Visa, Monitise Roll Out Mobile Payments Service in India

Movida, a mobile payments joint venture of Visa and Monitise, has signed an agreement with HDFC Bank, India's second-largest private bank, to introduce a new mobile payment service in that country.

The new service allows HDFC Bank customers to pay bills, purchase prepaid airtime and buy tickets from their mobile phone and is designed to operate across all mobile networks using both Visa and non-Visa branded payment accounts, according to Visa.

The new service uses menu-based USSD mobile technology. After linking their HDFC Bank payment card to their mobile phone number, cardholders can then access the service via USSD over Movida's secure connection.

According to Visa, the system encompasses various security measures, including a unique PIN number set up on the phone to access the account information. Only the user's bank-registered phone can be connected to the service.

"This is a service designed for Indians," said Naushad Contractor, Movida's president and head of the Monitise and Visa joint venture in India. "As we rollout the service to other banks, more Indians will be able to benefit from mobile payments. This service is going to drastically reduce the time and energy Indians waste every day waiting to pay bills."

The service is initially being offered to a select number of customers before being rolled out across the country later in the year.

Bryan Yurcan is associate editor for Bank Systems and Technology. He has worked in various editorial capacities for newspapers and magazines for the past 8 years. After beginning his career as a municipal and courts reporter for daily newspapers in upstate New York, Bryan has ... View Full Bio