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Mobile Wallet is nothing but a replacement of your thick, pocket-protruding wallet with your mobile phone equipped with functions of a bank card, credit card, house keys, company access control ID, train tickets, driving license, photos, sport club membership card, and so on! A multi-application smart card built into the mobile phone makes all these services possible.

Mobile Wallet, also called the wallet phone, is a product of the Japanese telecommunication major, NTT-DoCoMo. The company's i-mode phone technology and Sony's contactless IC card technology, Felica, are the base for this concept, enabling the integration of the above mentioned services in the mobile phone.

In the Mobile Wallet, JAVA applications help read information offline. You can also add e-money credit, download tickets, or pay for products and services through the Internet connection in i-mode. And it is possible to tender exact changes to the shopkeeper which becomes to difficult with currency notes. Once the mobile wallet concept is used in a cross-country scenario, you may not need to pay commission for exchanging currency, saving considerable amount of money. And, above all, no one can pick your pocket now.

A Look at the Market
With mobile phones having penetrated already very deeply in everyday life, mobile operators can en-cash this moment to enter in mobile wallet services. NTT DoCoMo was able to rapidly spread and sell the concept with huge success in Japan because cell phone penetration in the country is very high owing to the fact that no self-respecting Japanese leaves home without this essential appendage. The Mobile Suica system provides contactless ticketing service on mobile-based wallet in Tokyo's 900 metro stations. In a global initiative, Nokia has signed an agreement with mobile telecom carriers to provide mobile wallet services.

India Welcomes
Given the fact that the Indian telecom industry has already registered 200 crore mobile phone connections, and given the enormous utility it offers with lifestyle enhancing services, the mobile wallet concept will gain momentum in India, generating additional revenue for operators. Bank of Punjab was the first to launch mobile wallet in India. Forging a tie-up with ICICI Bank and Visa Card, Bharti Airtel started mChq service in Delhi and Mumbai.

The Indian telecom market is witnessing exponential growth and it is expected that nearly half of present India-50 crore people-will own mobile phones by 2010.
Imagine! 50 crore people can use mobile wallets-a massive revenue stream for operators. As in other services like SMSes and value added services, the mobile wallet concept also will take off first in metros. The day this concept creeps into the rural lifestyle in a major way, will be the day Indian operators will start minting money-and then, currency printing press in Nasik, Dewas, and Mysore will stop minting!

Kannan K
kannan@cybermedia.co.in