Standard Chartered Bank in India has launched a range of mobile money applications developed by UK vendor Monitise.
Created for the Standard Chartered Breeze brand, the apps let customers view bank and credit card accounts, transfer funds to other financial institutions, pay utility bills at over 100 firms, locate branches and ATMs and find and pay merchants such as airlines and cinemas.
The apps are compatible with more than 700 handsets, from smartphones such as iPhones and BlackBerrys to basic devices using Java.
Monitise Chief Executive Alastair Lukies, says: "Innovation is at the heart of both the fast-growing mobile banking market in India and our open and collaborative approach to the mobile money ecosystem globally. This launch shows how our tried and tested technology enables banks to extend beyond their traditional range of services into mobile commerce."
The deal marks Monitise's first launch in India and comes nearly a year after it inked an agreement with Standard Chartered and two years after the establishment of a unit in the country to tap the potentially huge market.
Earlier this week, India's Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry noted that mobile penetration in the country is forecast to reach 100% by 2015.
But the country is pre-dominantly a cash economy with 67%t of retail transactions being conducted in cash. All current non-cash payment modes like credit cards, debit cards and multiple mobile payment solutions appeal to a small section.
"While the ubiquitous mobile is surely the most promising channel, the need of the hour is to develop an innovative mobile payment system which is customised to the Indian ecosystem requirements and has a mass appeal," says Assocham's secretary general D.S. Rawat.