Banks Must Gear Up For M-Commerce

At Mobile Commerce, a seminar organised by ICM Worldwide Private Ltd, Vikram Gupta, head Internet and e-commerce services group, Iflex Solutions Ltd, spoke about how the Internet and mobile commerce are going to be the key to good banking and business acumen in the future.

Gupta says that in order to get ahead in today's market, banks have to get Net savvy. This will prompt most banks to even get wireless application protocol (WAP) enabled. After e-banking and e-commerce, it's mobile commerce that will become the 'buzz word' in the industry, he added.

Iflex Solutions has already enabled banks such as HDFC Bank.

 

In his presentation, Gupta said mobile phone users far exceeded Internet users, especially in Europe and America. A mobile phone would thus have to be looked at more as a platform to transact than just to get quotes for the stock market or a more personalised financial bank statement.

"With virtual banking a rapidly growing trend and automated teller machines (ATM) performing more and more functions, banks are getting redundant. Today banking is a necessity, but not banks," he said.

Acknowledging that penetration of WAP-enabled phones is low in the Indian as well as US markets, Gupta said once the broadband opens up, the spread of this technology will also spread.