mVisa – Pay with your mobile #ScanPayGo
Technology around mobile payment systems have been a hot topic for quite some time. Back in engineering college, this used to be the most sought after topic for technical paper presentations and discussions. But it has been over a decade and mobile payments have not penetrated the masses. It is all about to change now. Payment technology leader Visa, has introduced mVisa, that enables payment through mobile phones. The arrival of mVisa in India is perfect on timing. Smartphones penetration in India is higher than ever and it is growing every day. A smartphone that can take care of almost all your daily tasks, and now it can be your payment assistant as well.
What is mVisa?
mVisa is the smart new way to pay with your smartphone. . mVisa has currently been enabled by ICICI bank and Axis bank in India. mVisa enables you to link your Visa debit card without having to carry cash, card or wallet. . You can actually leave your wallet at home and just carry the mobile with you for all your transactions. Well, that is the vision. Once the adoption rate has increased you can just scan the QR code with your mobile at the POS (Point of Sale) to start a transaction and your payments will be processed instantly.
How does mVisa work?
I was fortunate to get a demo and see mVisa in action. Visa India organized a road show, #mVisaKhauGully and I got to visit the Food truck at Manyata Tech Park in Bangalore. I installed and signed up for Pockets by ICICI bank. I paid for my lunch order at the food truck with mVisa. So here is what I learned and experienced from the event.
I installed the Pockets app by ICICI and after a few security procedures, I was signed up for the pockets program. This took less than 2 minutes. Once inside the app, I selected the option “Pay with mVisa”. This opened up a screen where the camera app was ready to scan a QR code. I placed it before the QR code displayed in the food truck. Then I entered the amount and authorized the transaction. The payment was done and my payment reflected in the mobile app of the vendor. That is all. It’s was simple as Scan, Pay and Go.
mVisa is a technology enabler that strives to make payment and transaction experience hassle-free for both the buyer and the seller.
In the near future, you can expect to see mVisa adopted by many sellers. Once that happens, you can forget your wallet and carry just your mobile and go out for shopping. Even if you lose your mobile, your payments and bank accounts are all safe and protected. Hoping to see this change soon and this change will be for a better world.
