mChek, the Draper Fisher Jurvetson and Nexus Venture Partners funded mobile payments company, has been appointed as a corporate business correspondent by Bank of India, to manage its financial inclusion program. Following the partnership, mChek will sign up new customers on behalf of Bank of India, and enable them to deposit and withdraw money, introduce RD facilities, micro credit & insurances, through its designated business correspondents. According to a press statement from the company, mChek has already signed up more than 5000 customers on behalf of the Bank in Mumbai North Zone during the pilot phase and intends to go mainstream across the country. John Kattakayam, Co-Founder & President Banking Services & Operations, mChek informs MediaNama that mChek has appointed business correspondents in Mumbai, Thane and Navi Mumbai and plans to expand to other cities, targeting more than 3,000 points of service. mChek is signing up customers for no-frills accounts on behalf of Bank of India, free of charge. After signing up, customers will also be able to transfer money through NPCI's IMPS mobile money transfer service. He added that business correspondents would be appointed based on their market reputation and past business history with adequate verification on integrity. mChek's Other Initiatives Last year, Tata Teleservices, which is working with mChek for introducing financial inclusion services, had received funds from GSMA's Mobile Money for the Unbanked (MMU) Fund. mChek has run inclusion and micro-finance programs in partnership with NGO business correspondents like Swayam Krishi Sangam and Grameena Koota. mChek's mobile payments service comes pre-installed…
