Smartphone maker offers mVisa QR code payments in India

Smartphone maker Micromax is to offer the mVisa QR code-based mobile payments service through its Udio mobile app across India, in collaboration with Visa and payments solution provider TranServ.

Vikas Jain, Micromax
BROADEN ACCESS: Deal will ‘simplify mobile payments’, says Vikas Jain

The service will be available to all consumers with a Micromax smartphone, with the Udio app allowing customers to load physical cash at nearly 100,000 offline centres across India, in addition to online.

Plans to integrate mVisa into the Udio mobile app were unveiled in April 2016, with NFC part of the “long-term road map”. Visa adds this is the first roll-out of mVisa through its Visa Developer Center, an open platform that provides developers access to some of Visa’s payment services and capabilities.

‘Crucial role’

“Deep integration with devices presents great potential to create new payment experiences that will play a crucial role in shaping the future of digital payments,” Visa says.

“The mVisa payment solution will be made available to Micromax smartphone users through the native Udio app within their handsets, making Micromax the only handset provider with a native app facilitating mVisa issuance.”

‘Centre stage’

“The integration of mVisa on Udio is a step further towards simplifying mobile payments,” says Vikas Jain, co-founder of Micromax. “We believe that single platform integration with multiple disparate services will broaden access and the mobile phone comes at the centre stage of this functionality.”

mVisa was unveiled in August 2015 through a pilot with Indian banks. ICICI Bank became the first to offer the service to consumers in October, followed by State Bank of India, which announced its support for mVisa in May 2016. It is due to arrive in Nigeria by the end of this year.

Visa recently also signed a deal with Pan-African banking group Ecobank to roll out mVisa to 33 African markets by the end of 2016.

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