Day one, was focussed more on the setting forth the importance of Mobile Commerce with a special focus on India. Deepak was a speaker on this day with the session on Unleashing the potential of mobile money in India: what does mobile money mean for the Indian market? Deliberation on the current state of mobile money transfer services in South Asia was done with the intent of identifying customer needs to better target the market. Queries about the M-Payment services and its mechanism were also resolved.

Day two had a stronger focus on the business perspective of mobile commerce. Sustainable business models were discussed and partnerships between bank and telecom companies were seen as successful example learning from application in Bangladesh.

There also was a Regulator’s armchair session with Shri Srinivas, General Manager, Reserve Bank of India & Mr. Inayat Hussain, Executive Director, Banking Policy & Regulations Group, State Bank of Pakistan, where the regulators answered queries about the laws and statutes governing mobile commerce in the region.

The exclusive event was attended on both days by invitees from the mobile commerce space. Attendees included representative of mobile network operators, banks and MFIs.

Deepak took the stage in the first session of the day unlocking the potential of mobile money in South Asia. The panel included eminent executives representing large corporations keenly looking at the mobile money potential in South Asia. They included Gary Singh, MD, Nokia Money; Krishna Kumar, GM Marketing Mobile commerce, Vodafone Essar and Rahul Joshi, Joint General Manager, ICICI Bank.

Current state of mobile payment in the region was seen through the lens of banks and MNO’s. The panel identified trends and hot spots, opportunities for mobile money services, existing mobile banking mechanisms and recognized obstacles facing full deployment of the mobile money ecosystem. Deepak mentioned Obopay’s presence in Kenya, and the rapid growth of adoption in the Indian market. He also emphasized on the huge underserved unbanked segment in India.

Deepak in his address in the pre-lunch session focussed on the Indian market. He concluded that India will have the largest base of mobile financial services users, multiple times the numbers that we see today in markets such as Kenya and the Philippines.

Entries received for the contest talk about users wanting capability to shop without limit, to book airline ticket at the last minute and even capability to play unlimited games. There was even an outlandish entry talking about using the phone to enter the house and to start the car. It was positively encouraging to see users getting creative with their responses. Rest assured there are more such contests on the way for our supporters, followers and mobile money enthusiasts.

We have chosen our winners!!

Winners of the Dial M for Money contest (leg August 24, 2011 – September 22, 2011):

A proud winner of the prize worth 100 USD from Facebook: Leah D’Souza

A proud winner of the prize worth 100 USD from Twitter: David Gerbino

Congratulations!

They dialed M for Money and became W for Winners!

The list of attendees included prominent mobile bloggers. Mobile commerce being the most prominent technological advancement it has been the buzz word in blogosphere recently. These particular bloggers were invited for their inclination towards the same.

@unitechy
@gauravh1
@sanjaybafna
@kunalgangar
@Antwush
@aatifsumar
@whizkidd
@rohitsane

Mr. Chandnani began the discussion with a quick overview of Obopay and its journey. Further, he delved into the market growth of mobile payment in India and other countries. The presentation was followed by a demonstration of the Obopay mobile payment services.

Following the demonstration the floor was thrown open for a Q&A round. @unitchy and @gauravh1, began the questions with inquiry on how security of private data is handled by Obopay. Mr. Aditya Menon walked all through the entire process. Here’s the link where you can find answers to all questions about Obopay security

@aatifsumar had questions regarding service charges. He was informed about different charges levied by different providers. Questions about the SMS-driven payment mechanism for non-Obopay users were on everyone’s mind.

Below you can find the tweets exchanged during the entire discussion.

What are we to do, you ask?

We are interested in knowing how open you are to let mobile payments into your life. Obopay has a service whose application is limited only by your imagination. You can tell us the many possibilities in your life where a mobile payment facility would make things easier for you. We are all ears to see how innovative and how practical the ultimate beneficiaries (you) of M-Commerce can be.

- Buy books on the go
- Tickets at the last minute
- Make quick donations

It can be absolutely anything!!

Now why will I be participating, you ask?

Well, there’s a 100 USD prize to be won.
As an appreciation of your effort and helping us understand you better we will be giving away prizes worth the above mentioned amount to every winner.

We are looking at being surprised by your responses and the prizes you win will be a surprise to you as well.

So, if you have had a nagging feeling that your phone can do more for you and if you think you have the one winning suggestion we are looking for click here to participate.

Together with the World Economic Forum (WEF), at part of IdeasLab, Obopay has published a video and an accompanying paper to discuss the opportunity for Universal Mobile Money and how best to address the challenges of making it a reality through an Open Collaborative Model. You can view the video and paper at the links below:

Universal Mobile Money Video:
http://www.weforum.org/content/mobile-financial-services-all

Universal Mobile Money Paper:
http://slidesha.re/o50nSB

The term in its basic usage means ‘the delivery of financial services at affordable costs’ to the under-privileged sections of society. It focuses on the initiatives taken by governments, banks and other for- profit and non-profit organisations to bring financial services to the otherwise overlooked sections of a country.

Several countries across the globe now look at Financial Inclusion as the means of a more comprehensive growth, wherein each citizen of the country is able to use their earning as a financial resource that they can put to work to improve their future financial status, adding to the nation’s progress.

For quite some time now several African countries have promoted various banking services with this approach and have harnessed the unique aspects of mobile banking to drive financial inclusion. However, if we swivel the globe a little to the right we see South Asia sitting somewhat placidly, still getting its arms around various initiatives and services that would reduce its unbanked numbers. The largest of such nations in South Asia, India, has a working population of 600 million but a banked population of only 200 million.

An interesting aspect of Financial inclusion has been brought to the forefront by D. Subbarao, the Governor of Reserve Bank of India. He asserts, “Financial inclusion is good for both banks and governments as it would check inflation.” This is a new dimension to the benefits of Financial inclusion.

Look out for more on our blog as we speak more on this subject. Your feedback and opinions are extremely valuable.

I knew as soon as I walked in that it would be a great experience.  There were about 170 people and I think I knew at least 50 of them – more than 140 large and small companies were represented, and all levels of management.  And there were ten company CEOs present currently working on mobile payment technology—a few working on their second company in this space.

According to the BayPay Forum’s registration survey, nearly half the respondents are now most interest in hear about mobile payments—up from a third in previous polls.  The formal and informal dialogue didn’t disappoint.

Mobile payments are taking off all over the world, but there are different types of payments and different approaches to each market that can provide both education and inspiration. The panel did a good job of outlining the landscape, and discussing options ranging from the Starbuck’s mobile gift card to the evolution of digital wallets like the one we are working on.  Wallets, by the way, that will enable money transfer, online commerce, bill payments and retail—all from the convenience of your phone. 

Although the group was mostly from companies or groups focused on the US market, there was keen interest in emerging markets. The audience interest was twofold – learn from those markets or think about how to participate in those markets.

The theme for the night, “Mobile Payments Beyond NFC” is an important one.  Despite all the buzz about NFC, mobile payments go well beyond proximity payments as Tim Attinger of PYMNTS.com notes in his coverage of the event.  NFC, while still in the investment stage, will ultimately have a significant effect on mainstream retail. There are also big opportunities in transport – trains, metros, mass transit. But, at the same time, the group recognized that NFC will take time to put in place, and between now and then, there are considerable opportunities in the other areas of mcommerce that will happen more quickly.

My points were simple –

1.      Many other markets are ahead of the U.S. Large unmet needs are being addressed in Africa and India which represent very big opportunities, these demand very low cost models, and are scaling quickly. They’re not without significant challenges, but they are fueling the global momentum for mobile payments.

2.      There are large opportunities in the US market with the Underbanked. This is a large opportunity–60M-90M people, depending on who is estimating. (I fear with Durbin that this number will only grow in the next few years)  Mobile brings lower cost, new levels of convenience, and supports hard working lifestyles (budget conscious; on the go; and family financial support).

3.      Technology alone is insufficient to serve the market. It must be coupled with business partnerships – or an “ecosystem” approach. To achieve this each participant must benefit (for example, merchants increasing loyalty; banks efficiently providing better consumer experience,; retailers increasing online commerce).

Since payments are not a solo act, and require an ecosystem; this type of networking is extremely helpful in building a more vibrant and innovative payment industry. Thank you to Daniel Chatelain for his ongoing dedication to BAYPAY – it is a labor of love for Daniel – and he does it well.

It is hard to know exactly the contribution each Davos meeting makes to the world – but I believe it is significant. It takes people out of their day-to-day routine and gets them talking to a diverse group of influencers from all over the world and all walks of life.

In “Three Wishes for Davos; Inclusive Growth, Support Entrepreneurship, Empower Women”. I offered my hopes for the conference in these three specific areas.

When I did arrive at Davos I had the pleasure of meeting and learning about some of the amazing entrepreneurs from the Technology Pioneers.  Elisabeth de los Pinos was one of the most remarkable and I talked about what she is trying to accomplish in “The Rock Stars at Davos”.

Financial inclusion, one of my passions, was the subject of a number of sessions.  In “Davos Hot Topic — Inclusive Growth Through Mobile Banking” , I covered some of the highlights and lowlights presented during the week.

I heard a number of success stories during the week, but none more inspiring than Brij Kothari and his PlanetRead.  Hopefully, you will enjoy it as much as I did in “Davos — Bollywood Brings Literacy to Millions”

When the week was finished, I tried to sort out what I had seen and heard through the eyes of a Technology Pioneer.  What I came up with was “A Technology Pioneer’s Top 10 of Davos“.

I encourage you to send me comments or questions on any of these blogs.  Hopefully, they help form a small picture and set of insights into one of the most incredible conferences I’ve ever attended.

Now we’re at a new threshold and my role needs to change.   I saw this next step in our evolution over two years ago, and knew that there was going to be a need for additional leadership—one focused on scaling the business that would complement my vision and my job to focus the corporate strategy.   We have grown in all three continents where the company does business. We have taken the company into northern and eastern Africa, through expanded relationships with Societe Generale and Essar.  In India, we have a strong program with Nokia, and a new relationship with Union Bank of India.  In the U.S., we have expanded partnerships with STAR Networks and MasterCard, while providing new mobile payment products that can be implemented by financial institutions. (The picture above is our lobby headquarters gallery of flags of the countries where Obopay operates mobile money services. We will be adding many more flags this year.)

We have global partnerships with some of the best companies in the world to scale the solutions and make them true mass market offerings. We have employees around the world scaling the business within the countries we operate and into new countries. I am proud of how far we have come and excited about the momentum as we enter 2011.

During the past six months, Deepak Chandnani has served as President of Obopay, and has done a tremendous job. Much of our annual growth came under his leadership.  His efforts during this period have also laid a foundation for a very promising 2011.  Therefore, I am pleased to announce that the Obopay Board of Directors, unanimously approved my recommendation to promote Deepak to CEO of Obopay. Click here for the link to the public announcement of Deepak’s new role. (The picture above is at the all hands meeting at Obopay’s Bangalore office. The team is congratulating Deepak on his promotion. The US team is participating virtually via video conference screen which is visible in the upper right hand corner of the picture.)

I will assume the role of Executive Chairman and work in partnership with Deepak to realize the vision and potential of Obopay.  I believe strongly that there is an opportunity to keep Obopay in a global leadership position, not only in terms of growth, but in terms of driving and shaping the issues that will accelerate the promotion and adoption of mobile payments.  I have worked hard to develop the beginnings of an international reputation in thought leadership that puts Obopay side by side with the leaders of global financial, telecommunications and government.  But that work, like our growth, has to accelerate dramatically.  I will continue to provide strategy and vision for the business and continue evangelizing mobile money and Obopay’s leadership. I look forward to working with Deepak in his new role. He and I make a strong team.

Deepak has clearly demonstrated that he can move the company in the right direction as we continue our growth around the world.  This promotion provides recognition for the job he has done and fulfills a need for an expanded and experienced management team as we move forward. Under Deepak’s leadership our revenue has doubled this past year and we expect it to double again.

Please join me in congratulating Deepak on his new role. I am excited about my new role to working closely with the Obopay team and world class partners to realize the potential of mobile money.