Now, your mobile is also a credit card

Airtel to launch Mcheque at 100 merchant establishments in Delhi and Mumbai.

Convergence took another step forward today when Airtel announced that its customers would soon be able use their mobile phones as credit cards. To begin with, this facility, Mcheque, will be launched at 100 merchant establishments in Delhi and Mumbai.

The customers of Airtel, which has launched this scheme along with ICICI Bank and VISA, can obtain a new sim card for their mobile phones. This sim card will serve as a credit card and allow them to make payments to merchant establishments via SMS.

The way it will work is simple: the merchant establishment from where a purchase has been made will SMS bills to customers. The moment the customers reply "OK", the amount will be added to their credit card bills.

Airtel will charge Rs 10 a month for the service. Of course, one has to pay every time one sends an "OK" SMS. In the promotional phase, Airtel will waive these charges.

As a security feature (the facility can be misused if the phone is stolen), customers will be given a personal identification number which will have to be keyed in before they can send an SMS to confirm a purchase. The sim card will also be digitally signed, making the SMS secure. In case the mobile phone is lost, a customer simply needs to inform the bank, just as in the case of a credit card loss.

For Airtel customers, it means more convenience. For merchants, this can bring freedom from expensive point of sales terminals and landline connectivity. All one needs is a mobile phone.

Terming the tie-up as a major breakthrough in payment mechanism, Akhil Gupta, joint managing director, Bharti Tele-Ventures, said, "Going forward, the mobile phone will replace cash and credit cards. The mobile will become the most secure identity card in the future. It will also become a device to control electronic devices.

Bharti has a strategy to become innovative in this field and will continue to bring new innovations." The company has over 12 million mobile phone subscribers.

"Initially, we are launching this facility at 100 merchant establishments in Delhi and Mumbai. In the next phase, we will take it to the top 10 cities," Chanda Kochhar, executive director, ICICI Bank, said.

"We will offer debit cards also on the mobile platform. Transactions are moving away from the branches. Only about 25 per cent of transactions are now carried out at branches," He said. 
 

Mcheque is here

• Mcheque will be launched at 100 merchant establishments in Delhi and Mumbai.
• The customers of Airtel, which has launched this scheme along with ICICI Bank and VISA, can obtain a new sim card for their mobile phones
• The merchant establishment from where a purchase has been made will SMS bills to customers and when they reply "OK", the amount will be added to their credit card bills
• Airtel will charge Rs 10 a month for the service
• The sim card will be digitally signed, making the SMS secure
• For merchants, this can bring freedom from expensive point of sales terminals and landline connectivity