How this Mumbai-based startup plans to on-board one million merchants in a year

The revolution of mobile payment has simplified payments for the common man and has eliminated the use of cash and cards in day-to-day transactions. With telecom networks offering 3G and 4G services across geographies at an affordable price, India now is the second largest telecommunication market, with rural areas witnessing one-fourth of the total subscribers.

Founded in November 2015, The Mobile Wallet (TMW) is a Mumbai-based online payment solution startup that uses barcode and QR code technology to process payments. This encrypted transaction mode ensures safety, reliability and convenience. Both offline and online merchants can accept payment using this technology. The customer does not have to share her card and bank details with the merchants. The startup uses 256-bit encryption data security to secure the bank credentials of users.

Each customer and merchant is mapped by a unique QR code for identification and security. The app is equipped with a bar code scanner to read these QR codes and the data is passed through an encryption. Coupled with locational intelligence, the app is capable to interact with the nearby merchant environment. The startup is developing technology not only for the last-mile payment but also for the discovery stage in the consumer journey. IoT is another area that TME+W is currently exploring to simplify the payment systems.

The company recently raised a seed capital of Rs 33 crore ($5 million) from an angel investor.

We are currently investing in attracting and retaining the best in the class developers and engineers from premium institutes to develop capabilities and scalability,” says founder Vinay Kalantri.

Vinay (34) has completed his Bachelors in Business Management from Drexel University, Philadelphia, US. He is the Director of Mumbai-based Digi Port and MD of QueMobile, a telecommunication services provider that he started in 2011. “Once that was established my urge to thrive more in the technology industry made me go on and start The Mobile Wallet,” states Vinay.

The wallet works on 2G speeds and is targeted at small-store owners. The merchant app is now available on the Google Play Store and the Amazon app store for Android phone users and Blackberry (OS10 +) users. The startup has on-boarded 25,000 merchants from Mumbai, Delhi, Pune, Kolkata, Gujarat and Indore. It is aiming to reach 50 more cities in the next three months and eventually on-board one million merchants in one year. The company has a team of 110 employees with the tech team comprising 60 percent, and 20 percent in sales, marketing, HR and legal. It has a special department for the merchants driven by a 1,200-strong merchant acquisition team.

Services in the wallet

TMW offers services like mobile recharge, bill payment and DTH, online shopping, travel services, entertainment, sending and receiving money, retail shopping, financial services, food and beverages and gifts and florists.

Going by the RBI guidelines, TMW has developed a procedure to attend the grievances of the customers in respect of various issues by setting up customer support and a grievance redressal mechanism.

Privacy policy

To open an account in TMW, users have to provide name and e-mail address, telephone number, credit, debit information, date of birth, taxpayer or employer identification number and more. The company claims to not share users’ personal information with third parties for marketing purposes without seeking one’s prior permission.

The revenue will be generated through user and merchant acquisition. We are currently working on creating value between users and merchants. This will definitely create a platform for brand tie-ups,” says Vinay.

M-payment industry is on growing spree

The mobile wallet adoptions in rural and semi-urban areas are mostly driven by the Government’s Digital India initiative. According to India Mobile Wallet Market Forecast and Opportunities 2020, India is expected to reach $6.6 billion by 2020. 6Wresearch predicts that the value of India’s mobile wallet transactions will reach $11.5 billion by 2020. Currently, India has about 135 million wallet users. PayU Money, Paytm, Mobikwik, Oxigen and My Mobile Payments are considered to have captured the majority of the market share. The country is moving towards cashless economy, with more than 40 percent of e-commerce transactions happening via mobile phones in India.

However, the introduction of Unified Payment Interface (UPI) and Bharatpay may threaten the growth of mobile wallets in India. The National Payment Corporation of India (NPCI), a primary body, will govern all the retail payment systems in India.

The Mobile Wallet