Citibank India Pvt. Ltd. has launched a mobile payment-based cash-management facility for its corporate clients in India, the Gurgaon-based bank announced on Dec. 14.
Called Cash-To-Mobile, Citi designed the service to help its customers collect receivables from their retailers or customers using mobile-payment technology, according to a press release.
The bank conducted a pilot with Coca Cola Co. in Hyderabad in early December during which the beverage company received payments from its retailers through the mobile service.
The service uses the Interbank Mobile Payment Service to debit the remitters’ account instantaneously and issues a transaction confirmation text message to the customer, a Citi customer service representative tells PaymentsSource.
The service identifies the remitters through their mobile numbers, which helps in the reconciliation of transactions within the client company’s own internal accounts-management service, he adds.
Transactions are limited to 50,000 rupees [US$945 or 726 euros] under the Reserve Bank of India’s mandate for mobile payments, the customer service rep says. The bank charges a fee, but how much and whether the remitter or seller pays depends on the sector, he says.
Citi plans to offer the service to about 100 of its existing corporate customers from the consumer goods, health care and insurance sectors and gradually expand the client portfolio, according to the release.
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