BANGALORE, INDIA: The much talked about Unique Identity Project (UID) is not just about providing citizens with biometric cards. In fact, the new identity cards can be used for multiple purposes and can even replace the debit or credit cards one day.

The UID project will be a key enabler in economy and will pave way for the second wave of M-commerce, observed panelists at a session on 'Ride the New Mobile solutions Wave triggered by UID' during the Nasscom Product Conclave 2010 which began here on Wednesday.

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Participating in the session, Carol Realini, CEO Obopay Inc., said UID will bring exciting opportunities and empower individuals, small businesses and also enable financial institutions to provide new services.

"The biometric cards can be used for merchant payments, making it a highly effective fraud proof substitute for plastic cards (debit and credit cards). Supported by mobile phones users can get timely notification of transactions."

In addition, she said the new identity cards will save over 50 per cent of Know Your Customer (KYC) costs in handling documents and papers. The project will also dive down on boarding costs and speedy adoption, she added.

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Arun Tanksali, vice president, Mobile Solutions, Comviva, stressed that the UID will not just enable ID authentication but it will serve as a fundamental basis on which different kinds of transactions can be done."

He said the UID project will basically bring three kinds of opportunities, which include new retail authentication services and finical services, as once the UID project is in place it can be connected with mobile phones and bank accounts in turn. Further, the new biometric cards can also serve as a trusted authentication mechanism.

"It can replace the boarding passes that are required to access to secured public places like airports." he noted.

Abhishek Sinha, EKO India Financial Services noted that the UID will provide an opportunity for digitalizing the financial transactions. The possible cases include payment for health care, pre-paid recharge, weather/ commodity price updates among others.