iKaaz Marketing NFC-Based Mobile Card Readers in India, Africa (April 4, 2013)
As competition among mobile merchant acceptance services in India grows, merchants seem to be responding to the new technology. Bangalore-based iKaaz says that within three months of launching its NFC-based card reader for merchants, the company is processing 800,000 transactions monthly. The iKaaz NFC Reader, available for US$20, plugs into any mobile phone and enables customers to “tap to pay” with NFC-enabled handsets or other devices. Merchants pay a 1 percent transaction fee, an iKaaz spokesperson tells Paybefore, adding that iKaaz next plans to take its NFC card reader to certain African markets. The service is based on its proprietary platform that includes a digital wallet enabling P2P and payments using consumers’ mobile phone numbers. iKaaz last October said it planned to sow consumer interest in contactless payment, which is not yet widespread in India, by distributing NFC stickers.
India is becoming a magnet for providers of mobile merchant acceptance. U.K.-based mPowa in January said it plans to expand its own mobile payment service to India and to the U.S. And later that same month Citigroup unveiled plans to aggressively target Indian merchants with a mobile card reader that accepts credit and debit cards with a smartphone.
