The successful mobile payment service M-Pesa has been launched in Delhi by Vodafone India, in conjunction with ICICI Bank.
The operator will shortly launch the service in Mumbai and Lucknow, with designs on the migrant population.
“We expect a small number of people to adapt this initially...if classical marketing theory is anything to go by usually about half to one per cent of people adopt a new product,” said Vodafone India Business Head (Delhi) Subrat Padhi. However, he noted that the service was expected to see “viral” adoption based on word of mouth, as occurred in Kenya.
Vodafone India Business Head M-Pesa Suresh Sethi confirmed this belief, noting: “We clearly feel the initial experience will come by our push...point of inflection, there is a point when it becomes viral and people start doing it with word of the mouth.”
The service allows customers to transfer money to any mobile phone, remit money to a bank account, make payments for utility bills and deposit and withdraw cash from designated outlets.
Users need to pay a deposit to register for the service, then a small convenience fee per transaction. The service will be available through 1,400 authorised agents and across 130 Vodafone exclusive retail stores in Delhi and NCR region.
Apart from Delhi, the service, which was launched in December last year, is currently available in Kolkata, West Bengal, Bihar, Jharkhand and Rajasthan and will be rolled out across the country in 12-18 months.
