Technology and Mobile Payment Service Providers Landscape in India Summary This section gives the overview of the non banking ecosystem in the Indian mobile payment space. It describes the evolution of the ecosystem, the key participants and the roles they play, which includes the technology developers, technology service providers, application developers, the mobile wallet companies, and the MNOs (Mobile network operators). The market dynamics is covered from the non banking perspective. Some key companies have been profiled in detail. The section also covers the merchants scenario in India with respect to mobile payments and explains their opinion about the market. The Indian mobile payment market has been compared with some other developed and developing countries across the world. Finally section includes mobile payment case studies. The survey methodology includes in-depth survey based discussion with the non banking stakeholders in the Indian market. The survey respondents include end to end mobile financial solution providers, mobile wallet developers, telecom operators, POS solution developers and mobile payment application developers. One-on-one discussions were conducted with senior level management in these companies to understand the development of the non banking ecosystem, and to obtain their viewpoint on several aspects of the mobile payment market.
The Non Banking Ecosystem Chart 1 Indian mobile payment ecosystem Mobile Payment Stakeholders Consumer Facing MNOs Banks Retailers Ecommerce Companies Technology Providers End to end solution providers Application Developers Wallet Technology Providers POS Solution Developers Payment Network Companies Technology and Service Providers in Indian Mobile Payment market The main categories of participants in the technology payment landscape in India is summarised in the figure below. 2
Chart 2 Mobile Payment Technology Landscape Atom Technologies, ITZCash, Oxigen and FSS Konylabs, ikaaz, NGPay Technology Players Oxicash, Alpha, MobiKwik, Loop Ezetap, PayMate, mswipe Mobile Wallet Scenario in India A mobile wallet allows subscribers to convert their cell phones into virtual wallets, for utility services such as electricity bill payments, prepaid recharges, digital TV recharge, online shopping, buying movie tickets, etc. The advantage here is that to access the mobile wallet, the phone need not be internet enabled. Some of the mobile wallet types are defined below. Table 1 Mobile wallet types Wallet Type Gatekeeper Wallet Retailer Wallet Banking Wallet Description It focuses on controlling commerce on the phone and allows a consumer to simply wave a mobile device in front of a reader to authorize payment. Allows retailers to leverage coupons and discounts, and move from a broad mass marketing strategy to focus on individual customers. Permits attracting new customers through referrals from delivery of great service. Allows the usage of mobile banking app as a payment tool. It is the next evolutionary step in banking after ATMS, online and mobile banking. 3
Ecommerce Wallet Moves online payment systems into the physical world. PayPal, Amazon, and Apple itunes are examples of popular payment tools. 4
Market Scenario The mobile wallet scenario is gradually heating up in India. There are several players who are trying to cash in on this promising market. Some of the key players in the market include Airtel, PayMate, Oxicash, Money on Mobile, MobiKwik, Alpha Mobile Money, Loop Mobile, etc. Most industry players feel that mobile wallet will very soon become a part of life for most consumers. The product is expected to evolve as a lifestyle product assisting the urban customer with shopping, dining, etc and the rural consumer with easy fund transfers. Experts feel that the cash in our wallet will be replaced by Mobile Money in the coming years. Chart 3 Mobile wallet products in the Indian market Mobile Wallets in India Bharti Airtel was the first to launch Airtel Money with much fanfare. Airtel uses Infosys's Finacle banking technology and USSD (unstructured supplementary service data) protocol for the customer's 5
Merchants Insights and Opinions Merchants or retailers are a key consumer facing stakeholder in the mobile payment ecosystem. However it has been observed that most merchants in our country are not very eager to adopt mobile payment as a mode of transaction. There can be several reasons behind it. Overall reluctance in using mobile as a payment mode Lack of volume of transactions No right kind of push for smaller merchants Low market acceptance Change in attitude of the merchant reluctance to keep a record Cash as a competitor Issue with MDR (Merchant Discount Rate) Mindset of customers Payment gateways in India a problem Lack of initiatives from banks Challenges Drivers MPayment provides instant and real time service Challenges Non availability of cheaper smartphones for cost sensitive market like India. Convenience and ease of use drives usage Long adoption time for customers Indian customer still used to getting a receipt for payments, habits need time to change. Extremely robust and thorough system in place Unclear and not well defined roles for non banking players. Increased speed of connectivity via 3G No clear value proposition for merchants. Growth boosting market regulations Lack of effective communication from banks for promoting mobile payments. 6
Competitive Landscape A candid admission from one of the leading technology company in the Indian mobile payment market. 7