Nokia Embeds Mobile Money App in Indian Mobile Phones

Nokia announced that it has started shipping mobile handsets pre-loaded with Mobile Money services app powered by Obopay. The ‘Mobile Money’ service is aimed at providing the unbanked and under-banked masses, access to financial services through their mobile phones. This application is also available on feature phones and entry level devices. Nokia X1-01 (a dual-SIM phone) has the application already embedded.

Mobile money services puts you in control of your daily finances – transfer funds, pay bills, and buy goods and services quickly and securely with your mobile phone.

Consumers will have the option of choosing and subscribing to either Union Bank Money or YES Bank Mobile Money Services from their Nokia devices. The basic transactions permissible over these accounts include cash deposit, cash withdrawal, balance enquiry and transfer of money.

Consumers will have the option of choosing and subscribing to either Union Bank Money or YES Bank Mobile Money Services from their Nokia devices. The basic transactions permissible over these accounts include cash deposit, cash withdrawal, balance enquiry and transfer of money. The potential of mobile telephony could be evaluated from the fact that there is an over 82 crore mobile subscriber base in the country.

Banks are currently permitted to offer this service to their customers subject to a daily cap of Rs. 50,000 through Java/GPRS enabled mobiles and up to Rs. 5,000 through non-Java/non-GPRS enabled mobiles by using Unstructured Supplementary Services Data (USSD)/SMS.

Nokia Mobile Money Services allows you to:

• Transfer money securely to your friends and family in a convenient and cost-effective way.
• Pay your utility bills from almost anywhere and keep track of everything with reminders for due dates, overdue charges and payments.
• Check your balance on the go and manage your expenses and payments at the same time.
• Recharge your pre-paid account wherever and whenever you like – adding funds is easy and it only takes a few moments.
• Make convenient cashless payments to informal merchants without having to carry money or bank cards as you travel from place to place.
• Manage your money with confidence – the latest mobile technology is used to handle all your finances securely.
• Save time when dealing with your personal finances – no more waiting in line at the bank or making unnecessary trips into town.

Nokia General Manager, Mobile Payment Services, Gary Singh said:

The application can be used to do a variety of transactions like bill payment, money transfer, prepaid SIM top-up, account management and cash withdrawal from cash-out outlets and ATMs. One of its latest handsets, X1-01 (a dual-SIM phone) has the application embedded. The Nokia Money Mobile financial services initiative is already being implemented in India through partnerships with Union Bank of India (UBI), Yes Bank, Obopay and a wide range of merchants, retailers and business correspondents. We would like to see the services rolled out pan-India over the next 12-18 months.