RBI to issue final guidelines on M-Banking within two-weeks

The Reserve bank is likely to finalise guidelines on mobile banking within two weeks to enable banks to roll-out cellphone-based payment services to their customers. "We are presently examining the comments received in response to the draft guidelines issued. Based on this, the final guidelines will be issued within a period of two weeks," Reserve Bank's Executive Director R B Barman told reporters in Mumbai on Friday on the sidelines of a seminar. Issuing the draft guidelines for M-banking in June, the apex bank had proposed that the lenders may allow customers to perform transactions even using the most basic handsets. As per the draft guidelines, customers could use SMS- based facilities to make small payments of up to Rs 1,500. A host of lenders, including leading public-sector banks, State Bank of India and Union Bank, are on the final stages of launching their M-Banking services, which would help millions of customers to transfer money through mobile phones. However, recently, the apex bank asked banks to put their mobile-payment services on hold till the time it issued the final guidelines on the matter. "We have to see the various aspect of the mobile-payment service, especially the security aspects of such transactions prior to allowing banks the implementation. We would also examine the functioning of similar services by those banks who presently offer the service," Barman said. Foreign banks such as Barclays and a few private sector lenders like Yes Bank and ICICI Bank are presently offering mobile-payment services to customers but have put the services on hold following the Reserve Bank directive. "We have put our mobile-payment services on hold following the RBI directive and will resume the services once the apex bank issues the final guidelines," a Yes Bank official said. State Bank, which had earlier scheduled its M-banking roll out by June-end, is also expected to announce the launch once RBI finalizes its guidelines. Besides, nearly 53 banks in the National Capital Region of Delhi have joined in the check truncation system, a solution for image-based inward and outward clearing of bank checks, Barman said.

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