Going cashless – Pluses and more +++
Cashless is no longer a scary word now. It is astounding to see how it has defined the new ways of payment paving the way to cashless economy.
FinTech Trends
Top Five Technologies that could boost Fintech in 2018
While Traditional Banking existed with a prime motive to secure and save money, they never bothered to create a social impact. The Fintech is on the rise, we do see how “Banking is now boosting the social change” with customized and apt solutions and dedicating themselves to improve the lives of people. Fintech industry, on the one hand, is working hard to meet the demand of tech-savvy individuals and on the other trying to serve the underprivileged. So which technologies would keep the fintech industry occupied this new year? Let’s take a look – Blockchain sorting the identities, ownership, and payments While the buzz is more of bitcoins and cryptocurrency, experts believe its the Blockchain technology that has the potential to disrupt banking and empower inclusion for all. Blockchain a decentralized distributed ledger is spread across many users in a network. Also, known as the trustless network, where authority or regulators do not govern it has been able to serve banking in year 2017. Blockchain that offers transparency, accountability and efficiency could be used to provide Digital identities, Digital Asset Ownership, Land Ownership and most importantly facilitate mobile payments. According to the Harvard Business Review, it is “likely to do to the financial system and regulation what the internet has done to media companies and advertising firms.” So, while there are firms merely labeling their product as Blockchain when it is just a database, there are firms that are researching, experimenting and implementing the technology for good. Open Banking, PSD2, Open API, Open Data – Are your solutions OPEN yet? Open Banking is no more a tech jargon, with government initiatives like Aadhaar enabled payment system[AEPS] and Unified Payment Interface[UPI] in place we could witness greater innovations happening under this technology. As Deloitte defines – “Open Banking & PSD2 are both a catalyst and accelerator in this shift towards open services where maintaining flexibility and adaptability will be critical.” With Open Banking initiative customers could grant data access to third parties that could help them in getting better offers and discounts and better control on the money. While the discussion is on with Open banking offering convenience vs. Control, simplicity vs. security and customized services vs. complexity, 2018 would define who wins the race. Augmented Reality, Virtual Reality, Mixed Reality, IoT, Wearable – Disrupting Banking? Your customer may prefer personalized banking, but how about offering that in his comfortable room/office space? All he needs to do it install an app and use wearables to navigate, be it about the home loan offers or his financial portfolio with AR, VR, MR and wearables it is indeed a possibility. On the other hand, with IoTs in place, banks could help the farmers by analyzing the yield of crop and could provide them with flexible financing terms. Or the sensors in warehouses could assist the banks in informing when inventory is sold out, and loan needs to be paid back, avoiding false cases. With an increase in usage of electronic devices that are connected it is easy to track and gather data and helps in boosting inclusion. As per the statements from MasterCard at Money2020- The future is moving to the Internet of Things and connection makes all the difference between the haves and have-nots, according to recent. And this “connected real and virtual world” would make a difference in banking for the year 2018. Artificial Intelligence – Intuitive, automated and real-time banking AI the combination of Machine Learning, Cognitive Computing, and Natural Language Processing helps to simulate the intelligence of humans into artificial machines. AI has already been adopted by banks in the form of chatbots, detecting Anti-money laundering [AML] patterns, fraud detection, tailored solutions based on customers interest. However, in the year 2018 we might see payments/transactions processed via Siri or Alexa, experts could come up with robust algorithms that help traders manages their risk and portfolio and most importantly many back-end processes would be automated, thanks to Robotic Process automation [RPA] evolution. Data Science, Data Analytics – Let the data do the talking Each day data is growing, however, to make sense of this data we need analytics. The data science is not just about a bar graph depicting an individual’s spending’s, its way beyond. How could a bank decide the value of cash needed at an ATM? Or how about a payment bank [also serviced via kiosks] know which agent has been making high sales? Or whether the discounts offered on credit cards are being used? Many of such queries have been answered in the past via Analytics, but combined with the power of Artificial intelligence, cloud computing and IoT these decisions now could be real-time and strategies could be altered at run-time giving a hard run to your competitors…. References: Open Banking A Consumer Perspective Faith Reynolds January 2017 Open Banking – What The Future Holds Data sharing and open banking Internet of Things (IoT) in Financial Services 10 Ways Banks And Credit Unions Are Using Virtual Reality IoT and financial inclusion is just around the corner, MasterCard reports Top 10 fintech trends that could influence the banking industry in 2018 10 FinTech Predictions for 2018 8 fintech trends on our radar for 2018
Open Banking – Is it comforting to customers or not?
Big changes are on the horizon. You may have seen or heard about Open Banking, PSD2, and CMA in the news over the past year. Or, you may be hearing about them for the first time right now. Fortunately, Open Banking is right here and it is going to stay. In the banking sector, the concept of “open” can seem contradictory. Banks traditionally have a “duty of care” to protect their assets rigorously, as required by regulators and customers. Traditional Banking is been the same for…just about forever. For the most part, the power dynamic between banks and their customers has stayed about the same. Whether you bank in person, over the phone, online or mobile, the relationship with banks hasn’t changed much alongside the technological advancements. You set up an account with your bank, they facilitate the ebb and flow of your money, and, as a result, they hold the data around that money. All of the histories around your purchases, loans, payments, debits, and credits rests with them. Now banking is about to undergo a major shift. With the ‘Open Banking’, (the outcome of the beautiful blending of Financial and Technology sectors), all of that is going to change. With…… Improving overall customer experience by engaging them and to attend to customer needs in a secure, agile, and future-proof method. New Revenue streams by increasing digital revenue from new channels. As rightly said by Kristin Moyer, Vice President of Research and Distinguished Analyst at Gartner and I quote……“Open Banking is about making everything for sale. It provides a new way to increase digital revenue for the banks that are willing to think differently about what it means to be a bank.” Sustainable service model for underserved markets. ………… open banking is definitely a welcoming change. BANKING: THEN & NOW In 1872, when first wire transfer happened nobody would have imagined how the entire scenario will change from wire transfer to ATM’s in the 1960s to telephone banking in 1980s. 1997 saw the rise of internet banking which paved the way to contactless payment in 2007 and mobile banking in 2010, but still, the traditional ways of banking continued. But NOW Human-Centered Fintech is making way for personalization and open banking. What is Open banking? Open Banking is a financial services term as part of financial technology that refers to: The use of Open APIs that enable third-party developers to build applications and services around the financial institution. Greater financial transparency options for account holders ranging from Open Data to private data. The use of open source technology to achieve the above. Thus, “Open Banking is the possibility of creating new digital business and ecosystems through APIs provided by the banks. How does Open Banking work? Open Banking will enable companies to give more accurate personal financial guidance, tailored to your particular circumstances and delivered securely and confidentially. To provide tailored advice, companies need to know how you use your account. At the moment, to get personal financial guidance, you have to hand over your confidential banking information to price comparison websites. Source: by Wikimedia Commons Open Banking will use APIs (Application Programming Interfaces) to share customer information securely. Companies will be able to use open banking APIs to see your transaction information to tell you what you might save when considering the current account best suited to you. Or if you run a small business you could find the best deals for your business accounts and loans. No in-betweens, no interruptions, just pure and simple direct customer-to-service relations Open Banking at its best. HOW BIG IS OPEN BANKING?? ….. well the picture says it all Source: https://goo.gl/VmjhSy WHO’S WHO ……ZOOMING ON OPEN BANKING Source: https://goo.gl/VmjhSy So, how does it help, and why does it matter to you? To answer these questions, let’s take a look at what open-banking brings to the digital market and on your FinTech plate. Source: europa Transparency of Data Companies connect with third-party APIs by developing apps which provide financial services for their customers and connect with banking sectors/firms for access to customer data and personal info. This transparency of data leads to the establishment of improved customer relations. Through open-banking services, you’ll be able to invest in financial products manage your money get detailed financial statements generated pay from one platform to the other (like how you use Paytm for paying your BESCOM bills or the Simpl/LazyPay wallet to pay for other services). Think open-banking, think big-picture. No back and forth dialogs, no payment hassles or dealings with banks. Direct peer-to-peer payments and transactions between customers and businesses. Period. Image Source: Medium.com Safety Benefits If safety wasn’t a priority, we’d all be worried. Open-banking doesn’t compromise on security and leverages Fintech services to adapt to growing security needs. With Agile technologies operating on robust platforms, open-banking is built on a platform of secure systems which means your personal data doesn’t leak to anonymous parties or get hijacked. Banks share personal data through APIs and intermediaries and connects developers with payment networks like VISA and MasterCard for the seamless exchange of money balances and financial information. Cybersecurity measures and anti-intrusion technologies come integrated with APIs, thus building upon layers of transactional security. Image Source: Zanders.EU Consumer-Centric Approach At the end of the day, we love our services and open-banking matches consumer expectations. From Uber’s APIs integrating Google Maps and payment gateways to companies using Big Data, Analytics, and FinTech services to leverage creative products and services, open-banking gives users total control over their financial exchanges. Customer engagement as is (left) and after PSD2 (right) Source: europa Data sharing in financial services tend to be the risk- and permission-based, with required audit trails, and subject to regulation and risk management. If done well, however, it can deliver increased security through enhanced know-your-customer capabilities, identity validation, and fraud detection. The current
The Six Qualities of Blockchain
My first face-off with Blockchain was a year back when I in my hometown was keen to transfer my bank account to a new city. The banking officials mentioned the multi-step time-consuming process, which made me think why the same bank cannot be accessible from my new location. Isn’t just about data? Yes, cloud technology a centralized server could have helped me, but blockchain or distributed ledger technology had much more potential regarding trust, security, and transparency. Since then, the blockchain ride is on, and this post is a trip down the memory lane … Beginning As per wiki, the first work on a cryptographically secured chain of blocks was described in 1991 by Stuart Haber and W. Scott Stornetta. However, the first blockchain was conceptualised by an anonymous person or group known as Satoshi Nakamoto in 2008, and following year as core component of cryptocurrency bitcoin. He published the white paper on digital currency with title Bitcoin-Peer to Peer Electronic Cash System. He claimed that the writing of the code started way back in 2007, and the release of first units of bitcoin in 2009. Although he used to collaborate with individuals on the open-source team, he has never revealed anything about himself. As per public bitcoin transaction log, Nakamoto’s known addresses contain roughly one million bitcoins, which as of December 2017 is worth over 19 billion USD. Bitcoin, Blockchain… Many people often misinterpret Bitcoin and Blockchain as synonyms, however Bitcoin or any cryptocurrency is one of the use case of the Blockchain technology Blockchain could be referred to as an open, transparent distributed ledger, and bitcoin is the cryptocurrency or digital currency based on Blockchain technology. Or as Pwc defines The blockchain is a decentralized ledger of all transactions across a peer-to-peer network. Using this technology, participants can confirm transactions without the need for a central certifying authority. Potential applications include fund transfers, settling trades, voting, and many other uses. How Blockchain Works? How Blockchain Works 1 Six Qualities of Blockchain So what makes blockchain unique? Blockchain is distributed – When we say Blockchain is distributed it means it can run on any computer provided by volunteers across the globe. There is no central database, no authority to track it, that also says it cannot be shut down or hacked. Any digital transaction can happen directly between two parties, no intermediaries are required. Blockchain is encrypted – Gone are the days of firewalls, each block of blockchain is heavily encrypted that involves public and private keys. The encryption helps to secure and to maintain the uniqueness of each block. Blockchain is public – Well, to some extent blockchain is public in nature, as anyone in the network can view it. That makes the transactions transparent and open; there is no hiding of transactions. Blockchain is, for the most part, inclusive – Could you imagine an international transaction happening without documents/legal channels? Well, Satoshi did imagine a simplified payment verification mode that could work on a mobile device and does not need legal documents. Blockchain is immutable – Once a transaction has been initiated, verified and validated by others, it is added as a new block with the timestamp and linking to preceding block with a unique signature. It cannot be changed or altered and remains in the ledger permanently. Blockchain is historical – You cannot steal a block or for that matter bitcoin. Just for example the units of bitcoin that are present if taken by someone, then he needs to rewrite its history entirely. That makes it impossible for someone to steal the bitcoins making them historical. Blockchain Use Cases Across the World While a lot of cryptocurrencies, banking, and payment use cases are in the limelight, but given the nature of blockchain, it could be used in any verticals. In fact, the innovators across the world are designing digital ledger that could store any data and help the individuals. Be it to track the diamonds or birth and death certificates, be it about storing all government records or health records or maintain your digital identity, be it about the artist who crafted his masterpiece of the musician who composed the melodious tune. All and every form of data could be stored and managed via Blockchain. If you are keen on exploring the start-ups who are offering blockchain solutions, you can visit here. And what the world says… While many believe Blockchain has the potential equivalent of the Internet to disrupt the world, others just find it as a bubble that would burst out soon. A closer look at some of the famous quotes on blockchain by the known personality… does their view matter? Adam Draper says – The blockchain does one thing: It replaces third-party trust with mathematical proof that something happened Or as Anthony Scaramucci says – The blockchain concept was pioneered within the context of crypto-currency Bitcoin, but engineers have imagined many other ways for distributed ledger technology to streamline the world. Stock exchanges and big banks, for example, are looking at blockchain-type systems as trading settlement platforms And Nassim Taleb Statistician, a former trader, and risk analyst quote – “Bitcoin is the beginning of something great: a currency without a government, something necessary and imperative. But I am not familiar with the specific product to assert whether it is the best potential setup. And we need a long time to establish confidence.” And this one is my favorite… Vitalik Buterin says – “Instead of putting the taxi driver out of a job, blockchain puts Uber out of a job and lets the taxi driver work with the customer directly.” References: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Satoshi_Nakamoto https://www.cnbc.com/2017/12/19/bill-gates-in-2014-bitcoin-is-better-than-currency.html https://medium.com/@MartinRosulek/14-bitcoin-quotes-by-famous-people-6e7a1a009281 https://www.pwc.com/us/en/financial-services/fintech/assets/blockchain-infographic.png https://www.pwc.com/us/en/financial-services/publications/viewpoints/assets/qa-what-is-blockchain.pdf http://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_Realizing_Potential_Blockchain.pdf https://www.forbes.com/sites/perianneboring/2016/10/06/top-25-quotes-from-don-tapscott-and-alex-tapscotts-blockchain-revolution/#1c7f004164ae https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blockchain https://www.brainyquote.com/topics/blockchain https://www.investinblockchain.com/what-is-blockchain-technology/
FinTech Trends, Product Overview
Everything you need to know about – OpenBanking, OpenAPI, OpenData
Vishal’s take on OpenBanking In a recent post on McKinsey about Open banking, it said – The potential benefits of open banking include improved customer experience, new revenue streams, and a sustainable service model for underserved markets. Well, the benefits may be seen in the long run. However, the topic of the hour is Open Banking. Do the technology, data and products need to be accessible or restricted? Well, that’s what this post would talk about – What is Open Banking? What is Open API and What is Open Data? Open API [Application Programming Interface] is a concept to allow global users [ read it as developers and programmers] to access the web services and software applications. You may think why one should allow its code to be freely available? Consider this – an API is a language that a machine understands, to make it talk to a third-party system or another device you would need to provide a handshake channel, and that’s what Open API does. Have you ever noticed while traveling from one state to another how quickly we get an SMS from the service provider saying – Welcome to “new” state! So even though your mobile is specifically for calls, it also reads the area you are in and sends it to the local service provider which may differ from your home service provider. Open Data concept also serve the same benefit of providing data as an open source that could be reused to build more apt, reasonable yet smart solutions for the individuals. Just for example if government openly provide the data on people who are unbanked in a district, it would be easy for fintech startups to reach out to the target audience. Using the Open API and Open Data Concepts Open Banking is evolved that also must follow a set of regulation from – Competition and Market Authority’s (CMA’s) ‘Open Banking remedy’ and the European Payment Services Directive 2 (PSD2). Open Banking is a term used by the financial institutions to – Improve customer satisfaction and banking experience Provide Transparency to its customers in availing banking services To share the financial transactions with third parties Third parties can initiate a fund transfer from an individual’s account to pay the bills or shopping bills OpenBanking is inclusive of OpenData and OpenAPI How Open Banking Works? Now let’s take a quick example to know Open Banking works – Consider two firms A and B, while A is a fintech firm offering core banking solutions firm B is an expert in data churning and analytics. A customer uses a software/mobile app for his banking services like checking account balance, paying of utility bills but he needs to know which category is he spending more. For this he has two solutions, first to manually maintain an account book or second integrate his banking app with the solution offered by firm B and look at the spending’s chart. Here if the two software of firm A and B are communicating with each other, they are – Talking via an open API Sharing transactional data about the customer Helping customer get a better banking experience The Firms investing in Open Banking Capgemini – In one of their reports, Capgemini highlighted a case study where they have integrated a bank software with online travel service [international travel]. With Open API the travel desk can offer its customers convenience of purchasing foreign currency before their journey. Wipro –In another news Wipro also launched their open Banking API platform. The platform will help Banks and other financial institutions to provide access to the third-party application, new distribution channels and servicing that complies with regulatory norms. IBM –As per a report from IBM , when one of the European banks adopted IBM API gateway it resulted in bank’s flexibility to select new digital channels. IndiaStack –One of the fore frontiers in the game on Open API, IndiaStack with its unique solutions let start-ups, businesses, governments and developers to build their own innovative solutions to hard problems. Advantages and Disadvantages of Open Banking With so much innovation and opportunity in this space, let’s look at the pros and cons of Open Banking – Advantages of Open Banking to Banks Automation is easier – With banks and fintech firms providing open API it gets easy for the workflow to automate and for a smooth transaction to happen. Aggregation of Services – How about using a comparison model of a financial management software to know the best yield for a mutual fund? These kind of aggregation would also boost customer trust and loyalty. Advantages of Open Banking to Customers Customer reaps the benefits and picking what he likes – You use a banking app but not keen with its financial advisor module so that you could switch to another third-party app/software. He is not forced to use that specific software because it is bundled with his/her account. More customized and relevant product offerings – With Open Data if lenders know the financial portfolio of an individual, based on that they could provide a better loan plan or credit cards. It would not only help the individual from the burden of debt but also would save money for lenders in verifying their history. Advantages of Open Banking to Fintech Easy Way For Banks to Extend Their Services – Fintech firms with their innovative and unique solutions could easily handshake with banks and financial instructions via Open API to make the product offerings more customized and exotic. Meet The Customer Requirements – Today clients, are not satisfied with age old offering, they demand for innovation. How about paying back one of my friend via whatsapp? Open API could help them offer that, while banks are busy in handling regulation and offering banking services, fintech firms can innovate and lure customer base while offering convenience and security. Disadvantages of Open Banking The concept is still building up, and till date, we have not encountered a scenario that could
Agent Bankers – The Catalyst Of Financial Inclusion In Emerging Markets
After a short break, I am back again to take my readers on an another tour of agency banking. While my previous tours Agency banking and Bitcoin , importance of agent banker gave us a peek into what is agency banking and their importance in emerging markets, this time let’s tour and get a peek into the catalyst role played by agent bankers to bring about financial inclusion in emerging countries like India. My tour would be through info-graphics and the tour itinerary comprises of what makes agent bankers most apt for this role, how can agent bankers become catalysts, what tools can be used by them to become enablers of financial inclusion. Welcome aboard on the tour and here we are at our first halt to find out why agent bankers are the enablers of change. What makes agent bankers suitable for the catalyst role Ticking off our first destination on our itinerary let us move on to our final and last destination “The Signboard”. “The Signboard” showcases the tools provided by Teknospire (such as MAKash e-wallet and Lean banking solutions provided to the MannDeshi foundation ) that can be of use to the agent bankers in achieving financial inclusion. However, let us walk through the ways in which agent bankers can contribute to financial inclusion before we arrive at our landmark signboard. The ways by which agent bankers can become catalysts are :- They conduct classes to educate people on the financial matters and create financial awareness. They sign up with a financial institution like a bank and start providing agency banking services. They initially handhold the customers to use different tools and then gradually wean them off the hand-holding by either making the customers self -reliable or by building a hierarchy of agent bankers below them to handle specific areas. Having walked through the above ways we are here at the sign board that displays Teknospire’s tools. Request you to have a good look at it before we return back to our point of origin. Teknospire’s agent banking tool Hoping that this tour has been enjoyable, I hope my guests would urge more agent bankers to use Teknospire solutions to achieve financial inclusion.
Podcasts – The New Means To Spread The Fintech Word
On a recent holiday trip, my host was listening to the “Breaking Banks” podcast series on her android phone which set the ball rolling for my next blog “Can podcast play an important role in spreading fintech awareness”. Giving a thought to her positive review, I decided to go on an experimental journey with podcasts and understand what they are, the reasons behind their popularity, their role in creating fintech awareness before helping my readers understand its significance. Podcast Image, Picture Courtesy: Google So here I present my journey with podcasts and its outcome :- For those new to the podcasts scenario(Sigh including me !!!), Google describes Podcast as nothing but a digital audio series file that can be downloaded online and listened to. It can be subscribed to and new episodes can be automatically downloaded. Next step after googling what podcasts were was signing up for the “Breaking Bank” podcast series and downloading it with the help of a software reading RSS or ATOM feeds. Post signing up to my joy, I realized that subsequent podcast episodes Would be automatically downloaded unlike the traditional radios. Could be heard anytime anywhere. Which meant I did not have a set apart a specific time just to listen to it. I could combine it with my some other work or listen to it at my convenience.Yipee!!!! Updates were automated similar to a subscribed YouTube Channel. Could be heard on smart phone on both IOS and Android platform using podcatcher apps. Can be transferred to personal media player such as from my laptop to I-pod. Enjoying the benefits of subscribing to podcasts, it dawned on me that podcasts owed their ever increasing popularity only to these benefits. Having understood the above it was time to figure out whether podcast had a correlation with fintech, fintech awareness, and financial inclusion. Assuming that initial training on podcast usage (a must in the rural areas) has been given, they are an effective tool to create fintech awareness for the reasons below Podcasts are the best medium to put across heavy topics in a simple manner. For a layman technology, finance, fintech topics may be difficult to understand. Topics pertaining to this domain would be easier to understand in listening form rather than in a written form. Podcasts are free and are quite appealing to its listeners similar. The hosts quite often relate to their listeners on their show thus enabling better rapport between them. Better rapport would mean more stickiness to the show and more audience. Podcasts in regional language means a larger listener base. A large regional listener base is effective for creating fintech awareness in the rural areas. The hosts on their shows can help listeners understand about the various fintech and banking products such as digital wallets, UPI, bank accounts, their importance and usage in the regional language. This would help the listeners to move on to cashless means or be financially included. My benefit no 4. With a majority of us having access to smartphones and data packs, podcasts can be heard on the smartphone anytime anywhere. Podcasts can help in creating brand awareness for a particular fintech company at a minimum cost. Coming to the outcome of my journey, I am in favor of podcasts and strongly feel that they play an important role in creating fintech awareness and aiding financial inclusion. I believe that the below 6 popular fintech podcasts could help in achieving this and they are :- Breaking Banks :- It is a global fintech podcast and is currently sitting at the top. Brett King, the show host provides insights on how the banking industry is affected by factors such as trust loss, rapid consumer behavior shifts, massive technological development. Fintech Insider :- One of the leading global fintech podcasts, this show co-hosted by Chris Skinner, David Brear, Jason Bates, Simon Taylor covers the weekly happenings in the field of fintech and interviews of who is who of the fintech fraternity. Unchained :- Another leading global fintech podcast hosted by Laura Shin, focuses on how Blockchain and Fintech will help start-ups incumbents and everyday people to be more efficient and effective. The Digital Fifth :- Hosted by Sameer Singh Jaini, this podcast is India’s first fintech podcast and is available on Soundcloud as well as YouTube. Shunyaone :- Another Indian podcast show, that conducts a round table discussion on all tech matters(including fintech) in India. It is hosted by Shiladitya Mukhopadhyaya. Paisa Vaisa :- An Indian personal finance podcast hosted by C.A Anupam Gupta. This podcast is recommended to achieve financial inclusion. Backing my thoughts on podcasts, the Teknospire team also believes that along with fintech products, podcasts should be pitched to achieve fintech awareness and financial inclusion. So to all our readers out there stay tuned for our forthcoming podcast episodes. The show ‘s first episode would see our CEO, Vishal Gupta joining us with his views on fintech, financial inclusion, Teknospire’s vision. With this am signing off till then take care and happy podcasting. References: Listen To Podcasts On Any Phone The Advantages of Podcasts in Business Seven Benefits of Podcasting How to download and listen to podcasts on Android or IOS Podcasting Forbes The best FinTech podcasts out there and 10 FinTech trends for 2017
How fintech Could Use Cloud Robotics to stress BaaS and Financial Inclusion?
Cloud Robotics in Fintech While the human mode says NO to machines and robots, the techie inside us craves for hands-on experience to all the latest technology. A few days back when I experienced the Augmented Reality in real, I was awestruck, and my hands itched for more, I wanted to build more use cases for what I experienced, I yearn for what next? And then I stumbled upon Cloud Robotics – another technology that is currently employed by Google in self-driving cars and has a promising future. Cloud Computing has been adopted worldwide, and robotics that existed even in the 90s has now given birth to IoT’s and other intelligent and smart machines. So, could the dual power help Fintech world and bring in Financial inclusion for one and all? Let’s dive in to find out – What is Cloud Robotics? Cloud Robotics is using of robotic technology coupled with the power of cloud computing, cloud storage, cloud infrastructure and computation. While the robotic technology helps individuals in automation, the cloud takes up the communication, accessibility, computation and storage part. So essentially, we are trying to reduce the load on the robotic machine and making an interactive user interface, while the processing and storage are offloaded onto the cloud. How Could Cloud Robotics help Fintech World? Robo-Advisory Financial Advisory for long has been the domain of wealthy high class. But with the advent of Robo-Advisors or DIY advisors, the lower income group could now plan their financial portfolio and meet the money targets. Robo-Advisors is a DIY activity where the user is first asked a certain number of questions, the algorithm churns these numbers and presents a financial plan to the customer. He/she would need to assess the risk assigned to each of the investment options and then decide whether to go with it or not. The customer himself does the investment and allocation, and the system/firm is not responsible for it. Voice Assisted Payments Voice assistant payments is a feature that would allow users to make payments by issuing a voice command through a device. As you cook your son’s favorite dish in the kitchen you could issue an order – pay my electricity bill through ABC bank debit card of amount INR 245! That is indeed a reality with voice assistant payments. The voice assisted payments comes with a boon for people who do not have English as their Primary language. As most of the devices and simulation in the market are English input based, voice assisted devices could let people communicate in their native language with a simple language translator. Robots serving as Customer Support How often have you complained about the helpdesk in Banks/firms that’s of no use? Well, being customer facing has its own merits and demerits, but a job where you just have to direct people to go to this counter or that counter could be frustrating for a human. That’s why Robot come into the picture, with a predesignated options one could easily find a way in Banks. In fact, HDFC Bank recently deployed a robot named Ira to help its customer with general banking queries. Robo Agents The developing and underdeveloped countries are still struggling to bring every citizen under a bouquet of banking services. One of the key challenges is connecting banking to remote and rural areas, while Agent Banking has lifted and shown a significant change, the last mile delivery is still a challenge. The Robo-Agent could fill in the gap by providing banking services at the doorstep, urgent cash need or quick loans. Robo-Teachers How about teaching the business tactics or professional education or financial management to one and all? A Robo-van in your society or your village for a scheduled period. While the Robo-teacher answers all your queries on the best way to transfer funds to your kid or how to get an Aadhaar card or how to use Aadhaar card to make payments, it could also help in simulated based learning. Cloud Robotics Integrated with Analytics, IoTs, and AI Well, all the above scenarios do fall under this category, but the explicit usage of technology like Analytics, IoT, and AI would empower Cloud Robotics for Fintech. A possible scenario would be when a carpenter is short of cash, goes to nearby e-corner/ Robo Customer support to get his monthly expenditure and it shows up the visuals, with all allocations and investments. The AI-powered Robo advises him on how he could cancel the use the emergency funds for his needs or pull out some of his investment to meet the urgent cash need. The race has just started, with people quickly encashing the opportunity presented by technology, it might be a challenge for people to interact with a machine but we are humans, adaptive enough for a change… Would you?
What banking services are needed by rural areas and How fintech tools and technology could enable them ?
Fintech Tools Enabling BaaS to Remote Areas Cashless Payments, Digital Economy, Financial Inclusion these buzzwords seem to be the modernized face of banks and fintech industry. The urban class may be reaping its benefits, but what about the rural people? The lower income group is not competent to get a designer financial portfolio for himself. He has basic demands like – Cash Security, Anytime Cash, Hassle free loan, financial literacy and budget management. So, could the fintech tools and technology serve the purpose? Let’s dive in to find out :– Fintech Tools and Technology That Could Enable BANKING-As-A-Service [BaaS] to Rural People Experts believe that technologies like Artificial Intelligence, Blockchain, Internet of things, Cloud Computing, Cloud Robotics, Automation, Biometrics and Quantum Mechanics would change how we tackle our daily chores and services. Let’s take a closer look at these advanced technologies that could shape the Fintech Scenario of remote villager’s life. – How Artificial Intelligence Could Enable BANKING-As-A-Service [BaaS] to Rural People ? Knowing the fact that the unbanked population could also be uneducated and could only converse in the local language, the agent banking has been flourishing. But how about an AI-based app that could help you provide answers to all your banking needs via voice? Simple queries like – What’s my savings account balance or Transfer funds to my kid school account would not only help rural people use the banking services but would also make human involvement redundant. Above was one of the quick example of voice – assisted payments that could use Artificial Intelligence, but it could also help in remote workers to locate the nearest ATM or cash counter to collect money in case of emergency. In India AnyTimeLoan – a start-up from Hyderabad is providing a shorter term unsecured loan to “needy people.” Loans for amount 1,000 – 60,000 INR are given for shorter duration i.e. 1- 90 days. They also disperse loans to students specifically for K-12 students to support their educational needs. Another fintech firm – MyBucks in Luxembourg is bridging the gap of traditional and virtual banking. Backed up with the power of technology they are offering financial products and extending their help in creating financial inclusion. Wallet.AI the smart wallet monitors users behaviours and spending habits, and then alerts and educate individuals on how to increase saving while making some intelligent spending decisions. How Blockchain Could Enable BANKING-As-A-Service [BaaS] to Rural People ? Blockchain with its unique characteristics provides financial institutions and fintech firms for modifying their products and services leading to the adoption of services by unbanked and underbanked. In India one of the leading banks State Bank of India has announced new initiative Bankchain, that would allow data exchange across banks thereby reducing fraud and duplication. Coins.ph a firm from the Philippines has built a mobile based app that uses Blockchain and allows users to buy load, pay bills, send and receive money, and shop online in more affordable and faster manner. Another Nairobi-based fintech firm – BitPesa is offering global money transfer to pan-Africa via Blockchain platform. The firm receives the funds in the original currency, that is then transferred to the digital currency. This digital currency is then transferred to the closest real time digital wallet via Blockchain in the destination country. Finally, it is converted into its local form and paid out. How Internet Of Things[IoT] Could Enable BANKING-As-A-Service [BaaS] to Rural People ? Smart Homes and wearable devices are some of the examples urban population is exposed to, that uses Internet of Things. But to help the needy with basic facilities like water, electricity and data, firms are brainstorming new ideas and are also implementing them successfully. Firms in Africa who are using solar power to provide electricity to the underprivileged group have recently partnered with a digital wallet firm to facilitate services like Pay-as-you-go and prepaid. So, while Solar lanterns could be bought, you could easily recharge them with your digital wallet and get electricity on the go. While Fintech would explore getting banking to the doorstep, Insurtech could take into accounts the living conditions and present a customized insurance plan. Or how about a farmer whose harvester machine sensors convey about the condition to its service center and in case it needs repair it could be scheduled before harvesting season. How Cloud Computing and Cloud Robotics Could Enable BANKING-As-A-Service [BaaS] to Rural People ? With data stored and accessed via Cloud, it offers benefits in cost reduction and anytime anywhere access. Most of the digital wallets across the world are using the power of cloud computing and providing banking to rural people. Some of the leading banks in India like ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank have started using cloud technology to boost the financial health of the economy. Integration of Cloud computing with Robotics is serving the population with time-saving and higher quality offerings. Cloud Robotics Banking could allow the natural flow of data backed up with e-KYC making account opening smooth and hassle free. In India, ICICI Bank has launched Smart Vault. It is an excellent, first-of-its-kind locker in India that is designed to bring human intervention to a minimum. Smart Vault is a progressive breakthrough in the way banking technology is being implemented in the country. Users can access their locker at any time of the day or night and even on bank holidays. Powered with robust multi-level security measures, it utilizes a robotic arm to fetch your locker from a secure vault using Radio Frequency Identification (RFID). How Biometrics Could Enable BANKING-As-A-Service [BaaS] to Rural People ? Biometric technology like fingerprint and iris scanner are making banking services accessible to many first-time users. Bharat Financial Inclusion earlier known as SKS Microfinance Ltd is providing collateral-free loans to individuals, especially women to allow them to set-up their business/income generating activities. The Indian Aadhaar based biometric authentication is enabling users to avail loans instantly. Fingpay a product based startup from Indore is using Aadhaar ID and biometric authentication to allow
Popular Micro ATMs in rural areas
One a recent visit to our relative, he mentioned that in Zimbabwe Ndasenda with help of Teknospire’s Finx -Agency and payment Banking Suite was providing financial inclusion to the unbanked in remote areas. Here in his village with fewer ATMs and half of them, cash stripped, when it is becoming difficult for the needy to survive, what to mention about attaining financial inclusion! With a quizzical look on his face he asked have you heard about the portable small machine that looks like a card swiping machine but can provide basic banking facilities? Nodding his head in a forgetful manner he said what is it called? I replied saying “Uncle the machine is called a micro-ATM. Smilingly he asked can do me one favor? Yes, Uncle? I replied, He looked thoughtfully and said, “I support our country’s digitalization drive and want unbanked to bank. Probably I could contribute to financial inclusion by setting up a Micro ATM in my shop. Can you provide me the list of the Micro ATMS in rural areas as my computer is under repairs”? I said yes just give a half an hours time. Took out my tablet did some googling and prepared the list. The list handed over to him included the below popular micro ATMS, their features, and picture in a tabular format for his better understanding. Micro ATMs From Picture Can it be Used in Rural areas Is it Aadhar Enabled, Interoperable and does it have Thermal Printer Is Biometric verification and other Multiple Identifiers used Banking activities Performed How it work for Business correspondents(BC) IDFC Bank Yes Is Aadhar enabled and interoperable Has a thermal Printer Biometric verification is done Has an attached biometric scanner Uses multiple identifiers such as mobile number, aadhar number, debit card number, bank account number A/c opening Cash deposit Cash withdrawal Balance-inquiry Statements Remittances Bank would give the micro ATMS on a lease model to the BC and 300 rs every month would be charged for its usage BC’s would earn an income of Rs 3000-5000 3.14% or a maximum of Rs 15 would be charged as the transaction fee Of the 3.14% or a maximum of Rs 15 charged as transaction fee BC’s would get 75%. HDFC Bank Yes Is Aadhar enabled Has a thermal Printer facility Biometric verification is available Uses Identifiers such as debit card, account number,aadhar card number A/c opening Cash deposit Cash withdrawal Balance-inquiry Statements Remittances and fund transfers Preapproved-loan disbursement Pensioner’s payment Availing Direct Benefit transfers under MGNREGA Withdraw DBT entitlements Bank would give the micro ATMS on a lease model to the BC and 300 rs every month would be charged for its usage BC’s would earn an income of Rs 3000-5000 3.14% or a maximum of Rs 15 would be charged as the transaction fee Of the 3.14% or a maximum of Rs 15 charged as transaction fee BC’s would get 75%. AXIS Bank Yes Is Aadhar enabled Has a thermal Printer facility Biometric verification is available Uses Identifiers such as debit card, account number,aadhar card number A/c opening Cash deposit Cash withdrawal Balance-inquiry Statements Availing Direct Benefit transfers under MGNREGA Withdraw DBT entitlements Fund Transfers Bank would give the micro ATMS on a lease model to the BC and 300 rs every month would be charged for its usage BC’s would earn an income of Rs 3000-5000 3.14% or a maximum of Rs 15 would be charged as the transaction fee Of the 3.14% or a maximum of Rs 15 charged as transaction fee BC’s would get 75% SBI (Its Customer service point offers Micro atm facility) Yes Is Aadhar enabled and interoperable Has no thermal Printer facility Biometric verification is available Uses Identifiers such as debit card, account number,aadhar card number Aadhar enabled cash deposits and withdrawals Fund Transfers Balance enquiries Enrollment fees and other requirements specified by SBI for becoming CSP Looking through the details that I had prepared my uncle said “thanks for the details I will go in for HDFC’s micro atm” and install in my shop. And our conversation ended with him very thoughtfully saying “Will ATMS become a thing of past and what next after Micro ATMS” References: Estel Micro ATM Meenakshi Energy brings in micro ATMs to help villagers overcome cash crunch – Economic Times What is Micro ATM ? All you want to know is here! IDFC Bank using micro-ATMs to make inroads into un-banked areas HDFC Bank’s Handheld Micro ATMs With Biometric Verification Can Change Rural Banking In India For Ever India Post to set up 10,000 ATMs, 20,000 micro-ATMs by year-end SBI Portal Eligiblity for opening & maintaining of CSP UID boost for micro-ATM makers