Over in India it is estimated over 50 percent of Indians don’t have a bank account whilst 90 percent of villages do not have a bank branch, but Nokia along with the Union Bank of India aims to change those figures with the launch of Union Bank Money.
According to an article over on Information Week, Nokia and the UBI have announced the commercial launch of Union Bank Money, a service that targets those people who do not have a bank account, and delivers financial services via their mobile phone.
The chairman and managing director of Union Bank India, M.V. Nair said, “Technology is a great enabler for banking services and our partnership with Nokia will help us offer ‘Anytime Anywhere’ financial services to consumers across the country. Once rolled out across the nation, Union Bank Money will be the single largest network in India to provide mobile financial services to consumers in urban as well as penetrate rural areas to tap the unbanked populace.”
Nokia and the UBI have launched their financial inclusion plan to deliver banking services to in excess of ten million customers by the year 2013, with Nokia supplementing the existing 3000 Union Bank of India branches with Nokia retail outlets serving as business correspondent agents for Union Bank Money services.
The Union Bank Money app can be installed across almost all existing Nokia mobile phones and Nokia will be pre-installing the app on a wide range of handsets.
