Tech Shout!

PayMate in association with Citibank has launched a mobile payment service PayMate that would enable Citibank customers to make payment through a single SMS.

To use PayMate, Citibank customers would be required to sign up for this service with the bank by sending ‘PayMate’ as an SMS to 2484. The customer will then be called back and registered for the service following which they can conveniently shop at Rediff, Naukri, Cleartrip, Jeevansathi and 99Acres for their products. Once the product has been selected, the user would send a single SMS with PIN (provided by the bank) confirming the transaction.

On receiving this SMS, the bank will verify the user’s mobile number with the account and on confirmation will debit the account accordingly. The merchant and the customer will receive a confirmation message from the bank approving the transaction. The entire transaction takes place at the cost of a single premium SMS, Paymate has said.

PayMate says the new m-commerce service will allow for both credit and debit card transactions using a mobile phone. The service offers a secure payment solution as no credit/debit card information is ever disclosed during the transaction process, the company adds.

“We are initially offering PayMate with Rediff, Naukri, Cleartrip, Jeevansathi and 99Acres, and are already in talks with several other service providers thereby giving customers’ greater options,” says Ajay Adiseshann, founder and managing director, PayMate.

“With increasing penetration of mobile phones, mobile commerce is set for tremendous growth over the coming years. The key elements for success are speed of transactions and security. The PayMate service addresses these two key elements,” says Vijay Ramchandran, country marketing director and head-internet banking, Citibank India.