HDFC Bank today announced the launch of Missed Call Mobile Recharge, a simple way to top up a prepaid mobile number. The bank’s customers can now recharge their mobile by giving a missed call, without the need to visit a shop, log onto a website or open an app. Further, customers can also add their family or friends to avail of the missed call mobile recharge service.
This service allows the bank to tap into an estimated 900 million pre-paid mobile customers which includes approximately 84 % smartphone users and 92% feature phone users. There are over 1 billion mobile subscribers in India.
To use this facility one doesn’t need a data plan, which makes it particularly useful in smaller towns and rural areas, where Internet connectivity is low.
“Missed call mobile recharge further simplifies the process of recharging pre-paid numbers. Even if a customer is on the road or based in a remote location, all he has to do is give a missed call to re-charge his phone. Further, this service gives the customer the option of adding family members, friends or dependents. We believe this is a unique service in the pre-paid market, which accounts for a large chunk of mobile phone users in India,” stated Nitin Chugh, Country Head – Digital Banking, HDFC Bank.
To activate the service, customers can send an SMS from the mobile number registered with the Bank to 7308080808. A default recharge amount of Rs 50 is set, but the customer can also set his favourite recharge amount, ranging from Rs 10 to Rs 250. The next time when the customer needs a recharge, he can give a missed call on 7308080808 and the fixed amount is credited to his mobile number. The amount gets debited from the customer’s HDFC Bank account. Once activated, the service can be used on any phone across any telecom operator.
Further, HDFC Bank customers can also add family members and friends for this service and authorize them to recharge their mobile through Missed call by debiting customer’s own account.
