Updated 26 May, 2012, 4:18 pm IST

Mobile Payment Applications

22 Oct, 2010, 12:15 pm IST | by Gareth Mankoo

Take a look at the most popular finance applications and websites.

Mobile banking isn’t something of the future. It’s already here and it’s established firmly among the masses. We shed some light over the facts and figures from Informate Mobile Intelligence that vouch for the overwhelming growth in the use of these applications.

It’s quite obvious that we’re going completely mobile, and by this, we don’t just mean making calls and sending messages for communication. Applications now offer most of the services we’re accustomed to using on the PC, right on our mobile phones. In the last issue of CHIP Plus, we saw how various types of applications have been making a mark on the growing tech-savvy population. This time around, we focus on mobile applications that help you carry out financial transactions such as purchasing products and carrying out basic banking activities on the go. Even with GPRS prices proving to be stagnant and not reducing drastically, mobile users still prefer using their handsets for basic transactions rather than heading to the bank branch and standing in long queues. All one needs is a credit card or debit card to get carry out online transactions from just about anywhere.

THE TOP 5 PAYMENT APPLICATIONS
Statistics from Informate help shed some light on the most used payment applications on the mobile platform. As expected, Ngpay is the most used application when it comes to mobile purchases. It reaches out to a larger number of users mainly because of the applications and services that it is a•� liated with. As the Ngpay website states, ‘Someone in India clicks on Ngpay every 0.5 seconds’. Some of the most notable services provided by Ngpay include facilities for travel, entertainment, finance and shopping. All you have to do is download the application on your phone. You will first have to visit www.ngpay.com and enter your mobile number. A link will be sent to your mobile phone as a text message. An array of other useful applications has also made a considerable impact on the mobile transactions front. These include mCheck, BookMyShow, Atom Mobile and MeraMobile. From these, BookMyShow is quite popular among those who frequent cinema halls. Besides their website, their handy cell phone application also makes it convenient to book your movie tickets while on the move.

YOUR BANK ON YOUR PHONE
Quite a few mobile users still refrain from using mobile applications because they do not trust the security o! ered by applications and mobile websites. However, a startling figure shows that BFSI (Banking, Financial Services and Insurance) and online trading sites have a larger user base as compared to mobile payment sites. As you will notice in the figure, there was a steady rise in the usage of applications that cater to banking and trading in the six months during which the survey was conducted. This contradicts the common myth that mobile banking and trading is not trustworthy. However, the fact that payment sites aren’t being patronized as much as BFSI sites is quite intriguing. Looking deeper into the mobile finance trend, we notice that the banking applications stand apart from other BFSI apps. Stock trading over the mobile phone is yet to pick up and hasn’t been entirely embraced by users. What’s interesting is that though not astronomical, the usage of stock trading applications is constant. This could reflect the ability of the applications to retain users.

A MALE DOMAIN?
Though it isn’t meant to be so, the figures prove that it’s mostly men who prefer mobile applications and transactions. But astonishingly, the number of female users is just a percent below that of the male user base when it comes to stock trading and banking and finance applications. A huge difference is seen in the mobile payment apps category. This clearly suggests that a majority of women do not fancy purchasing anything over their mobile phones, or perhaps, online.