FinTech Trends - teknospire

MAKash – How Manappuram with Makash is strengthening dream of #DigitalIndia

Samiksha Seth / 10/05/2017

Dreams become a reality when intentions turn into actions. The current post is all about this famous quote. Even before the big dream of #DigitalIndia was weaved, Manappuram Finance Ltd was keen to let the governance and aid reach out to the masses in a digitized way. Yes, they are a step closer. Thanks to thousands of foot soldiers as Agents/Branch Correspondents in Kerala – the #changemakers, Manappuram Finance Ltd or MAFIL the initiators – with their MaKash e-wallet and the rural people the beneficiaries. The change is here! Valapad Village is now an e-literate Village Valapad village in Thrissur district may be known for its idyllic beach, but in March 2017 they made their mark on #DigitalIndia map by being an e-literate village of India. What is e-literate Village? An e-literate Village means at least one member of each household is educated with different payment options to promote #cashless mode and help rural people in #FinancialInclusion. The education is intended to support individuals in performing #financialtrancations independently, make an informed decision of their financial matters and reduce dependency on Banks, Agents or fintech firms. How Valapad transitioned to e-Valapad? Valapad village with a population of about 35,000 has a literacy rate of 86.5% underwent a remarkable change of being a digitally literate village. The transition was facilitated by Manappuram Finance Ltd employees, ward members and a group of trained volunteers from the nearby college. The members went door-to-door to educate individuals on different modes of payment options and the way to avail them. The drive went for five days, where volunteers covered 8,742 households out of a total of 9,809 homes. The mission imparted training to residents on #digital wallets or #ewallets like MaKash, Online Banking facilities, #BillPayments, #cashlessPayments, #FundsTransfer #Loans etc. While the transactions seem simple, the need to educate residents on jargon like login, password, OTP, etc. was essential. The mission was aimed :– To let residents, understand the benefit of Digitization Helps residents in Financial Inclusion Onboarding for people who are less tech-savvy should be smooth Residents are educated, informed and independent of financial transaction they perform To promote #cashless economy MAKash E-wallet – Bridging the Gap The GOI with its initiatives like Digi-Dhan Melas, Bhim App or Aadhaar Based Payment is pushing every bit of the air on this earth to turn #DigitalIndia dream into reality. Manappuram Finance Ltd are using these initiatives to reach out to people thereby creating a Digital ripple that results in Financial Inclusion for one and all. The recent effort by MAFIL to launch a semi-closed payment instrument and eWallets – MaKash would be beneficial to rural people regarding low cost, convenience and serves as a gateway to many services like bill payments, funds transfer, cash withdrawal or online shopping. The Makash App UI is elegant and intuitive in nature; you can download the app from s Google Play store . The UI has been designed with an aim to meet the requirements of non-tech savvy people. Screens like logging in, DTH, Airtime recharge need minimal information, and with two clicks a user gets instant recharges. MAKash – Digital Wallet More features are currently WIP and user would soon be able to avail services like landline and broadband recharge. Manappuram, who are known for their Gold loan would also provide a natural feature of loan disbursement through Makash. The unique characteristics of the loan processing would be that the loan amount would be credited to the user’s wallet and he could withdraw it as per his need basis. Teknospire Proud To be the Technology Partners for Makash While collaborating with Manappuram as Technology partners, we dreamt of a vision to provide a seamless interface that could connect the foot soldiers to every household in a digitized way. Our solution Makash is advanced in technology, customer focussed and yet simple in use. While Manappuram was looking to innovate, we @Teknospire just helping them to accelerate the vision with apt products and solutions as offering and will continue to do so… So, next time when you get stuck on a highway and looking for an ATM, do not rub your eyes if the owner asks you to pay via digital wallet! #DigitalIndia in the making… References: Intel Launches Rural Digitization – Video Bhim: India’s ticket to a cashless economy Manappuram Finance launches co-branded prepaid Money Card After Manappuram’s project E-Valapad, village declared fully E-Literate

Current Fintech Trends In Emerging Markets

wordpress-user / 03/05/2017

Fintech Transaction Fintech is best described as financial services initially being provided by banks now provided with the help of technology by banks and other tech firms. For my Non-Tech readers, I would best describe Fintech as the marriage of finance with technology. Fintech is the buzz word now especially in the developing countries where banking is still a luxury for a majority of the population and currency is “the” main means of trade. Now compared to the west the emerging markets are potentially huge markets for the fintech firms. By emerging markets, I mean the BRIC countries (Brazil, Russia, China, India), South Korea, Mexico, Indonesia, Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Iran, Kenya, Zimbabwe. China and India are the top emerging countries contributing to the fintech boom mainly owing to a growing e-commerce sector. Surprisingly China has overtaken the west in fintech adoption levels. Zimbabwe, Nigeria and Kenya lead the African team. Indian Fintech CompaniesHere I would be taking on the Indian Fintech market, India being an ideal EC** market for highlighting. What is making the fintech firms to click and stay around here ? It is primarily their disruptive technology. Companies like Paytm, Oxigenwallets, Mobiqwik provide fintech applications easily accessible on smartphones anytime anywhere. Also, for the EC’S population that has easy access to a smart-phone than a bank, this comes as a boon. Present trends such as UPI indicate that Indian fintech firms are busy taping payment solutions, customer engagements and process involvement segments. Fintech Trends 2017 According to KPMG and NASSCOM study, the current monetary value of the Indian fintech sector is $33 billion and would annually shoot up by 22% to $73 billion levels by 2020. 2017 would witness Indian fintech eyeing areas of wealth management, lending and insurance to further scale up their activities. Apart from expansion the upcoming trends that Indian Fintech sector would be witnessing would be :- Micropayments :- With the advent of demonetization the face of digital payments has changed. Micropayments, various applications have come to the fray making the ecosystem better and speedier. 2017 will see a lot of action in this segment. It would take some out of the box thinking to solve the pain areas if the existing fintech firms or start-ups wish to survive in this segment. BlockChain Adoption :- The technology adopted for “Cryptocurrency” or the digital currency is going to witness a larger adoption in India mainly due to its wider acceptance, security and transparency features. Banks in India especially the RBI are looking forward to adopting this technology to reduce cheque frauds. Adopting blockchain would do a massive turnaround in simplifying operations, risk and fraud reduction, lowering settlement time and capital improvement. Providing Loan Accessibility :- In EC’s **like India almost 3/4th of the population especially those in the rural areas do not have any access to the credit facility. In 2017 we could witness Fintech making an entry in this segment, this would make loan accessible to those who cannot access it. Fintech for Social Causes:- Fintech startups who wish to solve social-economic issues through profit would see a spurt this year. These start-ups would use technology that caters to large number of people and would widespread their business to solve these issues and bring in financial inclusion. Regulatory Technology:- RegTech firms would make a landing this year. These firms aim at making compliance friendly to businesses and entry by providing tools that automate compliance task, improve identity management, reduce fraud risks. Though still in its development stage in India it can help other firms to concentrate on their core competencies than spending time on regulatory requirements. Teknospire is an example of a fintech company in sync with the trends. Our Fintech solutions are :- Provides accessibility to loan payments and disbursements. Supports Micropayments in form of remittances, utility payments, online purchases, merchant payments, voucher payments and redemption. Contribute to solving social issues through lean banking. Having discussed on the current fintech trends and how Teknospire is in sync with the trend, we would be highlighting the “Fintech Technologies used in 2017 “in our upcoming blog. References: MARTIN CURRIE INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT The 5 big fintech trends in emerging markets Fintech Forecasts for the Emerging Markets #5 Fintech Trends That You May Want To Watch Out For in 2017 As India’s Fintech Reaches Inflection Point, Is There a Need to Regulate? RISE OF FINTECH COMPANIES IN INDIA – THE NEW TREND IN DISRUPTION FOR INDIAN RETAIL BANKING SECTOR Financial technology – Wikipedia Emerging markets – Wikipedia Emerging Markets: India and the Pyramid of Opportunity in Fintech FinTech Outlook for 2017: Report Discussing Trends, Opportunities and Challenges Picture Courtesy Google **EC Emerging Countries

FinTech Trends, Product Overview

Fintech Firms and Union Budget 2017

wordpress-user / 19/04/2017

The most awaited and anticipated day in the India financial year is the Budget day. This year’s budget was slightly different compared to the previous budgets on its presentation. 1st Feb was the presentation date of this year’s budget instead of the regular March 1st. Secondly, this was Arun Jaitley’s first paperless budget, Paperless budget to make sure implementation and proper usage of the allocated funds right at beginning of next financial year. Thirdly this budget has ensured that a separate railway budget need not be held as it includes the latter also. Also, Arun Jaitley has done a proper juggling of increased transparency, lesser corruption, broader tax base and higher incentives. Post putting the budget across to the nation the only sector that was all smiles and gave its a thumbs up to the Fintech sector. And why not? Post-Nov 8th demonetization with the government going all out to push cashless transactions and making digital payments a norm it would have surprising if the fintech sector was not given a leverage. In tune to his quote“Digital Economy has a transformative impact in terms of greater formalization of the economy and mainstreaming of financial savings into the banking system. India is now on the cusp of a massive digital revolution.” The finance minister has made provisions for fintech sector’s uplift on JAM (JanDhan-Adhar-Mobile) lines thereby successfully managing to keep the fintech fraternity happy. While we look at what is in for fintech sector this budget, we shall also analyze the excluded points that support the betterment of the fintech arena. Additions in favor of the Fintech firms :- The Introduction of Referral Bonus Scheme for individuals, Cashback scheme for merchants to promote BHIM in Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities. Benefits of such schemes is to bring about direct and healthy competition between the existing payment channels while at the same time providing good alternatives to them. The Launch of Aadhar pay, a merchant version of Aadhar Payment-Enabled System especially for those who do not have debit cards, mobile wallets or mobile poor. In short, this would be extremely beneficial to those housewives, people earning low salaries. The budget has included changes in Grievances Handling process of digital payments, Negotiable Instrument Act to boost the confidence levels of the merchant and outlets accepting digital payments and motivate them to use digital means more. Also, this would secure them against frauds, non-payment. This is a pro digital economy move, a trump card for the finance minister in this budget. Creation of Payment Regulatory Board under the RBI to make various payments interoperable and reliable. For All startups incorporated after 31st March 2016, Profit-linked deduction period or the tax holiday has been increased to 3yrs out of 7yrs from 3yrs out of 5yrs.A tax holiday is a reduction or elimination of the tax on a temporary basis. By March, roll out 1 million POS machines to be used at the railway stations, fuel stations, and hospitals. Start-ups including fintech start-ups can avail Tax Concessions in the first 7yrs. Fintech Priority areas excluded : Regulatory framework for centralising KYC to avoid frauds. Fintech skill development programs for to the youth to improve employment scope in this booming sector. Removal of establishment criterion for the start-ups to avail tax concessions. With additions exceeding the exclusions the Fintech sector is no doubt happy but what we want to see and discuss is “How far the Union Budget 2017 will make the economy digital” which we shall in our one of our forthcoming blog. References: How union budget could help in going #Cashless Based on Budget 2017: Placing Cornerstone for Future Budget 2017: Start-ups can now avail of tax holiday in first seven years of existence Union Budget 2017: Startups hail Arun Jaitley budget, as Fintech firms set to party !

FinTech Trends, Product Overview

Wallets Turning Payment Banks- What are the Advantages and Why this Transition ?

wordpress-user / 12/04/2017

The other day, my better half after reading that the Patym is transiting from a wallet company to a Payment bank with a frown on his forehead, came up and asked, is this conversion a start of new trend? Will there more of this? Without a second thought, I muttered yes we will be coming across such similar conversions in a span of 2-3 yrs. Preferring normal banks he countered my statement asking Why? To which I explained :- Due to high costs normal banks preferred not having branches in the rural areas and far off places. Also, villagers found it difficult and time-consuming coming to the city and bank and hence they remained unbanked. To bring the unbanked into banking fold the RBI could not have come up a better idea than launching payment banks. Payment banks are banks which involve in only cash deposits and withdrawals and would not be providing loans. In its search for payments banks, RBI was eyeing for entities that had rural reaches.The Telecom companies, Wallets companies and the Indian Post Office scored a point as they had better mass reach than the others. To those who are following this closely it comes as no surprise that Airtel, Paytm, Indian Postal services and Aditya Birla’s Idea are among them who bagged 11 licenses and are on their way to start operations soon. Patiently listening to me, he asked what is in it for digital wallets companies in this conversion? Keeping my coffee mug aside, I replied to my dear husband- “Firstly to diversify, secondly to give better service by make use of their customer base. ” Also once Wallet companies become payment banks they can offer bank like services ( saving… insurance, loans… and much more…) In the last one year with so many wallets being launched, it is necessary that the wallet companies diversify to stay afloat or else they would perish. Having technological experience they can acquire customer bases in location where normal banks dare to go because of the cost involved in maintaining a branch and regulations required to be abide by them. Also since the wallet companies already have customer bases at the places where there are no normal banks, it would be less expensive to work on them than opening a normal bank in such locations. With such diversification taking place in wallet companies there would be a positive growth in their earnings. Chat on Payment Banks What about the wallet users? pat came the third question from him. Answering his question spontaneously my reply was :– Interest rates going up as high as 14.50% on SB accounts. Cash back and other facilities such as Mutual Funds, Insurance, SIP. Existing wallet balances can become account balances if users prefer opening bank account. Possible for users to use the same for making payments. Self -declared merchants can accept higher amounts as compared to the current Rs 25000 cap. Nil Settlement charges for the transaction made through payment bank accounts. Possible to add more money quickly through single screen. Usage of Biometric passwords for processing transactions would take care of security issues. Cash withdrawal would become easier due to their large distribution networks. Cash transfer through digital means is free of cost. Seeing my husband’s frown turning slowly into a smile I realized that I was successful in convincing a tough customer. With a twinkle in his eyes he came up and said tomorrow we will discuss “Digital Wallets converted to Payments banks”. Our coffee time conversation ended with his words “Now that Whatsapp is the new entrant in the wallet space, soon a day will come when FB/Whatsapp will provide a platform to do banking transactions and solutions to buy utilities”. References: Google Paytm wallet to convert into Payments Bank Aditya Birla Group gets RBI licence to start payments bank WhatsApp will reportedly launch peer-to-peer payments in India within 6 months

FinTech Trends, Product Overview

How union budget could help in going #Cashless

Samiksha Seth / 29/03/2017

First step to empower “Cashless India” was taken on 08-Nov-2016, three months later Government presented Union Budget 2017 to further boost the power of #CashlessEconomy in India. With #Fintech firms and #Banks gearing up to provide easy and sustainable solutions for #CashlessPayments in India, what were the proposals made in #UnionBudget2017 that could enable common man, firms, government services, business owners to contribute towards #cashlesssociety. Let’s take a closer look – Cash Funding for political parties restricted to 2000 – A well-known fact is that no political party could sustain without funding/donations. Restricting the cash amount leads to initiation of money transfer via #cashless mode. Schools/Universities/Educational Institutes to Accept Digital Payment – With the new move it would be easy for parents to pay for their kids’ education without cash withdrawals. Train Booking via IRCTC eliminates service charge – Another reason to go #cashless, save on cash and anytime access. Adhaar Pay Payments to be enabled – Transactions to be made possible with #Aadharpay merchants, especially for people who do not have debit cards, credit cards, mobile wallets or mobile phones. A new mission is set to target 25 billion digital transactions via IMPS, AdhaarPay, UPI, USSD for the year 2017-2018. Goodbye to cash Transactions above 3lakhs – Any transactions above 3 lakhs would not be dealt in cash. So, if you are going to buy a new SUV make sure to keep your payment options ready! #CashlessDevices to be exempted from BCD, Excise/CV duty and SAD – To facilitate domestic manufacturing and easy installation the miniaturised POS card reader for m-POS, micro ATM standards version 1.5.1, Finger Print Readers/Scanners and Iris Scanners have been exempted from BCD, excise/CV duty and SAD. Payment Regulatory Board to be formed in RBI – To keep on boosting #DigitalIndia with new initiatives and scheme’s, it is proposed to replace the existing Board for Regulation and Supervision of Payment and Settlement Systems in RBI. Initiatives to digitize rural areas – To help and let the #Digitization wave flow through rural areas the access points like Post Offices, Fair Price Shops and Banking Correspondents mode would be used to channelize Digital Payment Infrastructure. Also, other points like petrol pumps, fertilizer depots, municipalities, Block offices, road transport offices, universities, colleges, hospitals and other institutions to have facilities for digital payments, including BHIM App[UPI-based Bharat Interface for Money (BHIM)] Government Receipts Through Digital Means- #UnionBudget2017 underlined a proposal to mandate all government receipts through digital means, beyond a prescribed limit. While Government of India is sailing cautiously on its #Digital ship, firms like Teknospire with their #Fintechsolutions are making sure to contribute in their own way. Let’s joins our hands for a better tomorrow of #DigitalIndia! Would you? References: Union Budget 2017: Measures to strengthen digital economy Budget 2017: 9 key measures Arun Jaitley proposed to boost digital economy

FinTech Trends

FinTech Aggregators

wordpress-user / 17/02/2017

Typical Eco-System General high level eco system of FinTech is provided in above diagramIn FinTech domain considering vast types of service bouquet there is a need to have strong eco system between multiple stake holder. Aggregator is the word visualized first when building eco system of stake holders in general. And this Aggregator role is context driven since there are multiple types and levels of aggregator presence is possible. This article attempt to bring multiple roles and aspects where aggregator presence is possible in FinTech eco system. Customer would want to access solution for financial services. Customer him/herself would be user in case of channel directly accessible, in cases like agent assisted model. Customer will access financial services through Agent, as a user to solution Accessing services though channels, example Web, Mobile, USSD, POS etc. Fintech solution would be financial service providing system to user/customer, which internally form eco system involving other service provider, switches, utility services or partnership with other FinTech solutions. From this high level there are multiple aggregator roles possible for end to end solution, and below table is not limited there could be multiple innovative option one would get to form beneficial eco system involving aggregators, Eco-System Elements Aggregator Description Customer aggregator Collecting customers and forming logical user base. E.g. Students from a college, Formers of association. This will be logical aggregator of customers User aggregator Collection of users with defined service offerings. E.g. Bill collection agents, Service agents, customer onboarding agents. Distributors of particular geographical zones FinTech service provider aggregator Service aggregator providing recharge, bill pay, money transfer, cash-in/out, premium collection, customer onboarding Specialized service aggregator Specific service aspect, which is not necessarily direct financial service, e.g. Biometric authentication, vehicle registration, Credit/Debit card authentication, AML/Fraud detection analytics engine, Loyalty system provider, virtual card vendor Channel Aggregator Services offering seamlessly through multiple channels like Web, Mobile App, USSD like channels Utility service aggregator Notification, branding, marketing, customer communication like utility service aggregator as one solution External Fin Tech aggregator Core Banking system, Bank switch, Card switch, Insurance companies, international transfer switch across countries, mobile wallets, closed/open value stores Pre paid voucher vault distributor Integrated pre paid voucher re-distribution service providers, so that would become single point of contact for multiple pre paid voucher vaults Ticketing aggregators Integrated aggregators for multiple ticket issuing services The advantage to form eco system with aggregators is multi folded. Regulatory / Legal sign off, since aggregators would have crossed the step to have regulated offering Technology know how independence, multiple interface connectivity, mechanism, infrastructure, specification would now reduced only to aggregator integrations Reducing cost opex/capex both – customer base, solution, infrastructure cost reducing by default for this advantage Operational efficiency – sharing burden of customer, system, infrastructure management with aggregator Innovativeness – where it is not possible to for innovative new solutions on own, where as forming eco system with aggregators would bring this In addition to aggregator there are other roles which are important to form eco system Solution provider – provides the solution and transfer the ownership to service provider but will not be part of the eco system in the run time Solution / system integrator – contribute in building the eco system and transfer ownership to solution provider after building integrated solution, but will not be part of the eco system once built At Teknospire we believe in forming efficient eco system in multiple ways of with roles. Becoming service aggregator Channel aggregator Solution provider Technology provider Solution integrator and believing in win-win situation creation without creating business conflicts with other partners and aggregator solutions. With this approach could able to establish considerable and sizable offerings across African countries as live case study with our NDASENDA flagship product.

FinTech Trends

How FinTech Solutions Could Hook Up this V-Day for a Better Life! #FintechHookups

Samiksha Seth / 14/02/2017

Could Pairing be fun? I am not sure about myself, but technology matching is fun! Do not believe me? Are you not enjoying your mobile/Laptop streaming on your 42’’ LED TV? Or Did you just install an anti-virus software on your new laptop? Or you are just planning to buy the new camera that has a built-in printer? Did you not pair up your mobile and speakers in your car via Bluetooth to listen to the music? It’s hard to believe but we hardly use any “stand-alone device, ” and we always look for ways to pair the technologies to make our life merrier. This Valentine Day♥ @Teknospire we bring to you “Why Hooking Up Is Fun” and present to you a list of probable #fintechhookups to make our life jollier. Let’s take a sneak peek – ♥ Fintech Solutions pairing With Government Offices One of the common man fear is to get the paperwork done from the government agencies be it for – birth, death, new vehicle registration, voter id card or passport! How about a Fintech Solution that allows you to pay the fees via online mode, upload the document required with their verification status and provides you a slot at which you could come and collect your ready document or if possible could be dispatched to your address. In fact Mr Narendra Modi policies and the Union Budget 2017 was to streamline such processes. His initiatives like #DigitalIndia are making e-governance, e-village and e-marketplace as reality! ♥ Fintech Solutions pairing With medical center’s A two-year-old boy was having persistent fever since last seven days, consulting a local medical practitioner was not helping him. They needed some expert advice; the local authority connected him to a specialist via video conferencing in a metro city, the doctor advised to get some necessary tests done and share the reports. The self-driving cars and robots came to rescue, that collected the sample required and delivered them to the lab.The reports were shared digitally, and within minutes his new prescription was shared. The story does not end here, as the parents could use their mobile to transfer the consultation fees to the doctor. ♥ Fintech Solutions pairing With Agriculture How about the pairing of Fintech Solutions with vehicles or instruments used in farming, providing them with the intelligence and increase productivity? Just imagine a vehicle supervising a field and sends the data to the Agricultural Center, they analyze and prescribe on the missing points. The prescription is taken up the farmer and worked upon, or how about once the crop is ready, the quality is shared across the market online and a buyer bids the price. On settling upon a price, the crop is harvested and dispatched! ♥ Fintech Solutions pairing With Public transport Your daily bus is late by 5 minutes is the notification you receive on the phone! You could have spent 5 minutes more with your family! With a Fintech solution that provides you bus/train/air tickets, allows you to track the route via GPS and moreover send you and your family of the notifications in case there is a delay could be a dream come true for many commuters. ♥ Fintech Solutions pairing With Education Board I was shocked to know when one of my neighbors took a day off to stand in the queue for the admissions of his kid for a nursery in one of the prestigious school. Another case with my housemaid when she got her pension late, and she wanted to submit her daughter college fees as it was the last day and next day was a holiday. A fintech solution that could connect school/colleges and all the educational institutional with the financial hubs could validate and verify the documents and as per the eligibility criteria announces the admission list could be handy for many parents. The Social Impact of the FintechHookUps All the #FintechHookups aim to digitization and automated processing of the existing manual work, which could have a significant impact on the society. In fact, PWC reports highlighting some of the facts that – Digitization multiplies the benefits of connectivity, as it generates three times more economic benefit than broadband alone. Digitization contributes positively to job creation, with a 10 percent increase in digitization reducing the unemployment rate by 0.84 percent Countries in the advanced digitization stage reap 20 percent more economic benefits than countries at the start of their digitization journeys. And, the policymakers need to put “digitization” as the primary goal to infuse digital movement flow down the pyramid and reach out to the mass for only then it would make a significant impact. Teknospire, the initiator of #FintechHookups @Teknospire we believe in “Leading by Example,” hence our work in progress for a couple of the #FintechHookups is in line. Some of our #FintechHookups solutions that would soon be live are – Connecting Money and the “Right People” – Have you ever fathomed what happens to the grant received by developing countries from WHO or USAID? You might have assumed it goes to the politician’s pocket. But what if it reaches to the concerned person and he uses that money elsewhere? For such issues, Teknospire presents its first #FintechHookups solution that makes sure that people use the money for which it is granted. For more details read on our post Farmers Reaping the benefits of their crop – We often speak about the “middlemen” who buy stuff from the farmers at a cheap rate and sell it at a higher price! Or you might have heard of government schemes sanctioning money for farmers, but they never receive it. To solve such issues, Teknospire has brought in their #AgriFinTech Solution that makes these transactions linked to the AADHAAR card, and every step of crop and money could be tracked to make it transparent. For more details on our #AgriFintech Solution, please click here. Go on brace yourself with technology and let the pairing help you to enjoy it more. Wouldn’t a

FinTech Trends

Enabling Basic Banking Services to Beneficiaries of International Grants

Anurag Rastogi / 10/02/2017

FinX enabled Digital Value Chain The above diagram represents the role that Agency Banking, powered by FinX, is playing to create a cohesive ecosystem connecting the farmers with the suppliers, buyers, merchants, financial institutions, international organizations like WHO, UNDP, USAID etc. This article explains the problem statement that most of the International Donors like UNDP, WHO, USAID are facing in #africa for #grantdistribution to the last mile population and how #Teknospire is helping bringing #fintech #disruption to solve the overall problem. Africa: International Organizations are infusing grants ranging in millions of dollars every year, in developing and under-developing economies to uplift the bottom of the pyramid population and paddle up the social-economic boost. Distribution of funds to the right set of beneficiary is one of the major problem at the ground. These grants are expected to be spent on establishing/enabling small businesses, small and medium manufacturing units, establish health centers, medical aids, education fee and many more small but important set of activities with the objective of pumping the bottom of the pyramid population to become the part of the formal economy. The Distribution takes place by awarding the contract to local agencies like NGOs, Security Companies etc. Predominantly, the fund distribution works as simple cash handover against some in-secured unique identity with weak Beneficiary Authentication. Why this is Cash and not Digital? Basic Banking Service itself is costly, because, the cost of procuring and maintaining the technology platforms to run the banks are costly. Financial Institutions like Banks are happy to focus on the top layer who are generally Large and Medium Corporate houses (low number of high value transactions). Mobile Wallet Operators focussed on serving and acquiring the bottom of the pyramid population, which they got successful at first place and they opened a parallel economy (high number of low value transactions) as the major achievement, competing and giving hard time to the Financial Institutions. Since they have invested millions of benjamin franklin in positioning their wallets in the market and people being left with no choice except their financial product, now is the payback time and thus fees for cash outs, transfers and transfers have increased multiple times. For example, to receive $20, the receiver might end up getting only $15 while $5 could be the various fees charged to them. Hence, the receivers are happy to stick themselves on Cash. The second problem that arises is to trace the consumption points of this cash. Approximately 60%-70% of the distributed transaction value is not utilized for the purpose for which it was distributed, and this is where the gap of tracing the end-to-end journey of this cash becomes a problem statement. What could be the possible solutions? Financial Institutions like Banks should gear up themselves to think on their relaunch with a new avatar by leveraging on futuristic technologies brought by FinTech players like @Teknospire. Low cost, customer centric financial products to be innovated and brought-in, to get an upper hand against the strong wallet players. Work towards creating a smooth digital value chain by connecting all the legs. With the FinX – Agency & Payments Banking System, the financial institutions can tap on this gap by taking the basic banking services to these beneficiaries by offering them low cost banking products and get the digital value chain created from the deposits. This then can enable the financial institution to innovate other products around lending, equities, securities etc. The cash driven society can then be transformed to Cashless society with digital payments happening at all the legs. Originally Published in LinkedIn: Enabling Basic Banking Services to Beneficiaries of International Grants

FinTech Trends

Banks—No Banks—Hiya Banks r back.

Lakshmi Thampi / 17/01/2017

Love Hate relationship with banks and customers is continuing. Let me explain the Indian scene. A decade back we only had banks…any payments it had to be routed through the banks… there was no other institution or method for it. So it entailed long waits in queue and filling of big forms. Have had instances when to finish a bank job a work day had to be bunked. Not that we were complaining! It was yet another excuse to bunk work those times 🙂 The Banking transactions those times can be considered non-dynamic and rigid with compliances. Everybody was looking for a change. Thus some disruptors brought about some tools which reduce these vows. Few of them were Prepaid instruments like gift cards or traveller cards, which was more relevant to the urban population. But these instruments had a null user experience. In the same time frame, Agency banking was introduced for providing banking to a rural audience. Which bring about the concept of #FinancialInclusion to fore. with this move, a lot of unbanked came into banking fold. Now people got used to the convenience of transacting without cash. With Kenya in fore, #Fintech advancements were rampant. One of the solutions which were considered pioneer and proven was Digital Wallets. Digital wallet was developed on Lean technologies. To make it attractive to urban public it had offer Deals and UX. For the rural public what it had in offer was service aggregation(In form of electricity, bill payments, et.al), financial services for example money transfer, reachability in far corners. This solution became so popular that the market thronged with wallet providers and people started to move and park huge amounts to wallets which were yet another awakening threat to banks, as it hit their floats. First change which bank did to bring about a change, was to adopt leaner technologies. #Digitisation and technology oriented solutions always have been game changers in every churn. Banks started to get innovative and provide solutions which have solutions like a wallet. So the service aggregation, UX came into their fold too. The newer solutions which banks are coming out brought together FinancialInclusion and Experience, which was missing in the banking sector. With this innovative technologies, the extra hop (transfer of money into a wallet) can be eliminated. Now banks provide you with Applications which you can do every transaction with few clicks. Thus the float which used to be parked in wallet without earning interest is eliminated For a rural audience of the bank, with these innovative solutions, secure and trusted transactions was re-emphasized. The interest which the customer earned is also his. Thus Wallet which was burning money on deals, marketing and distribution system, which was investor money is also saved. It can reroute to the funding of AI, ChatBots and Social Impact projects. Here a reference to Chris Skinner commentary on how the banks can be control freaks: Can banks change their control freak cultures? Originally Published : Banks—No Banks—Hiya Banks r back

FinTech Trends

How #Demonetization is pushing us to go for #Cashless transactions

Lakshmi Thampi / 11/11/2016

I and my spouse were having a fight, how much money is enough for a teenager as a pocket money? I came to a figure of 250 INR and he wanted to round it off to 300 INR to eliminate the possibility of getting into the hassle of finding change. Just a perfect day of our fight – 08-Nov-2016, the red lettered day when the 500 and 1000 rs notes were banned, and media was flooded with #EmpowerCashlessEconomy. We had a brilliant idea, how about providing our son with a digital wallet! That way we eradicate the probability of finding change, also as it would be in dematerialised form there are no threats of theft and we would know where he spends his money! Thanks to Mr. Narendra Modi and his #AacheDin, we resolved our parental issue with technology that also leads to #SwaachEconomy So what else are the ways to utilize demonetization for a technologist like me working for a #Fintech firm like Teknospire? I and my colleague had a brainstorm and here are the ramblings of it – As a Technologist Adoption to Newer Technology – Be it by force or choice one has to adapt to the changes happening around, and that’s exactly how demonetization is affecting us. Adopting to newer means of payment like Digital wallets, Debit or Credit cards, Online Transfer, IMPS, or through e-vouchers is the new mantra! Get away with a habit of stuffing cash in your wallet; instead look for apps/websites that help you in going #cashless. Our Visit to Kirana/grocery Shop – Our blogSmall walk to the nearby grocery shop means “Get some Cash” and “Get some change” . Demonetization helps us in paying by card or through our digital wallet via phone; In a way, we are forcing the shopkeeper to be a loyal taxpayer. An effort towards #SwaachEconomy On My Long drive/Journey via train – With wifi available now in at Railway Stations, Airports, and other public spots, connectivity would be a thing of past. So next if we are on a long journey, we do not need to stuff wallet with “enough cash” with free wifi and a smartphone, I could easily go #cashless and empower #SwaachEconomy Booking a dream home – With demonetization of higher currency notes, next time we look for a dream home, builder may not be keen to ask for “Cash adjustments”. Providing payment via cheque/Demand Draft or through online transfer would surely help in empowering #SwaachEconomy. Newer Denomination and new currency note – A news reported by trak.in says – As of March 2016, a total of Rs 16,41,500 lakh crore worth of currency notes are in circulation in India, with Rs 500 and Rs 1000 accounting for 86% of the total value of the notes. Considering the fact that all the old 500 and 1000 Rs note now being void, you could assume the #BlackMoney meter in India to be reset to zero. A boost to #loyaltaxpayers and empowerment of #SwaachEconomy As a Fintech Firm With each of the above points of #CashlessTransactions and #SwaachEconomy, the solutions offered by #Fintech firm could surely be handy – Apps/Websites supporting cashless transactions. Solutions specifically designed for kids to manage their pocket money or a small in-house business with his friends being his customers. Solutions that could be handy for a stall owner who serves delicious tiffin services or vada-pav. Offerings that helps local housekeeping to get money into their account by the end of every month. Resolutions that promote new age technologies like Bitcoin or Blockchain. Offerings equipped with virtual reality/augmented reality that help wanderlust while he gets struck on a highway on his Harley Davidson and is out of cash! Apps that help a homemaker to manage her milk, newspaper and laundry bills and payments. The intelligent devices equipped with #InternetofThings helps a spinster’s house, to check what all is missing from the refrigerator and conveys to local grocer, who delivers the order and gets the payment via the digital wallet Offerings that make a possibility of shopping anytime anywhere! The #cashflow might have decreased in the short duration, but the long-term positive impact is overwhelming! While at one hand people are confused about what needs to be done, there are speculators and chasers who are in the race of gaining the maximum from the change. The change to go #cashless, the change to empower #SwaachEconomy, the change of #DigitalIndia! Are you with us? References What is the profit that Paytm is going to make as a result of the demonetisation of 500 and 1000 currency notes?