Mobile wallets in everyman’s reach

Even though the concept of mobile wallet is new in India, the number of mobile digital wallets is close to 120 million and has outgrown the number of credit cards in the country. 

YELDI’s NFC (Near Field Communications) ecosystem primarily comprises of NFC Handset, the NFC card and a mobile app that allows customers to place orders or schedule appointments, check the latest offers, view past transactions, etc. Says Lakshmideepa A (29), the CEO of Yeldi, “After I finished my Masters, I wanted to start a firm that touched a billion lives across the globe. I discussed my aspirations with my father. We immediately knew that our product had to penetrate all sections of the socio-economic pyramid.” 

That is when she came across NFC technology and how it could be used for cashless payment transactions. “We discovered immense potential in the ‘tap and pay’ capabilities of NFC – as it has a lot of versatility to address the needs of everyone from a daily wages labourer to an upper-middle income shopper. We took the idea forward and launched our product in 2012,” says Lakshmideepa, adding, “Our product does not offer just the convenience of cashless transactions. We ensure that our B2C customers save money every time they use a YELDI product. Retailers on the other hand will get a host of benefits like Customer Loyalty Solutions, Business Intelligence Analytics and so on.” 

Before YELDI entered the market, there were no players in this space, which gave them a very strong impetus to ideate on these lines and launch their products. NFC technology had come in to existence in India the late 2000’s where they channelised their R&D efforts. “Currently, we are the only market players with a product portfolio that addresses the needs of people across all socio-economic pyramid.”