After conducting field tests with banks across such cities as Pune and Nasik, Nokia India Pvt. Ltd. now plans to do a nationwide rollout of its standalone, carrier agnostic mobile-payment service.
Nokia had been testing a version of its mobile-payment service with Yes Bank Ltd. and Union Bank of India Ltd. (
Its new standalone prepaid mobile-wallet service enables customers to make basic point-of-sale purchases, but it does not support advanced banking functions, such as funds transfers, an authorized Nokia Money agent tells PaymentsSource.
Some 35 billers thus far are participating in the service.
To use Nokia Money, consumers first must register online or with a merchant, or they may use a text message-based interactive system after downloading the application, he says. The user then activates the service and operates it using the text message-based response system.
To make payments, users open the Nokia Money application on their mobile phone, choose the biller, check the bill amount, and then make the payment using a four digit PIN to authorize the transaction.
Consumers may use the service to pay utility bills or insurance premiums, or to top up their mobile-phone accounts, he says, citing examples. Consumers may deposit funds into their prepaid account using cash at an authorized agent or Nokia retailer.
Nokia is not charging customers to use the service because it views Nokia Money as an incentive to buy a Nokia Phone.
The mobile-banking services Nokia launched initially with the two banks have more-stringent verification policies and allow funds transfers and cash withdrawals in addition to payments up to a daily limit of 50,000 rupees [US$945 or 726 euros], the Nokia agent says.
