We have about 100 million unique users, which is our most significant achievement in the four years of operation…and we aim to double our customers in the coming one year, says Shashank Joshi, in conversation with Kartik Sharma and Nayana Singh of Elets News Netwrok (ENN)
What are the new initiatives of My Mobile Payments Ltd?
During the first three years, there were a lot of learning experiences for MoneyOnMobile. Now in the fourth year, we have brought in some changes. We have become the first payments company to have launched multi-lingual websites and multilingual App. Other than English, the App is available in nine other languages.
These apps in the nine regional languages have received an overwhelming response from the people. They have witnessed 5000 downloads in a week and have received a rating of 4.4 on Google Playstore. This is one of our latest innovations in MoneyOnMobile.
The competition amongst payments companies has increased manifold with various domestic as well as international players entering the market. How do you maintain a unique position?
I see this in positive light, as the increase in competition among the people causes an increase in awareness among the people. Our USP from the beginning has been that our product works on all operators. It is not restricted to a few telecom operators, nor is it telecom independent. The consumers possess multiple phones and use various payments services.
What kind of business opportunity do you see in the newly launched mission of Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana?
In the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana, 7.5 crore bank accounts have to be opened by 26 th January. Greater the number of accounts, the more will be the beneficiaries to receive remittance, thus increasing the scope for us to provide services to poor people in urban and rural areas to their newly opened bank accounts.
What kind of business opportunities do you see in terms of government payments of subsidies, which are a part of the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana?
Companies like ours are a tool to speed up the process of government payments through MNREGA, Aadhar, DBT, etc. It will also bring down the cost of payments. The payments can be done just by pressing a single button and it involves paperless operations. Government should take advantage of these services.
Some leaders also suggest the method of alternative payment, independent of bank account transactions. Do you foresee any progress in this domain?
More and more people are becoming aware of mobile payment options; so rather than carrying cash they are carrying money on their mobile phones. There are also talks going on regarding services such as the Bharat Bill Payment Service. So the service providers will have to increase the number of services. The increase in the number of services will increase the use cases for mobile payment.
“We have become the first payments company to have launched multi-lingual websites and multi-lingual App. Other than English, the App is also available in nine other languages”
How are you targeting the population comprising of people below 30s?
In the age group of 16-30, there are probably 300 million users, which is a huge customer base for us. These are the people who are technology friendly, so there are higher chances of them for moving to the kind of products that we have to offer. So we participate in college road shows, we sponsor eco friendly events and campaigns. Through our digital marketing efforts on facebook and on twitter, we attract these consumers. Also, we have come up with a specific product, designed especially for this customer base. We have enabled My Mobile as a payment gateway on major e-Commerce sites. So people who do not possess Visa or Mastercard, can buy online and this is the only financial instrument for the unbanked. These products are becoming very popular with the people.
What is your vision for your organisation?
We have about 100 million unique users, which is our most significant achievements in our four years of operation. We want to double our customers in the coming one year. We will add more customers from the rural, semi urban and from the smaller towns. We are not overlooking the metros either. We are working on those areas. Also we partner with media, for their festival campaigns. In Mumbai, we have partnered with DNA for promoting eco friendly Ganesha .We are partnering with the top ten organizers of Durga Puja in West Bengal, whereby, we are setting up stalls where our App in Bengali will be made available.
As one of the prominent players of payments, how do you think you can contribute to the expansion of Financial Inclusion in India?
Once the Payments Bank, which is the proposed to the RBI, becomes a regulation, we are willing to participate in it. Thus, we can reach out to the customer, whom the government wants to include in the program. We can bring fresh customers into the system of financial services.
From which regions do you see a surge in the adoption of My Mobile Payments services?
I think that there will be an increase in adoption of services from all parts of the country. I see business in even the far flung states such as in the North East. We are targeting the Tier II and Tier III cities and we are receiving amazing response from there.