Nokia said to pull plug on India mobile money

Nokia reportedly plans to shut down its mobile money business in India within the next three to four months.

 

The Hindu Business Line asserts that Nokia Money will soon be told to spend the rest of the money tied to their accounts in anticipation of the closure of the service.

 

The vendor is also said to be planning to rescind its operating license for Mobile Money services to the Reserve Bank.

 

Nokia commenced mobile money services in India in 2010, in partnership with YES bank. The company has another mobile money partnership with Union Bank, and also offers services independently under the Nokia Money brand.

 

While the closure will affect the roughly 200,000 customers of Nokia Money, The Hindu speculates that Union Bank and YES Bank could take over the respective branded mobile money services, or find a new vendor partner. These services have roughly 1 million users between them.

 

Tavess Research has forecast that the nation will house 100 million mobile money subscribers by 2015, around 10% of the total market in emerging nations in the Middle East, Asia and Africa.

 

Separately, Boston Consulting Group has projected that the Indian m-commerce market will be worth $350 billion by 2015.