India's Icici Bank is to use technology from Movida, the mobile payments joint venture between Visa and Monitise, to provide customers with a new way to recharge their phones and pay bills from their handsets.
Cardholders will be able to make payments through Movida's secured connection after linking their payment card to their mobile phone number registered with Icici Bank. Card account information will be protected by a personal PIN.
Access to Movida is enabled either through a menu-based USSD mobile technology, or an Interactive Voice Response (IVR) in multiple languages, making the service widely available even from the most basic handset devices.
Naushad Contractor, Movida's resident and head of the Visa-Monitise joint venture in India, states: "The mobile payment services which will succeed in India are simple, interoperable solutions that solve a real consumer need and can apply to any handset, without the need for a technology upgrade or a new purchase."
The deal with Icici follows Movida's previously announced partnership with HDFC Bank, India's second-largest private bank. Between them, HDFC and Icici make up more than half of all credit card transactions in India and one third of all debit card transactions.