Nokia, UBI to roll out of Mobile Payment Services

BANGALORE, INDIA: Union Bank of India (UBI) and Nokia, today announced the commercial launch of ‘Union Bank Money powered by Nokia’ across India, starting with the National Capital Region.

The service is already available to consumers in Gurgaon, and will be soon go live in Delhi, Faridabad and Noida. This will be followed by a nationwide roll-out over the next few months, said a press release.

The service specifically targets users, who do not have a bank account today, by providing access to financial services through their mobile phones and driving financial inclusion.

The service will enable consumers to transfer money to other individuals, withdraw cash from Business Correspondents cash-out outlets (registered Nokia stores) and ATMs, pay utility bills as well as recharge prepaid SIM cards (top-ups) by using their mobile devices, eliminating the need for intermediaries and delivering true convenience.

Nokia will supplement the existing 3000 UBI branches across the country with its network of retail outlets spread across the country. 

Nokia retail outlets will serve as Business Correspondent agents for Union Bank Money services, in compliance with RBI guidelines. Prospective customers can register for the service, deposit money, or withdraw cash from their accounts at these BC agents, the release added.

‘Union Bank Money powered by Nokia’ operates across all handsets in India. Making the service ubiquitous, highly accessible and user-friendly, Nokia is pre-installing the application in a wide range of Nokia mobile handsets across price points. The application can also be installed nearly on all already existing Nokia handsets in the country.

M.V. Nair, chairman and managing director, Union Bank of India, said, “We strongly believe Union Bank Money will augment financial inclusion amongst the unbanked and under-banked consumer segments by bringing financial services through the mobile device. Technology is a great enabler for banking services and our partnership with Nokia will help us offer ‘Anytime Anywhere’ financial services to consumers across the country.”

Once rolled out across the nation, Union Bank Money will be the single largest network in India to provide mobile financial services to consumers in urban as well as penetrate rural areas to tap the unbanked populace, he added.

“Nokia is building an open ecosystem for mobile payments in India with multiple partners (banks, merchants, billers, service providers), to drive basic financial services across the country. Our partnership with UBI will help connect the unbanked population in the country by leveraging the wide reach of our combined networks and the deep penetration of mobile services in the country,” said D Shivakumar, vice president and managing director Nokia India.

He added that the service will drive financial inclusion by eliminating dependence on the physical presence of a branch or availability of internet banking services.