ICICI Bank to launch e-wallet for mobile NFC payment later this year

Indian banking giant ICICI is launching a digital wallet, executive director Rajiv Sabharwal said at a press conference earlier this week. The wallet will operate on NFC technology and will enable payments through compatible smartphones.

This follows close on the heels of ICICI's launch of NFC credit cards in three cities last week, alongside machines to accept swipe payments. But Sabharwal says that, while they're pushing to expand mobile NFC payments, physical credit cards will still continue to exist, and their NFC readers will be able to process mobile and NFC card payments from other banks as well.

A digital wallet would mean that you can process your card payment faster, by eliminating the PIN entry on the reader. While this may seem unsafe, the RBI has stated that it plans to detail one-step guidelines to make these NFC payments more secure.

ICICI is also attempting to bring baking to the new wave of smart wearables entering country, but there's no word yet on when we can expect that announcement.