Cashless payments take flight on mobiles in Asia

ASIA'S population has embraced the Web, but the vast majority are still within the unbanked segment, locking them out of online transactions. Several mobile startups have discovered alternative ways to bring cashless services to those without bank accounts via their phones.

Speaking at the NUS Enterprise InnovFest conference, Nearex co-founder, Mahesh Goel, said that the region's developing markets continue to suffer from the lack of access to formal banking facilities but users have come up with unusual ways of going cashless, despite many not having bank accounts. Nearex is a local startup.

In some countries, where the majority of users are on pre-paid phone lines, users are substituting their mobile airtime for cash, and are using it to barter for goods with small merchants.