After receiving the license for mobile wallet from Reserve Bank of India the SoftBank backed True Balance has now launched its mobile wallet service in India. Now, a mobile wallet feature has been added to its mobile app. The newly added feature in its app will allow users to add money to wallet, do recharges and do peer to peer money transfers. Moreover, it will also enable users to transfer wallet money to one’s bank account.
The app, which started as a mobile balance management service for prepaid users, has already garnered more than 50 million downloads. It has been providing various features around managing phone bills; allowing users to know their data consumption, mobile balance and next due recharge date etc. with just a swipe. It also offers ‘One click- recharge feature‘, enabling easy phone bill payments on its platform. The launch of wallet feature sees the app gradually progress from a “balance check app” to a “bills check and payment app.”
“By enabling digital payments on our platform, we are taking another important milestone which supports Indian government’s vision of digital India. Our new feature will help Indians to make secure and seamless utility payments from their mobile phones. The launch of mobile wallet is intrinsic to our strategy to engage with users and increase revenues as well,” said Charlie Lee, CEO, True Balance.
True Balance, a startup founded in 2014 by Cheol-won (Charlie) Lee is a blend of Korean and Indian workforce. 95% of the population in India uses a pre-paid mobile plan, hence the app was developed due to the constant necessity of checking balance and recharging. True Balance has shifted mobile balance alerts from text to infographics and made it convenient for users to easily check the balance, purchase prepaid plans and track data usage. As of November 2017, True Balance has more than 50 million downloads in the Google Play Store and counting. SoftBank Ventures Korea called True Balance ‘its most impressive investment till date’ during the second round of funding.
True Balance is under the process of patenting its automatic engine technology for comprehending text messages in Korea and India. This technology will be directly applied to users signed under plans from 10 telecom companies in 22 telco circles in India. The app enables users to check remaining balance in real-time even without the phone being connected to data service, in consideration with the low data connectivity in the country. In 2016, the app was selected in the App Starter Kit (collection of most used apps in the country) on the Play Store and has ranked No. 1 in the lifestyle app category.
