Soon we can make our payments through our mobile phone rather than using a credit card or debit card.

The Reserve Bank of India, in its annual policy statement on Tuesday, said it was in the process of formulating the guidelines for a payment system using mobile phones. RBI is in discussions with banks, service providers and industry bodies to develop the payment system. The bank said the draft guidelines would be placed on its website by June 15.

The reach of mobile phones in India has been increasing rapidly. There are about 250 million mobile phone connections in the country. This is much larger than the number of credit card holders at around 10 million. Therefore, use of the mobile for payments is being considered for quite some time.

A banker said a person can access bank account through mobile. He can transfer money to another person’s account. Later, the mobile phone could also be used as a charge card.