Maneesh Chourishi - Mobile Commerce Expert
Mobile Commerce – An Intelligent endeavor
The easy to use technology for buying and selling services & goods and administrating financial transaction via a mobile phone – acknowledged as m-commerce.
Mobile Commerce has been around for quite sometime, but very few phone users have taken any advantage of it. Because, an internet connection and a credit card / bank account can be used to purchase just about any product or service a customer could possibly want. For those without a PC, internet connection or a credit card / bank account, m-commerce is fast becoming a blessing. Workers in even the poorest economies can now afford money transaction as they own a mobile phone. Indeed, ownership of mobile phones in the developing world is fast approaching the levels of the developed world. But very few of these users can produce the paperwork needed to open a bank account or have the skills to use a PC in an internet café. As an answer, the poor mobile phone is becoming much more than a phone to users in poor, rural locations. No wonder, that mCommerce services in the emerging /developing economies are already overwhelming the most optimistic expectations for growth and consumer acceptance.
Mobile Commerce solutions are summarized in two major alternatives:
Bank Controlled: Banks are specialized in banking operations, already have banking license and have access to financial records. On the other side banks have limited knowledge of target market, limited knowledge of telecom related issues, Network has limited interest in promoting service and will have trouble launching core telecom services for mobile commerce.
Telecom Controlled: Mobile Network Operator (MNO) has knowledge of target market, no conflict of interest. But Telecom requires banking license, Network must acquire banking skills.
Anti Money Laundering - AML
Money laundering is the act of converting money or other monetary instruments gained from illegal activity into money or investments that appear to be legitimate so that its illegal source cannot be traced.
Way of doing Money Laundering in mobile wallet based mCommerce applications:
1. Suspicious user
2. No limit for Money transactions
3. Transfers to any user in the distribution hierarchy
Following means are implemented to prevent Money Laundering activities:
I. KYC - Know your customer
Know your customer (KYC) is the due diligence that is performed to identify the client/customer and ascertain relevant information pertinent of doing financial business with them. One aspect of KYC checking is to verify that the customer is not on any list of known fraudsters, terrorists or money launderers. These lists are maintained by designated regularities and third party vendors.
KYC norms are different for all the countries. In India Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has advised banks to obtain certain personal information of the customer. The objective of doing so is to enable the Bank to have positive identification of its customers. This is also in the interest of customers to safeguard their hard earned money. The KYC guidelines of RBI mandate banks to collect customers Photograph, Proof of identity and Proof of address.
An interface is provided in User Admin section to verify the KYC. Customer care executive will verify the personnel details and mark as ‘KYC verified’. Customer should be verified in 20 days from the date of registration; subsequently Customer will be barred in the system with a reason ‘NO KYC verification’. KYC verification is an optional check, System Administrator can set the ‘KYC verification required’ as Yes/No in system preferences. In case of third party KYC verification, a batch file will be uploaded in the system to update the status of the Customers.
Mobile operators can provide a black list of known defaulters with their MSISDN numbers. System will cross-check with black list at the time of registration and will refuse registration of these Customers. A check on the MSISDN can be defined in the system; like only MSISDN which starts from a defined prefix should be registered, length of MSISDN should match as defined in system preference etc.
Based on KYC information Customers can be grouped like Platinum, Gold, Silver or Normal users.
II. Transaction Limit
Transaction limit for Customers should be defined as per there requirements. For example a normal user can transact 0-100 per day, 0-500 per week and 0-2000 per month. While a Gold user is having a different range for transaction for example 0-300 per day, $ 0-2000 per week and 0-7000 per month. A minimum amount like 10 should be defined to avoid the load on the system and Network attacks. A Customer should be allowed maximum number of transactions per day, for example 5 Cash-IN, 2 cash-OUT and 20 P2P transactions.
1. There should be a higher and a lower limit for each category/profile users mobile wallet.
2. There should be a maximum limit for the total number of transactions allowed in a day/ week/month for category/profile of users.
3. Min/Max amount per transaction by Service like Cash-IN, Cash-OUT, P2P, etc.
4. There will be a maximum limit for the cumulative amount to be transferred in and out of mobile wallet for all transactions occurring in a day for users.
5. User should be notified when a transaction limits are reached.
III. Transfer Rules
Distribution hierarchies are established to facilitate the mobile wallet management.
IV. User Barring
Automatic user barring.
mMoney
mMoney is a mobile-based commerce system that enables mobile users to remotely & securely access a range of commercial and financial applications. The mobile is used as a medium to access a wide range of services. The mobile is used as a cash-free and card-free payment and transaction medium. The system offers real-time financial services to customers from anywhere and anytime.
mMoney supports money transfers. In addition, subscribers can recharge airtime, make payments at retail shops, credit employees’ salaries and pay utility bills anytime and from anywhere. The system creates a virtual account, mWallet, for each registered user for accessing mMoney services. mWallet contains virtual money, mMoney, that is in the form of points. The points are used to carry out transactions and avail services. mMoney acts as a mobile currency enabling customers to quickly, easily, and securely transfer points & airtime to other subscribers via their mobile phones. Any mMoney customer can use the mMoney service, and following a transaction, both parties receive notification as confirmation.
The system offers the following services to users (customers or channel users):
Cash-IN: Deposit mMoney (in exchange of cash) in customer mWallets by channel users.
Cash-OUT: Withdrawal of mMoney (in form of cash through channel users) from customer mWallets.
P2P: Customers can transfer mMoney to other customers of the system.
Phone Top Up: Customers can top-up their and others mobile balance using mMoney.
Bill Payment: Payment of utility bills using mMoney.
Payroll Credit: Employers can credit employees’ salary directly to the mWallets.
Merchant Payment: Customers can make payment for their purchases at retail shops.
MFI Services: The collection and disbursement of MFI loans through the mWallets.