Visa to offer new mobile payment service in India

Global payment technology major Visa Inc will provide a new mobile payment service in India from September through smartphones, an official said here on Wednesday.

"Our new payment platform mVisa will enable Indian consumers pay for various services through smartphones from next month," Visa chief executive Charlie Scharf told reporters here.

The new service will be first available in this tech hub on a pilot basis through four select banks and will be extended to more cities subsequently.

The banks are Axis Bank, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, and State Bank of India.

"The new platform will also usher in a cashless and cardless system to enable customers purchase goods, pay bills and transfer money to their kith and kin, at ease," Scharf said at a product preview.

To avail the service, Visa customers have to download the mVisa form into their smartphones and link their Visa debt, credit or prepaid account to the application.

"On activation, customers can pay for retail purchases online by transferring funds from their account to the store's or its owner's account," Scharf said.

Users can also pay utility bills and transfer funds to other Visa account holders through mVisa.

The service will also be available to 20,000 merchants across Bengaluru who can be notified through SMS that payment has been made.

"Payments via mobile handset, tablet or smartphone are projected to touch $3.3 trillion by 2018 worldwide," he said.

The company's Indian subsidiary also opened its new technology centre where about 1,000 software engineers will work over the next one year.

The present facility with 450 engineers is Visa's second largest outside the US.

"The India centre with similar centres in Singapore and the US will help us to accelerate development of next-generation payment solutions," Scharf added.