Vodafone and ICICI Bank's 'm-pesa' mobile money transfer and payment service has now been launched in Delhi and NCR.
Vodafone India and ICICI Bank have brought their mobile banking/wallet solution, the ‘m-pesa’ service to the Delhi NCR region. Vodafone will offer its customers a mobile money account with ICICI Bank and a mobile wallet issued by MCSL. The service will be available through 1400 specially trained authorized agents across 130 Vodafone exclusive retail stores in Delhi and NCR region.
The Vodafone m-pesa or ICICI Bank Mobile Money service will allow customers to make cash deposits, withdrawals and cash transfers to any mobile phone or bank account in India. The company has established a huge network of authorized agents through which the customers will be able to deposit and withdraw cash from their account. The service will be beneficial to customers in remote areas. The service will also allow customers to shop at retail outlets and pay for mobile services like recharge, DTH recharge, and pay utility bill payments among others.
Vodafone will be offering this service through its wholly owned subsidiary Mobile Commerce Solutions Ltd (MCSL). The service was initially launched in April in Kolkata, West Bengal, Bihar and Jharkhand via 8,300 authorized agents.
Commenting on the launch Subrat Padhi, Business Head -Delhi, Vodafone India stated, “Vodafone is always at the forefront to introduce innovative products and services that enrich the lives of our customers. We are delighted to bring to Delhi, ‘m-pesa’, a world class mobile banking service, in partnership with ICICI Bank. ‘m-pesa’, is a safe, secure and convenient service to transfer money and make payments beyond the reach of traditional banking channels.”
To register for the m-pesa service, Vodafone customers have to fill up a form at an m-pesa agent’s outlet, with an identity and address proof and deposit a minimum amount to open their m-pesa account. After the registration, Vodafone will activate the MCSL Mobile Wallet for the customer who will be able to use it as a closed wallet to make transactions through the service.
Source: ICICI