Action in the payments space is about to get hotter as payment start-up Mobikwik has filed a patent for its Power Wallet platform that aims to simplify online transactions by integrating the merchant’s online platform with that of the mobile Wallet company.
The company claims it can be leveraged offline as well(the company has processed more than half a million transactions in brick and mortar stores).
This essentially means that deployment of the tech will facilitate online transactions without being referred on to Mobikwik’s site, thereby taking the product’s success rate to a cent percent against the industry average of 60%. Firms like OYO Rooms, PVR Cinemas, Zomato, Meru Cabs and WHSmith India are already using the platform to process their transactions.
This development pits Mobikwik’s against Snapdeal-owned FreeCharge, which recently launched a platform that did away with the One Time Password(OTP) authentication. It managed this through a pin that is saved within the mobile device and changes every few seconds.
Bipin Preet Singh, founder and CEO of Mobikwik, spoke on the development.
The implementation of power wallet can also be done through tap payments or through the near field communications technology where retailers can accept contact-less payments.
He further adds,
It is a pretty unique proposition; worldwide there is no such thing since a person’s identity, authentication and payment can all be done under the retailers interface by using the underline technology system off the shelf.
According to a report by the Internet and Mobile Association,(IAMAI), digital payments are expected to touch a whopping Rs. 120,000 crore by the end of 2015, growing 40% on the basis of e-commerce, bill payments and other online payments.
Alibaba, Amazon and Snapdeal too have their own payment systems as Amazon Payments, Alipay, FreeCharge. Flipkart too isn’t behind, and has recently invested mobile payment company Ngpay and FxMart.
Patents themselves are both valuable and critical to a start-up’s success in a number of ways. Moreover, they facilitate access to financing, which can prove to be a boon for Indian start-ups amid the current phase of tightening investor purse strings.
