(5 March 2008 6:30 pm)

MUMBAI: Airtel announced the launch of a whole range of m-commerce solutions like mobile money transfer (MMT), postpaid bill payment and prepaid recharge on the mobile phone.

mChek, a mobile security and payment solutions provider, has developed the system. To enable these payments, Airtel is collaborating with ICICI bank, HDFC bank, SBI, Corporation Bank and VISA.

The solution is claimed to be totally secure and certified by Payment Card Industry Data Security Standards (PCIDSS), a stringent globally accepted security standard.

Airtel has piloted these products across the country. It already has 67,000 registered customers for postpaid bill payments with over a hundred thousand transactions running, said a company release.

"This will allow millions of our customers to send money any time, from anywhere to anyone. We see tremendous growth potential for these and many more m-commerce solutions on the mobile phone in the next few years," said Airtel marketing and communications director Gopal Vittal.

"Our partnership and alliance led innovation approach that we have consistently followed has allowed us to build a solid ecosystem of banking and solution providers to be first off the block in this very relevant space."

HDFC Bank retail liabilities, marketing and direct banking channels group head Rahul Bhagat added, "We see the mobile becoming the convergence instrument, which allows all banking transactions to be done with complete security and that, too, on the move."

"The 'Airtel mChek' platform will enable customers to transact through mobile phones and will extend the horizon of banking services to new frontiers," avers ICICI Bank senior general manager Sachin Khandelwal.