And they’re expected to launch this service “shortly, if not within a week” very soon, if you go by this Business Standard report. Reliance Communications (RCOM) and ICICI Bank have apparently completed trial runs in metros. The service enables consumers to transfer up to Rs. 5000 per transaction to other ICICI Bank account holders. RCOM has confirmed the development. More on RCOMs m-commerce initiatives in the report.

Now the issue with money transfer was initially that of accounting - if the money transferred goes into the operators books, and is considered to be operator revenue, then that contributes to its annual licence fees (which depend on Annual Gross Revenue). Other money transfer tie-ups include Vodafone-Citigroup and Airtel-SBI (see related links). For the initiative to be a success, and for it to emerge as a payment mechanism, the service will need to be made available across operators, across banks.

• Reliance Plans Money Transfer Service
• Accounting Issues Holding Back Money Transfer Initiative
• 3GSM: Mobile Money Tranfer Service Launched; Bharti Airtel And SBI Tie Up For Pilot In India
• Vodafone, Citigroup To Work On Mobile Money Transfer App For India & Emerging Markets