the customer? ( ii ) who controls the transactions? has there been any worthwhile attempt to resolve them in a mature way? i would urge upon the banks and msps to get their acts together very quickly. on behalf of rbi let me assure you that we stand committed to the success of this collaboration and would remove all genuine obstacles! enabling cross border payments through the medium of mobile phones 15. should mobile initiated cross border transactions be enabled? to my mind there cannot be a uniform standard for this. the issue is country specific and each country has to take its decision based on need, issues and threat perception. as far as india is concerned, even during the worst forex crisis, the country was careful about the quality of inflows. secondly, we have had rules that required all forex flows to be routed only through banking institutions or others specifically authorized to undertake forex transactions. given this background, even if we had to agree mobile phones can only be used to trigger the transfer of funds from overseas by a non - resident to the beneficiary ’ s bank account in india. the banks will have to be responsible for ensuring quality of funds, kyc, etc. we have in fact permitted banks to enable cross border bank account to bank account remittance through the medium of mobile subject to clearance from the local regulator. at the beneficiary end, we have enabled loading of funds received from overseas under the money transfer service scheme ( mtss ) scheme on to a prepaid payment instrument issued by a bank, which could include a mobile wallet, to the recipient of the funds. conclusion 16. before i conclude, let me reiterate that the mobile phone is a potent tool to facilitate financial services and thus financial inclusion. it has the potential but the security and cost aspects have to be addressed. the medium of mobile has to sub - serve smaller transactions and must become cheaper. the reserve bank has for well considered reasons opted for a bank - led model as it is a complete model for delivery of a wide range of services. just as you cannot have tele - medicine without a doctor, you cannot have mobile banking without a bank! the bc model would help to complement mobile banking, as customers need to approach bcs / atms only for hard currency requirements and conduct other banking transactions from anywhere from their mobile phones, provided of course, there are no tele - connectivity issues! as mentioned earlier, it is the social responsibility of everyone, who has

carry your cheque book for withdrawal of funds, they provide you with what is call a withdrawal slip. a cheque or a withdrawal slip is a personalized direction to your banker to put through banking transactions on your behalf. the authentication is achieved through your signature. but this traditional method is expensive. a mobile phone achieves the same purpose and enables you to send personalized secure instructions to your banker to undertake transactions on your behalf. if your bank has achieved seamless integration with the cbs, then the transaction gets automatically registered. but these transactions using mobile are far less expensive than its traditional alternatives. more importantly, you hold the key since mobile is in your pocket and you need not depend on bank timings or the rush there to undertake banking transactions. this is perhaps the most important advantage of the mobile over other alternate payment methods. the mobile phone can, therefore, empower the common man to conduct his payment transactions any time and from anywhere. it is, bis central bankers ’ speeches therefore, no wonder that mobile payments and mobile banking are being hotly debated in various forums, in india and abroad. bank - led technology neutral approach 4. the reserve bank recognized the potential of the mobile phone as a channel to conduct financial services quite some time back and the first set of guidelines were taken way back in october, 2008. but the reserve bank consciously opted for a bank - led model although our approach remains technology neutral. mobile phones as a delivery channel have a great potential if the security and cost aspects are addressed for it has to serve a large number of transactions that are small in size. it has to be remembered that use of mobile for banking in financial inclusion cannot become a viable proposition on a standalone basis if the purpose is to achieve meaningful financial inclusion. to make it viable and attract volumes, it has to be provided as a package along with other products and services. this can be achieved only by entities that can provide add - on services like emergency and entrepreneurial credit, saving facilities, other products and services such as insurance, besides remittances. this is where a mainstream regulated entity like a bank fits in. true, some of these alternatives are being provided by a few nbfcs but their scale and reach are not comparable with banks. they can serve niche markets but are not viable in the long run. but, they indeed will facilitate financial inclusion. so, the indian model will remain a bank - led model with banks partnering msps ( mobile service providers ) and other entities