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India’s second largest private sector lender, HDFC Bank is coming up with a new service which will allow mobile phone recharges via a missed call to the bank, reports Business Standard. Speaking to the publication, the bank’s head of digital banking, Nitin Chugh added that the service will be rolled out with the next 2-3 months and will be initially be offered to the bank and credit card customers.
Customers would need to register their numbers with the bank and authorize the a predetermined amount to get their phone recharged. Customers’ phone will be recharged automatically following the missed call and the amount will be debited from the bank account. The minimum recharge amount has been kept at Rs 10 while the maximum amount that can be recharged is kept at Rs 250, the publication added.
It is unclear how customers will set the predetermined recharge amount. It also needs to be pointed out that if users cannot make a missed call if their balance is zero.Maybe it will be a toll-free number users can call and enter the re charge amount?
MediaNama’s take
This is a great move by the bank which should help customers who are in areas with patchy data network. Over 80% of mobile connections in India are on prepaid subscriptions, and many of them are in in rural areas where 2G networks are more prevalent. However, the service needs to expand from just HDFC Bank’s customers to other banks as well to get greater adoption.
Other developments
– In August, HDFC Bank tied up with e-commerce portal Snapdeal to launch a co-branded credit card. The card is aimed to encourage Snapdeal’s customers from tier 2 and 3 markets to adapt to digital payments.
– In July, the bank said it would rolling out handheld machines across the country that can enable customers in rural areas to carry out most banking transactions enabled by an ATM. The device lets users withdraw or deposit cash, get account statements, get pre-approved loans and other such back functions.
– In the same month, the bank unveiled its banking application for the Apple Watch which allows its customers to view their account summaries and also recharge their mobile phones and DTH connections.
– In June, HDFC Bank introduced a mobile application called PayZapp which brings together hundreds of e-commerce platforms on it and allows consumers to pay via a wallet.
