How is India Graduating towards Digital Money Society ?

Digital Money in IndiaIn India, cash still rules. 41% of India’s households are unbanked and credit card penetration is a measly ~2% (debit card penetration is much healthier at ~33%). The situation is similar on the retailer side, where only

There are several trends/ initiatives (described below) under way that will transform the financial landscape in the country. Over the coming years, we are set to see a sharp rise in debit card penetration, a shift of banking transactions from offline to online, a greater adoption of electronic payments and greater use of mobiles for conducting electronic transactions. These developments present large opportunities for players operating in the broad mobile money ecosystem.

Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojna (PMJDY) – The long-term vision of PMJDY is to lay the foundation of a cashless economy and

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Reliance Jio Enters Beta Testing – Jio Money Launched

Jio-MoneyReliance Jio Infocomm mentioned that network rollout has been substantially completed across India. It has employed a large number of testers across the country. The beta program is to be ramped up in the next few weeks. Jio will be a pure 4G-LTE player with day-1 capacity to support 200mn subscribers; 85% coverage likely vs mandatory 80%.

Jio has demonstrated pan-India Lawful Intercept and Monitoring (LIM) facilities for LTE data and voice video & messaging, plus ILD services, to the Department of Telecommunications (DoT). It has completed the acceptance testing of its network in all circles with

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Mobile Money Fragmentation (Telcos / Banks) Breaks Mass Market

In a world where each nation uses its own currency which could not be exchanged, global commerce would stall. But if one or even two currencies were introduced, which were accepted globally, international commerce could resume.

Using this analogy, we argue that fragmented industries (Telecom Companies / Banks) fundamentally cannot successfully launch global m-payment systems as by definition they are too regional. If consumers want to make a purchase or transfer through a mobile, they don’t want to discover their m-payment mechanism isn’t compatible. Therefore, we believe that a sustainable, long-term m-payment application will require a critical mass comparable to the number of iPhone (600m) or Android (1.9bn) users and consequently

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Can Telcos Opt for Payment Banks to Push Mobile Money Business ?

RBI has released draft guidelines for payments bank licenses. We view Indian telcos, with their large customer bases and wide geographical reach (e.g., Airtel’s 1.5 mn retail outlets), as strong contenders. The overall objective appears to be to encourage financial inclusion by providing payments / remittance/ small savings services through technology based, high volume-low value transactions.

A payments bank will be allowed to offer services like demand deposits (maximum Rs100,000), payments / remittance services, and

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Comparison of Mobile Money Transfer vs Postal Money Order

The Internal Remittances Market in India is to the tune of USD 40 Bn with money flowing from Urban to Rural Parts of India. The Following Chart Shows the Comparison of Mobile money Transfer vs Indian Postal Money Order on Parameters such as, Min requirement, Limits on Transaction, Technology, Advantage and Dis-advantage.

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Mobile Money Transfer & Commerce – Poised for Big Growth

Mobile Money in IndiaMobile money will witness rapid growth over the next 3-5 years in India due to increased rural presence of Mobile Operators in Rural India fueled by favorable regulation, rising penetration of smartphones as their prices are more affordable, and acceptance by retailers.

What is Mobile Money ?
We define it as mobile banking, money transfer, and m-commerce. This includes using Airtel Money to transfer money into another Airtel Money account or bank account or mobile number. One could pay one’s driver his monthly salary by transferring money using bank’s smartphone into his mobile linked bank account using his mobile number and mobile money ID. Alternatively, paying from one’s smartphone into the driver’s Vodafone mpesa wallet would allow him to

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