After long rule of Plastic Money, Comes Mobile Money: Airtel Launches Airtelmoney

This might be just the begining of a new era. Earlier plastic changed the way we used to keep money, now a new concept of mobile money has been launched in India by "Airtel" India's No.1 Telecom Company which has been granted license by RBI to use semi closed wallet.

Have you ever wanted to buy tickets for the evening movie show without visiting the theatre, pay your electricity bill without waiting in a long queue, buy yourself a coffee without the need to take out change – or wished you could magically pay for groceries after forgetting your wallet at home? Your wait is finally over.
Bharti airtel announced the launch of airtel money - India’s first mobile wallet service by a telecom operator. Aimed at offering customers with an efficient alternative to cash transactions, airtel money will provide millions of airtel customers across the country with a convenient and secure way of making payments through the ubiquitous mobile platform. Now available in Gurgaon, the service will soon be launched across several other key cities in India in a phased manner. 

In 2010, Bharti airtel was granted the license to use the Semi Closed Wallet by the Reserve Bank of India. The company has designed a secure and robust backend system to offer India’s first mobile wallet service by a telecom operator - airtel money - as a safe, convenient and user friendly medium for customers to make payments. 

In Gurgaon, airtel has already established partnerships with several merchants (including coffee shops, restaurants etc) to accept payments via airtel money – which will gradually be scaled up to over 3,000 merchants across the city. airtel money will subsequently be launched in Delhi NCR and several other key cities in India. Customers will also be able to avail airtel money exclusive discounts and attractive offers that will be offered at various merchant outlets in the market – and save money as they shop! 

Airtel had recently announced a JV with State Bank of India to provide banking and financial services to millions of unbanked Indians using the mobile platform. With this launch of airtel money – airtel now offers a complete suite of financial products on mobile devices for the banked as well as unbanked population of the country. 

Airtel money is a service offering from airtel Mcommerce Services Limited (AMSL) that allows you to load cash into your mobile and pay for just about anything: from a grocery store to a shopping mall or eating out with friends. airtel money is all you need. Discover the easier way to pay!! 

What you can Do with Airtel Money presently 

Deposit cash :Now you can store cash on your airtel mobile by just depositing it at your nearest retail outlet. 

Pay bills & recharge: You will be able to use this cash in your mobile for making bill payments (telecom, electricity, gas, insurance premium, financial services, etc.) and recharge (mobile, DTH) all through your mobile phone! 

Shop at merchants: You can also use your airtel money wallet for making payments at Over-the-counter (OTC) merchants such as your nearest kirana store, food outlet, chemist, etc. 

Shop sitting at home: You can also pay sitting at home for services like booking movie tickets, travel tickets,or shop online at rediff and indiatimes, etc. 

To use airtel money 

Register by filling in the application form and submitting KYC documents (2 photocopies of proof-of-identity, 1 copy of proof-of-address and a passport size photograph). 

After the above, your existing airtel SIM will be upgraded to the new 64K airtel SIM with airtel money. 

Activate your airtel money account by choosing your MPIN. 

Load cash into your airtel money account by visiting your nearest airtel retailer 

You are now ready to send commands through the airtel money application on your phone and transact anytime, anywhere!


Charges & Transaction Limits
There’s a monthly subscription fee of Rs. 5 for Airtel Money, and utility bills – for telecom, electricity, water and gas – are also charged at Rs. 5 per payment. Why is Airtel charging a fee for people using it to making telecom payments?Additionally, for several other services, the merchant might decide to charge a transaction fee.

There are daily and monthly transaction limits as well:
- Loading Cash: Minimum is Rs. 10, Maximum daily limit is Rs. 5000, and monthly limit is Rs. 50,000
- Payment limits: Minimum payment is Rs. 5, Maximum daily limit is Rs. 5000, and Monthly limit is Rs. 50,000

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