Nokia’s Rural Love – New Micro Payment Scheme

Amid pandemic scares and global recession, as fortunes continue to dwindle it seems Nokia is the one shining star that threatens to emerge from all this even stronger than it was a year ago. Nokia’s Indian market continues to grow even as pockets shrink and kudos to their marketing division for coming up with innovative ways to reel in even more customers.

India is already Nokia’s second biggest market with 430 million users – a whopping 60 per cent of India’s cell phones are Nokias. While the demand for high-end phones remains the domain of urban India, Nokia has a new lucrative micro-financing scheme that should reign in more of the rural audience as well. The new scheme, which has already been tested in Maharashtra, will enable rural customers to pay for their mobile in 25 equal weekly installments of Rs. 100 each.

This service is sure to be a boon to many of the customers in the rural market, as now with a small bill of Rs. 400 above their monthly bill, they can get a Nokia mobile. Other schemes, such as Nokia Life Tools, are also targeted towards this market. With the Nokia Life Tools Agriculture services, Nokia intends to provide its rural audience with information relevant to them. Connectivity is always a good thing, and more services geared for farmers and other rural audiences are surely a good sign. Just don’t expect to get an N97 in this scheme anytime soon.