Indian private sector bank, ICICI, and telecommunications provider, Vodafone, have announced the launch of a new mobile payments service in India called ‘m-pesa’. The new product comprises of a mobile money account and a Mobile Wallet (view press release).

The new service will be launched in the eastern regions including Kolkata, West Bengal, Bihar and Jharkhand initially before being phased out nationwide. ‘M-pesa’ will allow customers to utilise a number of services which includes making cash deposits and withdrawals at selected outlets, transferring money to any mobile throughout India and purchasing mobile recharge, recharge of DTH services and utility bill payments.

Chanda Kochhar, Managing Director& CEO, ICICI Bank said: “ICICI Bank has been at the forefront of leveraging technology in banking and has revolutionised the way Indian customers carry out their banking transactions. We have now launched ‘mpesaTM’, a unique and innovative offering which will allow us to provide basic banking services to millions of customers spread across the country. This will help us reach out to segments that currently do not have access to banking services, towards our objective of achieving greater financial inclusion.”

Vodafone India’s managing director and CEO Marten Pieters said: “Vodafone ‘mpesaTM’ is offering millions of people basic financial services, beyond the reach of traditional banking. We are really proud to announce the strategic partnership with ICICI Bank and launch this first-of-its-kind offering with ICICI to provide mobile payments.  This offering has been customised to serve the Indian customer in compliance with all applicable regulatory requirements.”