India: Mobile payments app Ultracash launches

The product has been developed by technology provider Ultracash Technology Labs and is said to have signed up close to 500 merchants in a certain area of India and adjoining areas to do a limited test run and it has already clocked more than 20,000 transactions in the initial months.

To use the service, one needs to have a bank account and a mobile phone – no need to preload money into the phone, doesn’t require Internet on the phone or NFC chips or special hardware.

The service works by using a unique ultra-high frequency encrypted sound-based technology that is patent-pending and the payment can be done directly from any bank accounts or credit/debit cards to the merchant account using an Android phone (with iOS promised soon).