minutes I blocked my card. Hsssssssshhhhhhh…what a relief !!. These mobile phones have made life so easy.
Now I don’t have a debit card to withdraw cash from my bank. The debit card is going to take another week to come. So I need to borrow money from my friends as I stay alone in Mumbai. I was just thinking if I didn’t know anybody in Mumbai & I needed cash urgently how should I get it. Isn’t it possible that I should get the cash through my mobile & I can show that sms of money transfer to my nearest bank branch & get the money. Interesting isn’t it ?
According to a business standard survey, one out of every three persons was ready to change his/her banks to avail free mobile banking services. Around 50 per cent of the people who were surveyed used cell phones to check their bank balance. So why not mobile cash transactions?
Believe it or not, its going to be reality very soon. RBI has given approval for mobile cash transfer upto Rs. 5000 and mobile purchase upto Rs. 10000. I think when companies like mcheck and ngpay have made it possible to make mobile transactions safe. Its time that RBI should think of raising this cap. The landscape of mobile banking is set to change. Mobile cellular operator Bharati Air-Tel has applied for banking licence. They have roped in top notch executive from Citibank to head its m-commerce activities. If bharti bags the banking license, we will soon see AIR-Tel bank.
Mobile Banking will make life much easier for the rural Indians. Say for eg. Ramesh want to transfer Rs. 2000 to his wife in remote village in Bihar. Ramesh simply recharge her phone with Rs.2000 . His wife can simply go to the nearest mobile vendor, can show him the transaction details from her mobile & take cash. AMAZING …..isn,t it ?
This system will definitely help the Indian government to cut its costs by reducing transaction cost. For every Rs 100 shelved Indian government incurs a cost of 12 to 13 rupees for transactions. Mobile Banking will help to reduce this cost to 2 rupees. Thus saving crores of rupees of Indian government.
It really sound interesting, however there are many policy & operational issues that need to be tackled. So lets keep our fingers crossed there are trial which are being conducted by RBI, banks & leading mobile players. If all goes well, we will soon experience another application of mobile phones.
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Nice article. However, why wouldn't you just go to the nearest bank and withdraw money instead of borrowing from friends? You can also write a paper check and cash it in any bank(need not be your bank). Technology has taken over our lives so much that sometimes we forget what we did before technology was here. I for one keep some extra cash at home(say my Debit card was stolen on saturday after the bank closed). The idea is very cool though.
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