The MobiKwik Lite app works on slower internet connections, and lets one receive payment via credit and debit cards.
In light of demonetization, a lot of people have now moved to a cashless lifestyle and are using mobile payments to pay for their everyday expenses. However, this doesn’t help small-scale vendors such as a local grocer or a tea-stall owner who are neither capable of acquiring card swipe machines nor have a stronger internet connectivity on their mobile phones to download apps for digital transactions. After Paytm launched an in-app ‘PoS’ facility, rival mobile wallet service MobiKwik has announced a new Lite version of its app that works on slower internet connections and offers multi-language support. While the Lite app retains core features of the main version, it is especially targeted at merchants or users who do not have a robust internet connectivity or email account, and in the current situation of cash crisis are struggling with receiving or making payments. The company has also launched a new facility that lets customers make payments through their credit and debit cards without needing to download the Mobikwik app. The MobiKwik Lite app has been designed to be under 1MB in size. It is claimed to operate with minimal data usage and the company promises that even with future updates to the app, the size of the app will be kept under 1MB. As of now, the app requires internet connectivity, but the company aims to bring the same transaction capabilities through the use of SMS in the near future. The app currently supports Hindi and English and by the end of this week, more regional languages will be added. It supports Android v2.3 onwards, and can be accessed on dated Android OS as well. There is no word if the lite version of the app will be extended to iOS users as well. How to download MobiKwik Lite app? As the MobiKwik Lite app doesn’t require one to necessarily have an email account, one can give a missed call to 8097180971 which sends an SMS with a download link to the app. Once a user clicks on the download link, they will be taken to the app download page where it is downloaded within 30 seconds as claimed by MobiKwik even on a 2G or EDGE connection. There is a single step OTP login using just your mobile number. ALSO READ: Soon you can use MobiKwik mobile wallet to pay for tolls on national highways 
How to accept payment through credit/debit cards on MobiKwik Lite app? In order to receive payments, a merchant simply needs to type in the mobile number of the customer who will recieve an SMS with MobiKwik’s payment gateway link. Through this link, customers can choose from a number of payments options including debit card, credit card, net banking, ATM Pin, UPI, and more. Customers don’t need to have the app on their device as they are directly taken to a secure payments gateway. For credit and debit card holders, the process is very similar to what they do for an online transaction via debit or credit card. It also adheres to RBI’s mandatory two-step verification process. 
The MobiKwik app supports not only payments but also allows inter-wallet operability, which means you could use other wallets to add money to MobiKwik account. Currently, the app supports wallets such as ICICI Pockets, SBI Buddy, PayZapp, and Oxygen. Alternatively, merchants can also share their QR code with the customers for receiving payments via the app. There are no charges on bank transfers through the app till March 31, 2017. How is it different from Paytm’s app-based PoS system? Paytm recently introduced an app-based PoS system that allows merchants, who do not own a card swipe machine to accept payments using their smartphones. But in order to make card payments, a user is required to enter their card details onto the merchant’s smartphone; a reason why the service received criticism from rivals and had to be put on hold before new features were added for a re-launch. ALSO READ: Paytm now enables any merchant to accept debit, credit cards on their Android smartphone While MobiKwik Lite also eliminates the need for a merchant to have a physical card swipe machine, the payment is relatively secure because the transaction is still controlled by the user. Unlike Paytm’s system, the MobiKwik Lite app doesn’t require the payer to enter their card details onto the merchant’s device in a situation when they need to make payments through credit or debit card. The transaction is carried out on the payer’s device itself with the merchant being a mere facilitator to share the QR code or send payment gateway link through SMS. MobiKwik says it has its own payment gateway so if there’s an instance of theft of the mobile device, there is a procedure to safeguard the account from any risk.