ICICI Bank has today announced the launch of a contactless payment service through its banking app, iMobile Pay, that enables customers to tap their smartphones to pay at POS (Point of Sale) machines of merchant outlets.
The service offers improved convenience to over 1.5 crore debit and credit card customers of the Bank as they will no longer need to carry their cards for payments at retail stores.
Based on the Near Field Communications (NFC) technology, the innovative payment service empowers customers to create digital versions of their physical ICICI Bank debit and credit cards on the iMobile Pay app. Using the digital cards, customers can initiate electronic payments at merchant outlets from NFC-enabled Android smartphones by just waving their phone near a contactless POS device.
Speaking on the launch, Sudipta Roy, Head- Unsecured Assets, ICICI Bank said, “We, at ICICI Bank, focus on technological innovations to offer unique, fast, and convenient solutions to our customers. We were first to introduce the ‘Tap to Pay’ facility five years ago by digitizing cards and offering secured contactless payment through our digital wallet app, Pockets.”
“Now we have extended this facility through our mobile app, iMobile Pay. This contactless mobile payment solution offers cashless payments to the Bank’s customers using just their smartphones, thereby eliminating the need to carry cash or debit and credit cards,” Roy added.
Adding to the statement, Roy further said, “The solution offers enhanced security as the customer’s card details are not shared during the transaction process and are stored virtually in the Bank’s secure cloud server. We will continue on our endeavor to improve the cards payment experience for our customers through innovation and excellence with a focus on safety and security.”
The facility of ‘Tap to Pay’ through iMobile Pay is now available on Visa cards and it will soon be activated on Mastercard cards too.
Commenting on the development, Ramachandran, Group Country Manager, India, and South Asia, Visa said, “Contactless payments are becoming the go-to way of paying instantly and securely at merchant outlets, today accounting for 1 out of every 2 face-to-face Visa transactions in the Asia Pacific.”
“We are delighted to strengthen our strategic and innovation-focused partnership with ICICI Bank by enabling contactless payments on the iMobile Pay banking app, embedding the ease of tapping to pay into the mobile banking experience for millions of Visa cardholders of the Bank,” He added.
Further speaking on the partnership, Srinivas Nidugondi, EVP & Chief Growth & Transformation Officer, Comviva in his statement said, “We are thrilled to partner with ICICI Bank to modernize payments and evolve the digital landscape in India. As one of the world’s leading digital payment platform providers, Comviva is extremely excited to offer a swift, secure and convenient payment experience to ICICI Bank customers. iMobile Pay ‘Tap to Pay’ will accelerate the growth of safe and hygienic contactless payments and contribute towards India’s growing digital economy,”