Pockets, is an e-wallet service, donned as a digital bank by ICICI Bank, enabling you to carry out online transactions using the money funded through any of your bank accounts in the country. Currently available in the Google Play Store, the wallet has all the basic features of an electronic wallet service. Using Pockets, you can send money to any email ID, mobile number, friends on Facebook, and bank account. Customers can also avail the option for a physical card to use the e-wallet in any retail store.
Users will have the option to fund money to their wallet either by linking their ICICI Bank account or using Debit Card/Netbanking. If you don’t link an ICICI Bank account to your wallet, you will be restricted to transactions of Rs. 10,000/- per month. There would be no transaction charges for ICICI Bank account holders while non-ICICI Bank accounts will be charged the regular NEFT charges. You can create a zero-balance savings account at ICICI Bank and add it to the wallet, that will let you earn interest on any money sitting idle, promised by ICICI Bank for the process to be completed in 24 hours. Users don’t need any documents to create a virtual wallet in Pockets, but you have to submit your documents while creating an account in ICICI Bank as part of the KYC (Know Your Customer) documentation.
Present at the event, Ms. Chanda Kochhar, Managing Director and CEO, ICICI Bank said, “We believe that Pockets will help shape the future of digital payments in the country. We, at ICICI Bank, will continue to focus on innovations in technology to offer unique propositions that are simple, fast and convenient.”
Payments are restricted to services only in India, confirmed by ICICI Bank based on the guidelines set by RBI. Pockets includes a few interesting features that lets you book movie tickets, send gifts and make mobile recharges right inside the app. You will be able to split bills with your friends and pay them directly from the app. The app has a really smooth and beautiful UI, letting you choose different themes. Talking on the security, you will have to login every time you wish to use your wallet, and while sending money also you will be sent an One Time Password (OTP) to carry out the transaction every single time. Using the Help section you can contact their customer support by either calling, chatting or sending them an email between 8am-8pm. There are various deals and offers present in the app that you can browse through and either buy them for yourselves or send them over to someone as gifts.
Pockets is currently available in the Google Play Store for free and ICICI Bank said that the service will soon be coming to the iOS App Store.
ICICI Bank had recently launched Twitter-based money transfer service, called icicibankpay. The service also allows users to check account balance, view last three transactions and even recharge prepaid mobile numbers.