The Reserve Bank of India has announced the constitution of a Technical Committee on Mobile Banking, to examine the options/alternatives including the feasibility of using encrypted SMS based funds transfer using an application that can run on any type of handset for expansion of mobile banking in the country.

Terms of Reference of the Committee are:

(a) to conduct an in-depth study of the challenges faced by banks in taking mobile banking forward to the desired level;

(b) to study the challenges faced by banks in introducing the Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD) channel and suggest solutions, if any, to take this forward;

(c) to consider the advantages/challenges of having a single application across all handsets in an SMS encrypted environment;

(d) to examine any other optimum solution that would take mobile banking to every nook and corner of the country; and accordingly,

(e) to draw up a road map for implementation of the solutions/options recommended

The Committee will comprise:

1. Shri B. Sambamurthy, Director, Institute for Development & Research in Banking Technology (Chairman)
2. Shri Pulak Kumar Sinha, General Manager (Payment Systems)- State Bank of India
3. Shri Rahul Joshi , Joint General Manager (Mobile Banking & Payments)- ICICI Bank
4. Shri Anand Rao, Vice President (Alternate Delivery Channels) Axis Bank
5. Shri Dilip Asbe, Chief Operating Officer, National Payments Corporation of India
6. Shri Anthony Thomas, Chief Information Officer, Vodafone India Ltd
7. Shri C. N. Ram, Ex-Chief Information Officer, HDFC Bank and
8. Shri Pravir Vohra, Ex-President & Group -Chief Technical Officer, ICICI Bank
9. Shri Vijay Chugh, Chief General Manager, Reserve Bank of India- Member Secretary

The Technical Committee may include specialists in the field of mobile payments as permanent invitees.

The Committee will submit its report by end of December 2013.

The Reserve Bank of India, Department of Payment and Settlement Systems, Central Office, Mumbai has invited suggestions from the public based on the terms of reference of the Technical Committee for consideration of the Committee. The comments may be mailed latest by October 31, 2013.

Ajit Prasad

Assistant General Manager

Mobile banking technical review examining encrypted SMS and USSD adoption, seeking public input to shape a national implementation roadmap. Constitution of a Technical Committee to examine expansion of mobile banking, assessing feasibility of encrypted SMS-based funds transfer and handset-agnostic applications; study operational and technical challenges for banks, evaluate USSD channel adoption and a single-application approach in an encrypted SMS environment, explore other nationwide solutions, and draw up an implementation road map; Committee composition includes senior industry and payments specialists and public submissions are invited for consideration.