Innovative mobile payment system required: ASSOCHAM

"The need of the hour is to develop an innovative mobile payment system which is customised to the Indian ecosystem requirements and has a mass appeal," ASSOCHAM Communications Convergence Committee Chairman T V Ramachandran said.

Besides, mobile wallets for electronic payments through smart phones are set to grow fast with nearly 100 per cent mobile penetration in four years and a booming retail market with annual transactions worth USD 410 billion (Rs 18.50 lakh crore), a study by ASSOCHAM and global consulting firm Deloitte said.

At the same time, India, which currently has about 720 million mobile phone subscribers, would witness a 100 per cent mobile phone penetration by 2015, it added.

However, 67 per cent of the country's retail transactions are conducted in cash. All current non-cash payment modes like credit cards, debit cards and multiple mobile payment solutions appeal to a small section (of society), it said.

According to the study India has 173 million debit cards and 23 million credit cards in use. The point of settlement terminals in India remain low at 419 per million inhabitants as compared to 1,700 in China, 17,020 in the United States and 24,611 in Brazil.