Product Launch- Citi Tap and Pay

Product Launch- Citi Tap and Pay.

Four months ago, CitiBank in India, launched the next-generartion Mobile Payments in our own Bengaluru, India

 

The Product’s  name is Citi Tap and Pay.

In simple terms, Your Citi Credit Card is transferred to your Mobile Phone(Nokia 6212), and than you can pay your shopping bill by just tapping the phone at the Payment Counter, of Participating Outlets.

More Detials can be accessed at

http://www.online.citibank.co.in/products-services/online-services/tap-and-pay.htm?eOfferCode=OLDURLRED

To encourage Citi Customers, to try out this new facility, Citi has offered to subsidize the cost of Nokia 6612 phone. On top of the subsidy, the users will also be eligible for a Cash-back offer, on making a specified number of transactions.

As this technology is new, Citi is offering this innovative product initially for 6 months only.

Based on the learning’s, Citi might fine-tune the product, before rolling it out nationally.

Nokia will support the service with its NFC-enabled Nokia 6212 phone, which is embedded with an NFC chip. MasterCard will offer its MasterCard PayPass contactless payment and security infrastructure. ViVOtech is providing the underlying technology, including the NFC wallet, the Over-the-Air (OTA) card provisioning software.

 The technology beyond this product is near-field communications (NFC). Near Field Communication (NFC) is a new, short-range wireless connectivity technology that evolved from a combination of existing contactless identification and interconnection technologies

Communication between two NFC-compatible devices occurs when they are brought within four centimeters of one another: a simple wave or touch can establish an NFC connection, which is then compatible with other known wireless technologies such as Bluetooth or Wi-Fi. Because the transmission range is so short, NFC-enabled transactions are inherently secure. Also, physical proximity of the device to the reader gives users the reassurance of being in control of the process.

The success of this new product depends on the POS Terminal with the Merchant Establishments. The POS Terminal has to be equipped to recognize NFC Phones. Hence, this product is acceptable in only 500 outlets in Bangalore.

 For this product to be a success, I feel, Banks and Credit Card Companies might need to work together, otherwise it will be a niche product.