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Bharti airtel Launches ‘airtel money’ Mobile Wallet Service in India
IT News Online Staff
2011-01-31
Bharti airtel Ltd. has launched airtel money, India’s first mobile wallet service by a telecom operator. Aimed at offering customers with an efficient alternative to cash transactions, airtel money will provide airtel customers with a convenient and secure way of making payments through the ubiquitous mobile platform.
Now available in Gurgaon, the service will soon be launched across several other key cities in India in a phased manner.
Atul Bindal, President - Mobile Services, Bharti airtel, said, "The mobile phone is fast emerging as a device that enables our lives in more than many ways. Taking this a step further, we are proud to launch airtel money as a first-of-its-kind service from a telecom operator, that transforms the mobile phone into a secure and convenient wallet which customers can use to load money and use it for shopping and making payments. We see a huge potential for mCommerce services in India and are confident that the launch of airtel money will facilitate a paradigm shift in the way consumers transact."
In 2010, Bharti airtel was granted the license to use the Semi Closed Wallet by the Reserve Bank of India. The company has designed a secure and robust backend system to offer India’s first mobile wallet service by a telecom operator - airtel money - as a safe, convenient and user friendly medium for customers to make payments.
In Gurgaon, airtel has already established partnerships with several merchants (including coffee shops, restaurants, etc.) to accept payments via airtel money, which will gradually be scaled up to over 3,000 merchants across the city. airtel money will subsequently be launched in Delhi NCR and several other key cities in India. Customers will also be able to avail airtel money exclusive discounts and attractive offers that will be offered at various merchant outlets in the market, and save money as they shop.
airtel had recently announced a joint venture with State Bank of India to provide banking and financial services to millions of unbanked Indians using the mobile platform. With this launch of airtel money, airtel now offers a complete suite of financial products on mobile devices for the banked as well as unbanked population of the country.
Where can you use airtel money?
- Load cash: Load cash on your airtel mobile by visiting your nearest airtel retail outlet.
- Pay bills & recharge: You will be able to use this cash in your mobile for making bill payments (electricity, gas, financial services, etc.) and recharge.
- Shop & make payments: Instead of cash, pay over-the-counter merchants such as your nearest kirana store, chemist, etc. using your mobile phone. You can even sit at home and pay for services like booking movie tickets online.
To use airtel money:
- Register by filling in the application form and submitting KYC documents (2 photocopies of proof-of-identity, 1 copy of proof-of-address and a passport size photograph).
- After the above, your existing airtel SIM will be upgraded to the new 64K airtel SIM with airtel money.
- Activate your airtel money account by choosing your MPIN.
- Load cash into your airtel money account by visiting your nearest airtel retailer.
- You are now ready to send commands through the airtel money application on your phone and transact anytime, anywhere.
To know more about airtel money, customers can dial 12121 (toll free) from their airtel mobile phones and get started. For more information, non-airtel mobile customers can dial 88000121 or visit www.airtelmoney.in.
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