HDFC Bank with Reliance Communications turns every Reliance Mobile Phone into a Credit Card

Mumbai, February 19, 2008: Reliance Communications, India’s foremost truly integrated telecommunications service provider, and HDFC Bank, the leading financial institution have come together to offer Reliance mPay credit card with HDFC Bank. This is India’s first virtual credit card to Reliance Mobile users across India. .

Reliance Mobile is the Credit Card and mobile number is the Credit Card number!

The Reliance mPay credit card with HDFC Bank is virtual in nature and no physical plastic will be issued and will be available to Reliance Mobile users who are using HDFC Bank credit cards. The user can use their Reliance mPay credit card with HDFC Bank at any merchant establishments that accept payment via Reliance mPay. The Bank will authenticate all the information with RCom, which will be used to initiate and authorize all the payments using the customer’s mobile handset. Thus, there is no card number, Card Verification Value (CVV) or Expiry Date, which the customer has to enter with Reliance mPay service.

Reliance mPay services will offer Reliance Mobile Post paid bill payment, Pre-paid top-up, and payment of Reliance Energy monthly electricity bills and will be extended to allow the customer to book movie tickets, travel tickets, merchant payments at shops, restaurants, shopping on the Internet, etc.

Announcing the launch of Reliance mPay, Mr. Rahul Bhagat, Country Head - Retail Liabilities, Marketing & Direct Banking Channels, HDFC Bank said, “In continuation of HDFC Bank's tradition of using cutting edge technology to provide the best in world class banking experience to its customers, I am pleased to announce the launch of India's first Virtual Credit Card on Reliance Mobile phone. An HDFC Bank customer can now shop using his Reliance Mobile and make payment without disclosing details of his credit card.”

Speaking on the occasion, Mahesh Prasad, President, Applications, Solutions and Content Group, Reliance Communications said: “We are very pleased to partner with HDFC Bank, to provide our subscribers with this first of its kind offer. We are very excited that all Reliance Mobile Customers can participate in the Mobile Credit Card evolution. This is another step towards making money transfer, mobile commerce a reality in India! “

There is no financial risk to the customer in case of loss of mobile phone as the use of the Reliance mPay is PIN protected. To use the service and make any payment, the customer will have to use the PIN (issued to the customer at the time of issue of this virtual credit card). As all the transactions are initiated using the mobile number (to which the Reliance mPay service is issued), there is no risk of card skimming, card compromise on the Internet etc thereby ensuring no misuse on the Internet.

ABOUT HDFC BANK

Promoted in 1995 by Housing Development Finance Corporation (HDFC), India's leading housing finance company, HDFC Bank is one of India's premier banks providing a wide range of financial products and services to its over 10 million customers across hundred of Indian cities using multiple distribution channels including a pan-India network of branches, ATMs, phone banking, net banking and mobile banking. Within a relatively short span of time, the bank has emerged as a leading player in retail banking, wholesale banking, and treasury operations, its three principal business segments.

The bank's competitive strength clearly lies in the use of technology and the ability to deliver world-class service with rapid response time. Over the last 10 years, the bank has successfully gained market share in its target customer franchises while maintaining healthy profitability and asset quality.

As on December 31, 2007, the Bank had a network of 754 branches and 1,906 ATMs in 327 towns/cities.

For the nine months ended December 31, 2007, the bank reported a net profit of Rs.1,119.1 crores, up by 40.3%, over the corresponding nine months ended December 31, 2006. Total deposits were Rs 99,387 crores, an increase of 48.9% as compared to December 31, 2006. Total balance sheet size increased by 46.7% from 89,608 crores as of December 31, 2006 to 131,439 crores as of December 31, 2007.

For the half year ended September 30, 2007, the bank reported a net profit of Rs.687.7 crores, up by 37.3%, over the corresponding six months ended September 30, 2006. Total deposits were Rs 91,069 crores, an increase of 43.5% as compared to September 30, 2006. Total balance sheet size too grew by 44.1% to INR 1215.45 billion (Rs. 1,21,545 crores) from Rs 843.69 billion ( Rs. 84,363 crores).

For the year ended March 31, 2007, the bank reported a net profit of INR 11.42 billion (Rs1142 crores), 31% higher over the previous year ended March 31, 2006. Total deposits at INR 682.98 billion (Rs.68,298 crores) were over 22% higher. Total balance sheet size too grew by 24% to INR 912.36 billion (Rs.91,236 crores).

Leading Indian and international publications have recognized the bank for its performance and quality.

About Reliance Mobile World :-

Reliance Mobile World has gained popularity as a virtual one-stop-shop for entertainment, communication, gaming and m-commerce. Thanks to the wide range of applications, it has endeared itself to users from all walks of life. Reliance Mobile World has over 2500 useful applications and over 2,00,000 content titles which include mobile TV, videos, cricket updates, music, ringtones, phonebook transfer and back-up service, m-commerce services like Mobile Banking, bill payments, mobile e-mail and instant messenger, city and TV guides, booking gas cylinders, tracking Speed Post, Airlines and Railway reservations, examination results and much more.

About Reliance Communications:

Reliance Communications Limited founded by the late Shri. Dhirubhai H Ambani (1932-2002) is the flagship company of the Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group. The Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group currently has a market capitalization of over Rs. 3,00,000 crore, net worth in excess of Rs. 40,000 crore, cash flows of Rs. 9,000 crore, net profit of Rs. 5,000 crore and zero net debt.

Rated among "Asia's Top 5 Most Valuable Telecom Companies", Reliance Communications is India's foremost and truly integrated telecommunications service provider. The company, with a customer base of over 40 million including over 1.3 million individual overseas retail customers, ranks among the Top 10 Asian Telecom companies by number of customers. Reliance Communications' corporate clientele includes 600 Indian and 250 multinational corporations, and over 200 global carriers.


Reliance Communications has established a pan-India, next generation, integrated (wireless and wireline), convergent (voice, data and video) digital network that is capable of supporting best-of-class services spanning the entire infocomm value chain, covering over 13,000 towns and 500,000 villages. Reliance Communications owns and operates the world's largest next generation IP enabled connectivity infrastructure, comprising over 165,000 kilometers of fibre optic cable systems in India, USA, Europe, Middle East and the Asia Pacific region.

For further Information, please contact:

HDFC Bank
Neeraj Jha
93236-20828

Reliance Communications
Mrinal Sapre / Chaitra Harihar
93236-12892 / 93238-61167

Sampark Public Relations Pvt. Ltd.
Sanjay Kharat / Sonica Sureka
Tel: 40425550

[ Top ]