Axis Bank lets Indian merchants accept contactless payments on standard NFC phones

Axis Bank has become the first in India to offer merchants the ability to accept NFC, contactless, QR and remote payments on standard smartphones.

Axis Bank logo“The solution enables face-to-face payments with Bharat QR and NFC payments, as well as remote payments for home deliveries via link-based payments,” Mastercard, which is working with Axis and Worldline on the project, says. “The app also allows banks to have complete visibility of a merchant’s transactions, making it easier for small merchants to get business loans.”

Currently available for Android phones, the app “will soon be launched for iPhone users as well,” Mastercard adds.

“We have been continuously working on partnership-led models and digital solutions for the merchant community, to help them lower their cost of business,” says Sanjeev Moghe, Axis’ head of cards and payments.

“Not only does this collaborative effort of Mastercard, Worldline and Axis Bank open up a different channel for this community but also helps in penetrating the unexplored horizons of small ticket size merchants. We are excited to see how the smartphone turns into a business solution by bringing the merchant community into the ‘tap, text and tweet’ world of ours”.

As well as micro merchants, the ability to accept contactless payments on standard smartphones opens up an array of new use cases for larger merchants too, Dejamobile CEO Houssem Assadi told NFCW during the launch of its own ReadyToTap Payment for Merchants solution last week.

“We are really expecting quick and massive rollout of this kind of technology and solution all over the world,” he said.