Aircel, India’s seventh-largest cellular company by subscribers (data as of July 2012) has introduced a novel feature on its Facebook page. Now prepaid users can recharge their talk or data plans instantly within a Facebook app on the Aircel India Facebook page.
The instant ‘Recharge’ Facebook app has 4 simple steps. While first step takes your Aircel number, in the second step you can choose the product. There is a drop down list with products like Talktime, 2G, SMS pack, Rate cutter and One nation one rate plan. Choose a product and the recharge amount applicable for it. Third step involves entering card details for the payment and last step is a confirmation.
Some of us may be apprehensive of making a card payment on a Facebook app. The payment page does mention that card details will be stored in a PCI-DSS (Data Security Standards) secure environment and cannot be misused or tampered with. As per this PCI Security Standards Council article, these are robust standards that help organisations ensure safe handling of cardholder information at every step. So rest assured!
The appealing feature is being extensively promoted on the Aircel India Facebook page with its 4.2 million strong fan base. Interestingly, a teaser update was posted on the 15th of May on Facebook as well as Twitter, inviting users to recharge mobiles while they like, comment or share on Facebook. Besides, I’m also witnessing Google ads for the new Recharge app, as I write this.
While other telecom service providers have online shop apps on Facebook, the instant recharge app by Aircel is a cool and strategic move targeted to the youth in a Facebook savvy nation. How do you see this?