Mobile Payment Without Internet to Soon Become Reality in India

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in its recent announcement has confirmed the commencement of testing under the first cohort of Regulatory Sandbox on Retail Payments by Eroute Technologies. Digital payments, which were believed to be possible and dominated only by the internet-connected smartphone user segment, will soon be available to every mobile user in India including those using a non-smartphone or a ‘feature’ phone means a phone that doesn’t have an internet connection. The service is made possible by implementing the patented & secured technology of SIM overlay smartcard to drive SIM Tool Kit (STK) menu-based user interface to facilitate UPI, money transfer, merchant and bill payments. This product offers payment solutions to non-internet-connected phones including feature phones which currently have 500+ million users in the country.

Speaking on the development Sanjeev Pandey, Co-founder & CEO Eroute Technologies said, “The unprecedented Covid-19 outbreak has made social distancing a new-normal giving impetus to online and contactless payments. Our endeavour, since the commencement of our operations in 2019, has been to build an omnichannel payment ecosystem that simplifies consumer spends and addresses the needs of the pre-banked and underserved segments of our society using our innovative technologies and designs blended with personalisation. We aim to be a leader in the card-based payment industry targeting niche market segments with a one-stop spending experience to our users. We are delighted to be a part of Regulatory Sandbox’s 1st Cohort and have high praise for RBI’s initiatives to spur digital payment innovation in the country.”

Abhishek Saxena, Co-founder & COO at Eroute Technologies said, “Eroute is an innovation lab and our product philosophy is “YOU”. SIM Overlay smartcard empowers a large under-served population especially those living in semi-urban & rural areas of our country by improving their livelihood using UPI-based mobile payments. On the other hand, OmniCard® solves the problem by offering solutions that match the vibes of the 230 Million tech native youth, their lifestyle and spending experience through an intuitive Mobile App and a reliable new generation Card with spend visibility, controls and other advanced features along with savings on real-time personalized merchant offers.

Eroute Technologies is a digital payment card company that is conceived by pioneers in the banking and payment industry with a goal to redefine spending experiences for the masses by creating a simple, secure and reliable platform that helps in connecting people and businesses globally.

The company has also recently received Reserve Bank of India’s in-principal authorisation to issue and operate Pre-paid Instruments under the Payments & Settlement Act, 2007 and proposes to offer cashless convenience to millions of Young and their parents with the innovative OmniCard® linked to an intuitive mobile app. The OmniCard® manifests the flexibility and seamless consumer spending experience to our Young to use their pre-paid card account independently and relieve their parents of giving them physical cash or supplementary debit or credit cards for their spending.

Source: Zee Business