Dial *99# For Bank Account Access From Your Phone (Basic Handsets Will Do)

Today's TOI had news about how there is now a provision that will let mobile phone users to access their bank accounts from their phones (not necessarily a smartphone) by dialing *99# - Though you already have services that let you do exactly that, this will be now an 'Universal Code' of sorts. Built under the Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD) platform, once you dial this code, a live connection with the bank's server is established, which by the way is completely different from the other mobile telephony services.
To put it in simple words, this system will now work exactly like the mechanism used by the pre-paid phone users to check their phone's balance amount. So, the service is independent of SMS or GPRS connectivity.

The big brains who have thought this service out are the folks over at National Payment Corporation of India (NPCI). And this is the first time that the Government is shaking hands with Telecom Companies for such an initiative.
The report also says that the motive behind Government pushing the mobile banking sector is that the people in remote areas will be able to access their Aadhar (UID Project) accounts even if there are no banks nearby.

The first ones jumping in are BSNL & MTNL, of course. 👍