RemittancesGateway.org

Roamware to roll out airtime remittance service between countries

Wednesday, 31 March 2010 09:05

Source: Telecom Yatra
By: Supriya Bhattacharjee

Roamware, the USA-based mobile roaming and financial services company, is going to launch a new platform for sending airtime via mobile phones, from one country to another.

Through the new service, a mobile phone user in one country can credit airtime to another mobile phone user based in some other country. For example, a mobile phone user in London can send airtime worth Rs 100 to his mother in India. The airtime recharge can be sent either by using interactive voice response (IVR) or a premium SMS, and also via mobile internet.

Speaking about the service at the sidelines of the Convergence India 2010 being held here, Abraham Punnoose, vice president and marketing development, Roamware, said, "We are already working with all leading operators in India and we hope to work with all of them for this service also. The service will be rolled out in the next quarter (April to June)." He added that the recharge remittance service has the potential to earn several million dollars in the first year of launch.

The company will focus on the major remittance corridors such as Dubai to India, USA to India etc. Speaking on security issues, Punnoose said that the service is secure as the user needs to enter a unique PIN code to activate it.

Roamware is also working with Grameenphone of Bangladesh to build applications for Indians who don't have a bank account and they intend to make an official announcement soon.

Roamware currently provides mobile financial services, including mobile payments, money remittance, mobile banking etc. It has operations in more than 150 countries worldwide and serves 400 customers including mobile operators, banks and financial services providers.