This is the technology that lets you ‘Loan a Talktime’ when your account balance goes nil

If you are a mobile user with a prepaid connection, there is no escape from this. A couple of time, you have ran into situations, where you have an urgent call to make and your account balance is nil.

Either your internet network isn’t working or there are no recharge kiosks nearby. So what’s the way out? Like God’s voice, a baritone would suggest you to loan a talktime of Rs 10 and repay it later.

If you have availed such, it’s time to thank mCarbon, for they are the ones who credit you talktime loan.

This has been a savior for many of us. But did you ever wonder who loans you this talktime and how does the technology function.


Built on proprietary greenroom framework, mCarbon’s micro credit platform allows a prepaid subscriber to request a cash advance from the operator each time they are in need.



The process begins with the subscriber dialing a USSD string and choosing one among the many Micro Credit denominations available. Business rules for the denomination options are created by the team at mCarbon and are based on more than 200 parameters like Age On Network (AoN), Customer balance and extends to parameters like Recharge Frequency, Last Activity Date, Outgoing/Incoming minutes and Average Revenue Per User (ARPU). Real time Analytics platform can be used to check eligibility of the customer for micro Credit based on his usage pattern which is as latest as till 1 hour before.

Next step in the process involves a credit request to be sent by mCarbon’s platform to the Telco’s prepaid Billing/OCS system over standard APIs or Diameter protocol. When the request is accepted in the system, the user is informed through USSD screen along with a SMS confirming the same sent over SMPP connectivity with Telco SMSC. The loan amount is then disbursed to the user which is within seconds of the request.

On consecutive recharge/Top-up by the user, a recharge notification is received by Micro Credit platform on HTTP interface. The micro credit platform validates the prepaid balance of customer using balance check HTTP API from Telco prepaid/Billing/OCS platform and a recovery attempt is made to the prepaid Billing/OCS platform. Post successful recovery, a confirmation SMS with amount recovered and remaining is sent to customer using Telco SMSC. The analytics team at mCarbon works to refine the rules through which bad debts are minimized and maximum penetration is achieved. Automated Credit Rating system helps the organization in differentiating good customers and potential defaulters.


(Image: Pixabay)