Shashank M Joshi
Managing Director, Money-on-Mobile
“With its m-wallet service, Money-on-Mobile makes it convenient for customers to make payments through their mobile phone,” says Shashank M Joshi. In conversation with Kartik Sharma and Rachita Jha.
Tell us about Money-on- Mobile. What kind of response are you seeing in the market?
Money-on-Mobile is an electronic prepaid payment service provider; it is also India’s first operator and bank agnostic mobile payment system. The company first began offering B2B services in the year 2010. In the year 2011, the much awaited approval to commence financial services through mobile phones was granted by the RBI. This policy change has helped us attain our business objectives. Today Money on Mobile has roped in over 90,000 retailer touch points in the country and has presence in 300 cities.
How does Money-on-Mobile facilitate payments through mobile phones?
Money-on-Mobile is a user friendly technology, which allows consumers to load their mobile phones with prepaid cash of various denominations, the minimum denomination being `20. This virtual money can then be used to purchase goods and services at retail outlets. Money-on-Mobile has successfully got 500,000 subscribers on board and touches a daily transaction volume of `20 million. They can also use the virtual money to pay post paid mobile bills, utility bills (like electricity and gas) and also purchase airline, bus and movie tickets. It can also be used to top-up any prepaid mobile or have a DTH recharge. As the service is independent of the consumer’s mobile operator or the bank, any mobile subscriber can avail of it through a SMS or mobile application-based platform. We have a network of around one lakh retailer touch points across the country and a presence in more than 300 cities. More than 5 lakhs subscriber have enrolled and we are having transactions of `2.5 crores on a daily basis. In September, 2010 we had a turnover of about 50,000 a day.
How is your mobile wallet service doing in the Indian market?
We are pleased to have launched the mobile wallet services in one of the fastest growing mobile markets in the world. With its m-wallet service, Money-on-Mobile makes it convenient for customers to make payments through their mobile phone. The team at Money-on-Mobile is highly experienced and they have knowledge of all the related verticals like Telecom, Finance, Operations, Training, ITES, Technology, Banking and Legal. This system is going to be of ultimate benefit to the retailers. The consumers also benefit as no hidden or extra service charges are levied whey they load Money on Mobile on their m-wallet. It is very helpful for the majority of the unbanked population and for those people who have low-end mobile phones. We are also planning to launch our websites in various languages so that the consumers can access services in their native language. We will also switch to cloud computing once there is substantial expansion in our services.
Tell us about your experience of working with various governments.
It is difficult to enter in the government sector, but once you enter it becomes very streamlined process. I am quite pleased with the way we are providing services to the government. Recently I went to Darbhanga district of Bihar to launch mobile payment solutions for electricity bill and I was surprised to witness the enthusiasm of MD of Power Generation who explained the electricity employees about the benefits of e-Receipt. It really encourages us to work with government as the reach of government is very large in the entire country.
Please tell us about the technological systems that you are using for the Money-on- Mobile services?
We are using a sophisticated technology so that we can provide services in the simplest possible manner to our customers. Even people who are not so tech-savvy can use our products. To make a payment, all the customer has to do is type a text message to Money-on-Mobile, telling us about whom to pay and what amount. Once the SMS is done, the amount is instantly transferred and both parties receive a confirmation. Our 24 X 7 customer care help the customers to understand the service much better in case of any error in the SMS.