Mobile wallets to make payments easy for customers

BANGALORE: Even though Apple Pay, the company’s mobile wallet, may not see the light of day in India anytime soon, local mobile wallets are finally seeing acceptance.

Citrus Pay, a Mumbai-based mobile wallet has tied up INOX movie theatre chain wherein popcorn's can be ordered while watching a movie using a mobile app at a touch of a button. Citrus is also tying with major Indian airlines and metro rail services for its mobile wallet.

‘Citrus Cash’, the company’s mobile wallet will now work as a pre-paid instrument in the Radio Taxi category and Meru cabs will be the first partner to use it. The fare amount for the user will automatically be deducted from the Citrus Cash wallet after the Meru ride is complete. The idea behind Citrus Cash integration in the app is to allow users to make Zero-click cashless payment.

Amrish Rau, Managing Director, Citrus Payment Solutions Pvt. Ltd., commented, "Time is of utmost importance in today’s fast paced world and we are trying to solve consumer's need and preference for faster ways to make payments in a secure manner."

Meru users can pre-load the amount in Citrus wallet from within the Meru app itself or from the Citrus Cash app and can walk out of the cab as soon as the trip ends. Citrus authenticates the user's on multiple parameters in real time and allows for a Zero-Click payment.

Rau told ET that soon Citrus Cash customers will be able to use the same wallet to buy movie tickets at INOX, food at fast food chain Fasos and book bus tickets at Abhibus.com. "We are in talks with many large airlines and metro rail services to allow mobile wallet to be used for buying tickets quickly and conveniently," Rau said.

Vodafone India on Monday partnered with Indian Railways Catering and Tourism Corporation's (IRCTC) Bharat BPO to allow online booking of railway tickets through mobile phones with Vodafone M-Pesa as a payment option. In June last year, Bharti Airtel also entered into a similar arrangement with IRCTC to offer e-reservations through its mobile wallet service Airtel Money.