Nokia to launch Mobile Money

Mobile handset maker Nokia will launch ‘Mobile Money’, a mobile payment service that will enable consumers to pay directly from their Nokia mobile phones.

The service, to be launched in the next few months, will help in financial inclusion, Kaustuv Chatterjee, head — marketing (mobile phones), Nokia India, said launching the company’s dual-SIM handset —Nokia X1-01 and Nokia C2-00 — here today.

Customers can shop, pay utility bills, buy top-up cards, transfer money, withdraw cash from business correspondents among others using their mobile phones.

The company had completed the pilot last year in Pune and Chandigarh. “We will take this service pan-India by 2012,” he said.

This would work across service providers, targeting rural, semi-urban and the urban-poor, said TS Sridhar, regional general manager (South), Nokia India.

Nokia has tied-up with YES Bank and Union Bank of India to provide this service. The X1-01 model is pre-loaded with this technology and other handsets can be activated at its authorised retail outlets. The two handsets are priced below Rs 4,000.