Telecom Lead India: India is leading in terms of the
mobile banking adoption at 76 percent, followed by China.
Germany, with a 24 percent adoption rate, and Canada at
18 percent have the lowest rate of adoption.
In fact, among major operators, Airtel is spearheading
the mobile money service in India.
Bharti Airtel expands airtel mobile money service to 300 cities
in India
Recently, Bharti Airtel, through its subsidiary Airtel M
Commerce Services (AMSL), has expanded airtel money, a mobile wallet
service, to 300 key cities in India. The national availability of airtel
money follows the success of service’s first phase of launch in Delhi NCR
and Chennai in 2011.
While an estimated 240 million people across India hold
bank accounts, more than 90 percent of country’s population uses cash to
pay for its daily needs. A majority of customers continue to rely on
traditional or time consuming methods like money orders and cheque remittances
when it comes to transferring funds.
According to a study of mobile banking and payment
adoption rates in 14 countries by ACI Worldwide and Aite Group, India has the
highest percentage of identified Smartphonatics, at 60 percent, followed by
South Africa (42 percent).
The fewest are found in Germany (10 percent), France (8
percent) and Canada (7 percent). The United States ranks in the middle at 20
percent.
Smartphonatics’ behavior is shaping consumers’
requirements for mobile payment and banking solutions.
A Smartphonatic is someone who changes their shopping,
financial and payment behavior as a result of owning a smartphone. Globally,
nearly 25 percent of consumers can be classified as Smartphonatics.
70 percent of Smartphonatics have used their smartphones
for mobile payments, less than a quarter of non-Smartphonatics have done so.
“Smartphonatics exist around the world and while
they may be more concentrated in some countries it is quite clear they are an
emerging consumer force. Smartphonatics are driving the adoption of mobile
banking and payments and will be an agent for change. Financial and retail
institutions will need to adapt or risk being left behind,” said Ron
Shevlin, senior analyst, Aite Group.
Mobile payment services from surveyed countries ranges
from two-thirds of respondents in China and India to only 15 percent usage
reported by Canadian participants and 13 percent reported by the French.
The emergence of Smartphonatics will not result in the
demise of traditional banking or payment systems. While using a mobile device
is the preferred method of payment and banking in many groups, it is not
expected to be the only method.
“Organizations need to plan strategically for mobile
as part of their overall channel strategy, alongside ATMs, POS, branch and
online banking. The most successful companies are leveraging their existing
banking and payments systems to implement innovative mobile services. That way,
they can cut down costs and time to market for new mobile ventures,” said
Ralph Dangelmaier, president, Global Markets and Services, ACI Worldwide.
