Big Bazaar ties up with MobiKwik for mobile wallet service

Kishore Biyani-led Big Bazar and mobile payments platform MobiKwik has inked an exclusive tie-up to allow the retail firm's customers to pay for purchases using mobile wallet facility.

The tie-up will be extended to other Future Group entities like Central, Brand Factory, Home Town and e-Zone in the coming quarter.

"MobiKwik wallet users can pay through their mobile at any Big Bazaar payment counter by sharing their registered MobiKwik mobile number and an one-time-password (OTP) for verification of the transaction," MobiKwik said in a statement.

This cashless and card-less shopping experience is now live across over 240 Big Bazaar stores across India, it added.

"In the coming quarter, MobiKwik also plans to extend this partnership to other offline stores under the Future Group umbrella that includes Central, Brand Factory, HomeTown, e-Zone, among others and is expected to total close to 150 million transactions annually," it said.

The tie-up is a part of MobiKwik's offline retail expansion strategy, under which the company aims to tie up with 1.5 lakh offline stores and facilitate payments for 100 million users by 2015-2016.

MobiKwik's partners include names like Cafe Coffee Day, WHSmith, PVR, Domino's, Pizza Hut, Myntra, Jabong, MakeMyTrip, Yatra, BookMyShow, JustEat, eBay, ShopClues and Pepperfry.

"The MobiKwik Wallet integration will bring us closer to millions of consumers and is an integral part of our multi-channel payments strategy. The operational efficiencies will create significant value for our customers," Future Group Founder and CEO Kishore Biyani said.

MobiKwik claims to have over 17 million mobile wallet users and 50,000 merchants on board.

"With the rapid adoption of smartphones, mobile internet, and e-commerce services by users in India, mobile wallets are now ready more than ever before to disrupt how payments are done in the country," MobiKwik founder and CEO Bipin Preet Singh said.