Soon, money kept in mobile wallets will work for you, instead of it remaining idle. Wallet users will be able to get 6-7 per cent per annum returns by investing in liquid mutual funds.

This new facility is being launched by mobile wallet players, including ItzCash, in a bid to make them more attractive to users. Wallets will have an ‘investment and redemption’ feature and the money will move in and out of the wallet without the need of a bank account.

Liquid fund is a category of mutual fund which invests primarily in money market instruments such as certificate of deposits, treasury bills, commercial papers and term deposits. Lower maturity period of these underlying assets helps a fund manager in meeting the redemption demand from investors.

“To start with, we will allow consumers to invest in the liquid fund, wherein they can invest as low as ₹100 for a tenure of even a day. The Indian financial service ecosystem is going to witness a paradigm shift once we allow our users to invest the idle money,” Naveen Surya, Managing Director of ItzCash and Chairman of Payments Council of India told BusinessLine, adding that the service does not need any additional regulatory clearances.

The returns will be worked out at 5-7 per cent per annum rate and on the number of days the money is parked with the mutual fund. And, if a person shuts the wallet, he gets whatever money he has in the wallet plus the accrued interest.

Expanding reach Other mobile wallet service providers such as Mobikwik, Oxigen and Zeta are already firming up plans to launch similar financial services, including Systematic Investment Plans (SIPs) and insurance policies in an attempt to expand their footprints and create an inclusive financial system on the internet.

The wallet companies will also benefit as they can earn commission from such transactions. At present, they do not earn anything from the money kept in the wallet.

Pramod Saxena, Managing Director, Oxigen, said: “This will help open up the financial market and bring in new customers who have never bought any mutual fund as they find the whole process of opening an SIP very cumbersome.” Rajeev Arora, COO of wallet provider FINO Paytech, which has also got a licence to run a payment bank, said the company plans to provide these services as a payment bank, but has doubts if it can be “successfully” done through wallets.

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