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Journalism of Courage
The smartphone has surely become the most used computing device for most of us. But to pay the bills of the connections that run these devices, we still turn to the old fashioned way of going to a store or paying through a website on the desktop. Airtel is trying to change this user behaviour with the new MyAirtel app. Here is what I thought of it.
The app knows you from the moment you run it for the first time. So it opens with all the connections listed to your primary number already showing up on it. It also tells you the outstanding amounts on the same. For my broadband account, it showed the amount of data consumed so far. Since, every month, I had surpassed my 3GB data limit on the primary mobile connection, it showed an option to buy smartbytes.
All this is very intuitive and easy to act on. The good thing here is that you don’t really have to find any option, the app has figured out what you are trying to do.
With each connection listed you have the option to pay the bill as well as to see old transactions. It is much faster than on the web. Also, there is the option to mail the bill to yourself. You can also manage services and add new requests with just a swipe on the same screen.
Then you can recharge any Airtel number. Airtel seems to be stemming the flow of its customers to third-party services like PayTm with this feature. The follow-through is very easy as you can select from talk time as well as 2G/3G packages and make the payment really easily.
Airtel claims PCI-DSS certification for the online payment stack which promises a secure transaction. However, we cannot verify that independently. Plus, there is a coupon free with every recharge, if that is your thing. If free gets you going, then let me tell you the app does not consume any of your data.
What is not good
Well, there is not a lot wrong with this app. But I would have liked the bank gateway to be much more integrated that it is now. To make the payment you have to exit the app and the bank login appears like a tiny dot on the browser within. It is not impossible to do, but certainly not mobile friendly. But I know it is more of a problem for the bank to solve (HDFC, in this case) than Airtel.
One thing that puts me off while using the PayTM app is the push for coupons while you are trying to make a quick payment. Airtel falls for the same trap here and there is a list of coupons you have to skip before reaching the payment gateway. Very avoidable.
Verdict
The new MyAirtel app definitely makes life simpler for Airtel users. You now don’t need to go beyond the smartphone to make your payments. A download is highly recommended, especially for those with more than one Airtel connection.
