New SMS-based service to be offered in association with India Post.

Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) plans to launch in the near future a mobile banking platform that will help a mobile subscriber send money orders electronically through SMSes. The SMS by the sender will be encashable at all post offices in the country.

In the first phase of BSNL's plan, anyone who wishes to send a money through the money (order) transfer service will have to go to his nearest post office and transfer the money by way of an SMS. The SMS will contain a unique code. The person who receives this SMS can go to his nearest post office and collect the money by showing the code.

Groceries on SMS

In the next stage of BSNL's plans, a person will be able to use his mobile phone for even buying goods at the local kirana shop or any other store, with the help of an electronic authorisation from his bank on his mobile phone.

"The real revolution is going to come when we launch our mobile banking services, on which BSNL is actively working. We have test-piloted a platform in Chandigarh, on which money could be transferred electronically through money orders by sending an SMS," Agarwal told Business Standard.

He, however, said RBI was cautious in its guidelines for mobile banking, as a result of which the proposed roll-out would happen only in a phased manner. "RBI has a cautious policy as it has to check for frauds that may occur," he added.

3G rings in higher ARPU

BSNL has about 8,50,000 3G mobile subscribers at present, which is expected to go up to a million by the end of the current financial year. In the next financial year, the company aims to add two million 3G subscribers.

"All 3G services take some time to take off. Customers have started taking our 3G services only since December last year," said Agarwal.