Dig into e-wallets

Mobile wallet is a digital account, which is equivalent to a physical wallet. You can load a certain amount of money and use it to pay your utility bills, recharge mobile and DTH accounts, book train, bus or airline tickets, transfer money to another wallet or bank account, get cash from agents and retailers, apart from online as well as offline shopping.

In a nutshell, it is a one-touch payments solution for all your needs. But how is it different from carrying a physical wallet, or making online payments for products and services? Well, besides cashback benefits, mobile wallets make payments hassle-free and help you save time. If you wish to use credit cards or net-banking to load the wallet, the details can be stored for future use. The success rate of making payments through mobile wallets is much higher and a transaction can be completed in less than 10 seconds. Adding money to the wallet eliminates the need to key in your bank details on every website, protecting you from phishing and vishing attacks or other cybercrimes. You can load a maximum of Rs 10,000 in your wallet, This does not put your bank account or credit card limit to risk.

You might not earn any interest on the money in your wallet but cashbacks compensate for them. In case of a failed transaction, the money is returned to the wallet. That's not all. Mobile wallets are making their way into the offline world as well, allowing you to make payments for travel. For instance, you can use your mobile wallet to pay for your Uber ride. Wallets are fast becoming a popular choice for both online and offline merchants to accept payments.

This is also contributing to the rise of the mobile wallet industry in India. Apart from independent wallets, mobile operators, too, have rolled out their independent services. The banking sector is following this segment closely and many are working towards launching their independent wallets too. You may be spoilt for choice with a large number of mobile wallets queuing up to make your life easier, but taking an informed decision on the one you could opt for is key. Here are a few that are secure and easy to use.

Paytm

Market leader Paytm offers a wide range of services, including payment of fees at select institutions, buying theme park tickets and money transfers, apart from a host of other options. The company is actively expanding its reach in the offline space as well. Apart from large-format retailers, payments through Paytm are also accepted by small merchants and taxi or autorickshaw drivers. Just by entering the registered mobile number of the other Paytm user, you can transfer the money within minutes. It works as a peer-to-peer money transfer as well as a payments solution for small purchases. Paytm also encourages customers to register for the Know Your Customer (KYC) feature and have an increased wallet limit of Rs 1 lakh, instead of the usual Rs 10,000 allowed on the platform. For security reasons, Paytm sends a one-time password for processing transactions. The company is now offering its own marketplace where consumers get an added advantage of higher cashback when they shop on the Paytm platform. It has a wide network that makes it convenient to use.

Freecharge

Freecharge offers a host of services, such as recharging prepaid mobile phones, making payments for postpaid connections, landlines, DTH and data card, apart from paying electricity bills, cooking gas supplies and even recharging metro cards for Mumbai Metro. It has over 15 million wallet users and other than cashbacks, it also has referral programmes and reward points. Freecharge claims to complete transactions in under 10 seconds with saved card details and addresses. Freecharge is an RBI-approved PCI DSS-compliant secure platform. It was recently acquired by Snapdeal. Freecharge has gone offline with a tie-up with Shoppers Stop and is expected to partner over 100 top merchants soon. The customer just needs to type the registered mobile number on the EDM (Electronic Deposit Machine) and a dynamic pin pops up on the screen for the payment to be processed. The dynamic pin changes every minute and payments can be processed even without mobile data connectivity. The maximum limit for Freecharge wallet is Rs 10,000 per month.

MobiKwik

Used for mobile account recharges, bill payments, food, grocery, travel and taxi services, shopping and entertainment, etc., MobiKwik claims to have over 30 million users and partners 50,000 retailers across different platforms - from brick-and-mortar stores and e-commerce websites, to m-commerce apps, billers and telcos. It even offers a 30-minute pick-up service to add cash directly to the wallet.

Just like the other two mobile wallet players, Mobikwik can be used to transfer money to bank accounts or someone else's wallet. The MobiKwik account can be linked to a payback account, too. Using MobiKwik, users can also avail discounts on online portals such as Zomato, BigBasket, Oyo and ebay.in, among many others. The company claims to have over 10,000 offline merchants as partners, including retail majors such as Big Bazaar, Barista, WHsmith India, Domino's and Pizza Hut.