Who needs cash!

It’s going to be your very own personal banker,the one who travels everywhere with you and all it demands is a recharge. No,we’re not talking about standing instructions or plastic cards. It’s mobile telephones,and how easy they’ve made our entire existence. Sample this: we are a forgetful lot…from forgetting important documents when we are rushing for a meeting,losing house keys,misplacing our wallets etc. But there’s someone who’ll beep and trace,and “all the time it’s tucked away nicely in our pocket or the grip of our palm. That’s the reason we’ve now brought in the concept of money on your mobile,” says Anand Shrivastav,Chairman and managing director of Beam,as he launches the all-new micro-payment service through mobile. Through this service,one can upload and redeem money from their mobile,that too without a bank or a bank account. “Just head to the market,buy a money recharge coupon and load it on your mobile. Shop through it,transfer money to another users account or simply gift it to someone and redeem the rest of the money through a franchise,” Shrivastav introduces a safe and convenient way to handle money,specially for those who do not have a permanent residence proof or other documents. Designed to empower about 60 per cent of the Indian population that is still not using banking facilities, with this you can recharge mobile phones,DTH,pay utility bills,send gift payments,buy air tickets or movie tickets — all with just a simple SMS,voice cals or

internet.

The idea was conceptualized keeping in view the increased phone connectivity and the not so efficient banking system (there are only 340 million bank accounts for a population of one billion!),the young student and the migrant labour population. “I thought of this about 30 years ago when my driver Manjit lost his mother to illness just because money couldn’t reach her in time. But now,with mobile revolution and technology,I’ve created this product that can help millions,” Shrivastav talks about the endless hours he spent sitting in front of the computer and the seven years he spent on acquiring the requisite licenses to finally bring in a simple money service. “We have prepaid cards available in denominations ranging from Rs 100 and Rs 1000 across neighbourhood retailers,along with Beam Sahayak and Express Franchisees in India. In Chandigarh,the Beam cards will be made available through a network of 200 retailers and can be flashed at over 275 merchant outlets,including sectors 15,17,22 and 47,” he informs that while transactions can be done through a landline as well – all you have to do is follow a one-time simple registration process and initiate transactions. So,now you can really say goodbye to the heavy load of cards and cash and let that pocket breathe!