Reserve Bank eases m-banking laws

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has decided to relax its mobile-banking norms, and has raised the caps on fund transfers as well as mobile-based payments, reports IndiaTimes.

Taking into account requests from banks and mobile payment-service providers, the regulator has also provided a cap of 10 000 rupees for purchases through the mobile.

Sanjay Swamy, CEO of mobile payments provider mChek, said: “The increase in limits is a significant change, which shows RBI's intention of making the medium a universally acceptable payment tool.”

Marfin Investment Group Holdings, Marfin Popular Bank (MPB) and Wind Hellas Group have formed an alliance to jointly exploit new growth opportunities in the telecommunications and banking sectors in Greece, says Forbes.

The three companies said they have a shared vision for unified communications and the development of sophisticated banking services using mobile technology.

MPB CEO Efthimios Bouloutas said: “The ability to offer financial transactions securely through advanced mobile networks and electronic communications has opened up a huge market for financial institutions.”

A study by Morpace Financial Services on mobile banking, shows that only one in 10 consumers use their phone for banking transactions, states AmericanBanker.

The report also shows that two-thirds of users aren't aware whether their banks offer mobile banking services.

Tim Taylor, head of the Morpace Financial Services practice said: “As awareness and interest in mobile banking spreads to other age groups, and given the speed of technical adoption, we expect to see a steep increase in these measures.”