Vodafone India's mobile payment service M-Pesa has 1.5 million registered users, of which around 300,000 are active users as of June 30, 2014, the company has disclosed in its Q1-FY15 results. This is the first time the telco has disclosed active users for M-Pesa, although the service had reported 1.2 million registered users in the previous quarter. In comparison, M-Pesa’s competitor Airtel Money had reported to have an active base of 1.7 million for Q4-FY14, up from 1.3 million in the previous quarter. The total number of transactions was at 38 million, up 25.8% quarter-on-quarter (QoQ) while the amount transacted was at Rs 1,364.2 crore for the quarter, up 10.2% growth QoQ. Vodafone however hasn't disclosed any information on how m-pesa is performing in terms of transactions or amount transacted. Vodafone which operates the service through its wholly owned subsidiary Mobile Commerce Solutions Ltd (MCSL), had completed the pan-India rollout of the service in March this year, about one year since its India launch and about 16 months after the initial announcement. The company says the service is now available through 66,000 sales agents, of which 65% are in rural areas. This is up from 60,000 sales agents reported in the previous quarter. Cash Disbursement Pilots: In May this year, Vodafone had partnered (pdf) with ICICI Bank to launch mobile-based transfer of health care subsidies directly to the beneficiaries on a pilot basis in Ranchi's Namkun block. This disbursement was made under the Janani Suraksha Yojna Scheme that is operated under National Rural Health Mission (NRHM). The company had earlier stated plans to launch a similar pilot in Bihar. It had also stated plans of enabling money disbursement through…
