In 
While many countries, particularly in Western Europe, Asia and the United States, have gone far ahead when it comes to the adoption of technology, India does not lag that far behind either as it sets the pace for technological innovation. This can be attributed in part to the same risk-taking, entrepreneurial spirit on which our nation was built.
For instance, the country has taken large strides in leveraging the advantages of mobile technology in day-to-day transactions. Today, it is an accepted fact that mobile-based technologies could improve the service you offer to your customers. Mobile payment solutions redefine mobile usage completely, turning your mobile phone into a secure device, which can be used for transactions anytime, anywhere and for any service, be it cash transactions, utility bill payments, flight ticket purchases and much more.
An easier way to pay
Electronic transactions using mobile phones is a rapidly-growing payment option where a consumer uses a mobile phone to pay for a wide range of services, digital or hard goods, instead of paying with cash, cheque or card (prepaid/ debit/credit). A mobile wallet is a mobile phone application that supports multiple payment options including all credit cards.
The mobile payment trend is now popular across geographies and it is no surprise that the mobile transaction market is estimated to reach over $600 billion globally by 2013, with India contributing significantly to this growth in the industry.
The reason for this huge growth is the simplicity and ease of use. Mobile payments allow people to simply login to their accounts in order to complete their purchases. In some cases, the consumers need only submit their mobile phones for scanning and the payment is credited immediately to the users card.
Need of the hour
The use of smartphones for transactions is growing at a rapid pace and hence the need to educate customers to adhere to secure practices is even more critical. In fact, with the right security measures in place, the humble handheld device is actually capable of offering more security than conventional payment methods and is the better option.
How? Firstly, the security functionalities already present in the mobile handset provide authentication capabilities that do not exist in the existing payment environment. Secondly, at least 100 million new earners are expected to generate billions of cash transactions in the next 5 to 10 years; in India, with almost a billion mobile subscribers, a mobile payment platform is the only solution.
The app encompasses a high level of security, and the encryption protections with passwords and GPS location functionality in the handset represent strong security controls to accessing payment instruments in the mobile wallet.
The risks that come with this are the issues of data and identity theft. For every online transaction that one makes, one is required to provide data to complete the transactioni.e., name, address and credit card or bank account details. Normally this is not a problem, but whenever data is exchanged or stored on the internet, there is a chance that it may be compromised by third parties.
Mobile retail services overcome these exposures in online shopping. The best way to avoid these risks is if consumers are required to provide as little personal information as possible.
However, if mobile-based technology providers can provide a simple, risk-free method of purchasing along with a robust secure transaction system, they are onto a winning formula. Since the ease of use and mobility service factor is driving the adoption of the mobile transaction trend, the service providers have to deploy security software to ensure that the transactions are smooth and risk-free.
~ Kalaivani Chittaranjan is ED & CEO , eMudhra Consumer Services Ltd.
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