To boost mobile banking, the Reserve Bank of India has formed a technical committee to examine the feasibility of encrypted SMS-based fund transfers. Transfers that can be facilitated using an application that can run on any mobile handset.

The committee will study challenges faced by banks in mobile banking. It will consider the advantages/ challenges of having a single application across all handsets in an SMS-encrypted environment, the RBI said.

The committee will also look at any other solution to expand the reach of mobile banking and accordingly, draw a roadmap to implement those solutions.

B. Sambamurthy, Director, Institute for Development and Research in Banking Technology, will chair the committee and Vijay Chugh, Chief General Manager at RBI will be the member secretary.

The members of the committee will include officials of State Bank of India, ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank and Axis Bank and Chief Information Officer of Vodafone India, Anthony Thomas.

The committee may include specialists in the field as permanent invitees, the central bank said.

beena.parmar@thehindu.co.in

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