Banks structure tailor-made offers for e-commerce shoppers

The number of mobile internet users was 173 mn at the end of December 2014 and was likely to go up to 213 mn

With e-commerce companies encouraging customers to shop on mobile-based applications, banks are getting receptive to similarly tailoring their offers. Lenders are increasingly announcing offers on credit and debit cards which reward shoppers for transacting on smartphones.

Jaideep Iyer, group president (financial management) at YES Bank, says this is a gradual step, with consumers moving towards shopping on the go. “These days, most mobile phones are capable of doing these transactions and the penetration of smartphones are increasing every month, including in tier-II cities. We will be looking at eventually offering these schemes in our YES Bank mobile app but will continue to also offer these on the website,” he added.

In their ‘Mobile Internet in India 2014’ report, the Internet & Mobile Association of India and IMRB International said the number of mobile internet users was 173 million at the end of December 2014 and was likely to go up to 213 million by this June.

Recently, Myntra shut down its website and has been  available only as a mobile application from May 15. Flipkart has also shut down its mobile website and has been directing its users to applications. Other online retailers such as Amazon, Jabong and Snapdeal have also announced app-only offers.

Private and public sector banks have accordingly begun customising their offers. “Smartphones are available with a large number and customers prefer to use these for multiple purposes. Online transactions using mobile applications are fast catching up with customers, mainly due to ease of access and completion of transactions using a single device. The discounts will be in the form of reward points for use of our debit cards and not on any specific products,” said E K Harikumar, chief general manager (retail), State Bank of Travancore.

This comes even as banking on mobile phones has been on an upward swing. Reserve Bank of India data showed the total value of such transactions across the banking system at the end of March was Rs 16,914 crore, as compared to Rs 3,407 crore a year before.

Rajiv Anand, head of retail banking at Axis Bank, said it was a natural pull, with consumers shifting towards banking on mobile phones. “We have been tying up with mobile-based applications for their app-based offers, providing rewards points/additional discount for shopping via Axis cards. We will continue to increase these.”