OxiCash Money Transfer launches as India's 1st RBI-approved mobile wallet for unbanked
Yesterday, India's payments solutions provider Oxigen unveiled its instant money transfer service, OxiCash. This "mobile wallet" enables India's unbanked population to transfer money with ease to any bank account and receive money into their wallet at any time. Vijay Chugh, chief general manager for the department of payment and settlement systems at the Reserve Bank of India, officially launched the service at a press event.
The service will benefit the underprivileged segment of India's population who have been unable to conduct money transfers due to the lack of a bank account, said Oxigen in a news release. Oxigen has estimated that 60 percent of India's 1.2 billion people are unbanked and will benefit from the service.
OxiCash is made possible through the National Payments Corporation of India, which facilitates the money transfers through its Immediate Payment Service. Transfers are made in real time, with funds instantly available. "This is a unique experiment of interoperability between bank accounts and wallet accounts," said A.P Hota, MD and CEO of National Payments Corporation of India. "A new vista of financial transactions open up with this project."
The tie-up for money transfers between NPCI and Oxicash is three-fold:
- OxiCash to bank account using beneficiary's bank account number and IFSC code
- OxiCash to Bank Account using Beneficiary's Mobile Number and Mobile Money ID
- Bank account to OxiCash mobile wallet using OxiCash registered mobile number and MMID 8888888
A customer can also transfer funds from one OxiCash wallet directly to another.
OxiCash Money Transfer service is available both online and on mobile across India. The wallet can be created through a simple SMS exchange and funded at 100,000 Oxigen retail touch points nationwide or through IMPS. Customers can use the service on a smartphone with the OxiCashAndroid app or on any mobile phone via simple text SMS.
Read more about mobile banking.