New Delhi: Voice-based financial transaction is soon going to become a reality as the Reserve Bank has given approval to ToneTag, a hardware-agnostic sound wave tech solutions provider, for such payments.
ToneTag has completed the first cohort under the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) sandbox for retail payments, the company said on September 14.
Testing was done in rural and urban areas in Karnataka and Bihar, involving transactions up to ₹1,000.
ToneTag has successfully executed offline voice-based payments via feature phones and smart phones in areas with inconsistent internet connectivity.
It further noted that “the technology is already in place, we have received the approval from the RBI, now the regulated entities can easily adopt this technology.” It will benefit the people who are digitally not savvy or find it difficult to use apps for banking or payments, thereby making digital payments a reality for all, the company said, adding that the voice-based retail payment technology is now ready for adoption by the service providers.
With the successful completion of the cohort, ToneTag is now poised to enable digital payments for more than 600 million feature phone users, it said.
It will also offer a secure and seamless payment experience for smartphone users who are not digital savvy.
The Bengaluru-based company said it has ensured that the technology is easy to use and understand.
“Through this technology, ToneTag is set to drive financial inclusion across geographies and make digital payments convenient and available for everyone with a mobile phone, any make or model,” it said.
“Success of our technology in the cohort will not only bring rural India into the digital payment ecosystem but will also bridge the gap between conventional and futuristic payment options for millions of customers who currently don’t have access to digital payment services,” Kumar Abhishek, Founder and CEO, ToneTag said.
ToneTag said it has received multiple Indian and global patents, giving it IP moat for scale up in India and other geographies.
It has also launched RetailPods, a device that allows retailers or other vendors to accept payments through any feature or smart phone and receive voice-based acknowledgement or payment confirmation.
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