Ways India Paves Way For Transactions Via Mobile

Ways India Ltd plans to introduce mobile electronic signatures in the country which would facilitate a wider range of transactions to be conducted through the mobile phone with greater security.

The company has recently become the first Indian member accepted in to the mobile electronic signature consortium of 25 companies which includes Brokat Infosystems, Deutsche Telekom, Hewlett Packard and Siemens.

According to Angelo Maestrini, chief operating officer of Brokat, mobile signatures would allow the flexibility to start transactions on one channel such as the Internet and close it on another channel which could be the mobile phone. "No infrastructure for such a facility exists in India at present and the consortium would be looking to provide the same. We are already talking to a couple of mobile operators and banks for arranging this facility," he added.

 

Mobile signatures would be enabled either through a sign button on the mobile phone or it could be a specific part of the menu. It is estimated that around 75 per cent of mobile transactions would be related to banking and financial services. This could result in many banks and financial institutions opting for this new technology, especially the technology savvy ones like HDFC Bank and ICICI Bank.

Maestrini said, "Mobile phones are not likely to replace the Internet, but could act as a supplementary channel for transactions. Especially when the data required is small, mobile phones are expected to be used more actively."

Hemant Adarkar, chief technology officer Ways India Ltd, said, "Ways will help define the infrastructure and protocols needed in India, besides conceptualising researching and prototyping mobile electronic signature applications, paving the way fro secure mobile commerce in the near future."