Mobile payments service MChek has tied up with some fairly large online merchants - FutureBazaar.com, Indiatimes.com, SifyMall.com and Yatra.com. However, the service is limited to Airtel subscribers who own Visa or MasterCard credit cards. It’s not an exclusive deal - competitor Paymate already has some of these (and more) signed up. As per the release, MChek intends to expand its service to other telecom operators…but we’ve heard that before. Mobile payment companies exist across banks/financial institutions and mobile operators. They’ll also need to go beyond the credit card users. The Economic Times reports that MChek is looking to raise $5-15 million in its second round of funding; first round was from Draper Fisher Jurvetson. The company is targeting four verticals - bill payment, Internet shopping, Merchant Transactions and P2P payments. The regulatory policy on P2P payments hasn’t been announced yet.

This RBI report (pdf, via VentureWoods) suggests that since credit and debit cards are not cost-effective for micro payments, the RBI needs to look at pre-paid cards and mobile phones. Some relief for a number of payment companies (Obopay, Itz Cash, MChek, Paymate, Jigrahak) if the RBI makes regulatory changes “so as to facilitate the maintenance of customer accounts at the mobile companies and pooled account at banks. And also facilitate the acceptance and disbursal of cash at merchant / mobile phone service provider locations, similar to what has been permitted by the Central Banks of Kenya and Philippines.”

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