NextBillion - An Initiative of the William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan

Friday, August 15, 2014

Till a few years ago, Sachin Dhaval had to visit the collection centre of SUMUL, the Surat-based milk co-operative, to pay cash a day in advance for placing his orders. Now with mobile money, Dhaval can pay directly to the co-operative, thereby saving on time and cost.

Based on similar success stories such as SUMUL, operators including Airtel, Vodafone, Idea and Aircel are now betting big on mobile money to cash in on the growing business opportunity. Besides, the government is also likely to provide incentives for m-commerce to promote financial inclusion and Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Independence Day speech may contain cues about the same, sources in the IT ministry said. The recent draft circular by the Reserve Bank of India — Payments Bank — also supports the use of mobile money.