Most of the literature on e-commerce suggests that online payments in India will shift away from cash on delivery (COD).\u00a0 The graph below is typical \u2013 by 2016, the expectation is that COD will drop 10 percent, being replaced by mobile wallets.<\/p>\n

Mobile wallets work on the basis of transferring money from an existing bank or credit card into the online wallet \u2013 and using that to pay online at the merchant site.\u00a0 The consumer creates an account with a m-wallet app or website, adds money to the wallet by debiting his bank account through Net banking or through a credit card, and then to make payments or transfers money. It uses the mobile phone as the go-in-between.\u00a0 The m-wallet uses Bluetooth, QR codes, NFC (Near Field Communication), WiFi, 2G or 3G to communicate with the merchant\u2019s billing POS machine.<\/p>\n

This brings me to consumer experience.\u00a0 I was at a suburban restaurant in Mumbai – Smoke-house deli, where I saw an interesting promotion. It promised me Rs 200 off, if I used my mobile phone to pay.\u00a0 I looked at it and thoughts of high tech-queue busting solutions ran through my mind.<\/p>\n

The promotion card said that I needed to give my cell number to the billing counter and pay using the link that would be sent to my phone. So far so good. The SMS duly appeared and I was directed to a Qwik Wallet site, where I signed up and was sent a second code for authentication. Smooth sailing. The next screen asked me for my credit card details. I hesitated a bit, but reasoned that this was no different from shopping online, so entered the same.<\/p>\n

The screen went into its \u2018processing \u2026 please wait\u2019 mode for about 5 minutes.\u00a0 Noticing the confused look on my face, Anup, the restaurant manager told me that it would be faster if I download the app and made the payment.<\/p>\n

A bit frustrated by now, but still driven by the thought of the 200 Rs off, I complied. The app duly downloaded (thank you 3G) I registered yet again, and was sent another validation code.\u00a0 The app then asked for my credit card details to store the same. I baulked. Visions of the Uber-app floating in my mind, I decided to forego the Rs 200 of the promotion and paid. Using cash.<\/p>\n

As a consumer my comfort zone stretches to giving credit card details online or typing them into my mobile phone for a transaction, but not where the card details will be stored.<\/p>\n

When I dissect my reaction, I realize my fear is rooted by not knowing what happens to my profile details when I delete the app off the phone.\u00a0 I have heard stories of apps being able to \u2018snoop\u2019 data and send back details including contact lists, photos and SMS\u2019s to the server. Uber-scary that.<\/p>\n

My experience was one-off of course.\u00a0 I am of the Gen-Y segment; perhaps a Millennial would blithely provide credit card details.<\/p>\n

To me, mobile wallets aren\u2019t yet driven by User Experience (Ux) considerations \u2013 too much \u2018technicalese\u2019 in their design and not enough \u2018consumerese\u2019. \u00a0And retailers don\u2019t seem to realize that wifi is not a precious commodity – it should be provided freely if they want adoption of m-wallets.<\/p>\n

These are things that market share projections for mobile wallets probably haven\u2019t considered.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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