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Nokia to launch m-banking service 'Nokia Money'
By siliconindia
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Helsinki: Despite a tough regulatory environment for mobile banking in India, Nokia expects to soon roll out its financial and banking services in the country under the banner 'Nokia Money.' The mobile phone company has initiated talks with six banks in India, who will be responsible for cash management and handling banking regulatory issues.
As per Nokia's strategy, it plans to tap its huge network of 1.9 lakh phone retailers and dealers who will act as the consumer point and banking correspondents. Nokia will offer an universal platform where the mobile phone can be a medium for banking, international remittance, payment of utility bills, pay merchants for goods and services and buying tickets. "India figures amongst the top 20 countries where we plan to roll out Nokia Money in the first phase. While at present Indian banks may have a mobile banking platform, it is limited to a single bank and telecom operator. What we plan to offer is a full-fledged service which will bring together all banks, operators and even handsets of other brands," said Teppo Paavola, Global Head of Nokia Money service, reports Economic Times.
Talking about the regulatory challenges in India, Paavola said that the key issue will be to turn the Nokia retailers into Nokia Money agent. "The regulations are real tough in India compared to Philippines and Kenya. As RBI has a Know Your Customer policy for banks, this could act as a limitation for the Nokia agents. Hence, we are talking to the banks in India who will work around the regulatory issues, bring the licenses and undertake cash management," said Paavola.
Still, Nokia expects its service will be a huge success in India due to its vast dealer network from where consumers can deposit money or withdraw cash. "As it is quite an expensive proposition to set up branches or ATM in India, Nokia Money will act as an extension of a bank's branch. The success will lie in the fact that the service needs to work in all handsets, it should be as simple and convenient as making a voice call or sending SMS and have a very low transaction fee. We are working towards developing such a model in India," said Paavola.
Nokia expects to globally debut its first Nokia Money service early next year. Market surveys indicate the global mobile financial services market will reach Euro 18 billion by 2014, of which emerging markets alone are likely to contribute Euro 12 billion.