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Showing posts with label Digital India Programme. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Digital India Programme. Show all posts

Wednesday, 10 May 2017

07:45

India with 200 mn users leads WhatsApp video calling in total minutes per day

India with 200 mn users leads WhatsApp video calling in total minutes per day

India leads WhatsApp’s video calling market in terms of total minutes, new data from the copy indicates.

“India is the top country for video calling minutes with a total of over 50 million video calling minutes per day,” the company said in a statement.
Last year in November 2016, WhatsApp announced the rollout of its WhatsApp video calling feature with more than 1.2 billion monthly active users globally across platforms such as iOS, Android and Windows.
The report also goes onto say that WhatsApp sees a total of over 340 million video calling minutes per day, globally along with users making over 55 million video calls per day.
WhatsApp in India has currently 200 million monthly active users. The Facebook-owned messaging app is also expected to soon make a foray into digital payment services starting with India and is looking to hire a digital transactions head for the country.
In February, WhatsApp co-founder Brian Acton had met IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad to discuss ways in which the company could contribute to India’s vision for digital commerce.
According to a job advertisement on WhatsApp’s website, the company is looking for a candidate with technical and financial background, who also has an understanding of Unified Payments Interface (UPI), BHIM payments app and Aadhaar number.
The job responsibilities would include collaboration with banks to resolve WhatsApp user issues and being “an advocate for the users of our digital transactions service to the rest of the company”, it added.
When contacted, a WhatsApp spokesperson said the company is keen to understand how it can contribute more to the vision of Digital India.
“We’re exploring how we might work with companies that share this vision and continuing to listen closely to feedback from our users,” the spokesperson added.

Source:IBEF 
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Saturday, 15 April 2017

13:08

Digital Payment Revolution : Facts & Figures

Digital Payment Revolution : Facts & Figures

Digital Payments Progress

·Lucky GrahakYojana and DigiDhanVyaparYojana launched on 25.12.2016

·100 Digi Dhan Melas held in 100 cities all over the country.

·100 day long information, education and communication campaign led by NITI Aayog to make digital payments a mass movement in India.

· At least 15,000 institutions have gone cashless across just these 100 rural and urban cities across each one of the 27 states and 7 UTs.

·With a turnout of over 15 lakh from cities, small towns and villages, the melas have enabled lakhs to open new bank accounts as well as create new Aadhaar cards.

·Rs.258 crore of prize money won by 16 lakh winners, including customers and merchants belonging to different corners of the country and from varied walks of life.
·The lucky winners of the Mega Draw felicitated by the Prime Minister in Nagpur.
·BHIM App and QR Codes launched

·BHIM App has already created a new world record by registering 1.9 crore downloads in just four months since its launch in December, 2016.

·India haso seen an unprecedented increase in number of transactions made using several user-friendly digital payment methods viz. UPI,USSD, AePS.

· Volume of all digital transactions increased by about 23 times with 63,80,000 digital transactions for a value of  Rs. 2425 crore in March 2017 compared to 2,80,000 digital transactions worth Rs.101 crore  till November 2016.

· Aadhaar Enabled Payments have increased from 2.5 crore in November 2016 to over 5 crore in March 2017.
. Immediate Payment Service (IMPS) transactions have also increased from 3.6 crore to 6.7 crore during the same period.

BHIM-Aadhaar, the merchant interface of the BHIM App

·It will pave the way for making digital payments by using the Aadhaar platform.

·Any Indian citizen can  pay digitally using their biometric data like their thumb imprint on a merchants’ biometric enabled device which could be smart phone having a biometric reader.

·Any citizen without access to smart phones, internet, debit or credit cards will be able to transact digitally through the BHIM Aadhaar platform.

·Already, 27 major banks are now on board with 7.15 lakh merchants so that they can start accepting payments using BHIM Aadhaar.

ONBOARDING

·Total Onboarding (including syndicate update): 7.15 lakhs ,  Transactions: 12.62 lakh

·Aadhar:1.75 Lakh

·BHIM/UPI 4.79 lakh

·QR Code:1.68 lakh  

BHIM – Cash back and Referral Bonus Schemes

·To ensure that the culture of digital payments permeates down to the grassroots.

·Under the Referral bonus scheme both the existing user who refers BHIM and the new user who adopts BHIM would get a cash bonus credited directly to their account.

· Under the Cashback scheme the merchants will get a cash back on every transaction using BHIM. Both schemes are to be administered by MEITY and implemented by NPCI.
·Outlay of Rs. 495 crore for a period of six months.

75 Townships declared Less Cash Townships

·In order to achieve the target of 2500 crore digital transactions during the current financial year, the Prime Minister announced about 75 townships spread all over India as ‘less-cash townships’.

· A less-cash township is one where the deployment of payment acceptance infrastructure is complete, all the families in the township are covered under training programs.

·Selected townships on the basis of third party assessment by Price Waterhouse Coopers (PWC)

·Townships with more than 80% of the total number of transactions being done through digital modes of payments during the review period are included in this list.

·These townships are likely to generate over 1.5 lakh digital transactions every day thereby leading to about 5.5 crore digital transactions in a year.

 Source:PIBNEWS

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Friday, 31 March 2017

08:31

Truecaller hears the sound of money in digital payment push

Truecaller hears the sound of money in digital payment push

Truecaller has tried to make mobile communication more secure in spite of its tryst with privacy experts. As they scaled more, India became one of their key markets. In an interaction with ETtech's Aritra Sarkhel, Alan Mamedi, CEO of Truecaller, discusses new partnerships, privacy issues and net neutrality. Edited Excerpts: 

ET: How has the India centres contributed to your growth? 
AM: We are now operating from Delhi, Mumbai and Bengaluru. We have built our sales team, marketing team, partnership team, and now our engineering team is not only focusing on core products, but also on some India-specific integration into our product. We aim to grow the team fairly big this year. 


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06:51

Mega draw on 14th April -Digital Payments a Mass Movement

Mega draw on 14th April -Digital Payments a Mass Movement 

90 Days of Digi Dhan Mela: Towards Making Digital Payments a Mass Movement 

More than 14 lakh consumers and 77,000 merchants rewarded with Rs. 226 crore for embracing Digital Payments.Mega draw on 14th April

Public response to embrace Digital Payments is on a roll giving a push to make India a less-cash economy and NITI Aayog’s move to incentivize digital transactions by the people has paid dividends. 14 lakh people and 77,000 merchants have been rewarded since the launch of the two incentive schemes for Digital Payments – Lucky Grahak Yojana and DigiDhan Vyapar Yojana – on 25th December 2016. 
A sum of Rs. 226,45,40,000 (Rs. 176,95,40,000 to consumers and Rs. 49,50,00,000 to merchants) has already been disbursed so far under the two incentive schemes. The winners have been from various walks of life cutting across the barriers of age, sex and economic status. 
27 year old Devinder is a mechanic from Azamgarh village in Bihar who won Rs. 1 lakh under Lucky Grahak Yojana. Being the eldest among six siblings in a family of 12, he has to make a lot of transactions, which he now realizes is very simple if done digitally. Earlier he was using his brother’s bank account for his funds, but will soon open his own account. 
22 years old Sunil Vishwas Chauhan is a young farmer from Pachwad village in Maharashtra. He earns his living by selling milk and farm harvest in the local market. “I am glad that digital payments have reached me. Earlier all the money was embezzled by the middleman but now all funds go directly into my account and I receive alerts too,” says a relieved Sunil. 
40 years old Nahid opened her store just a few months back and installed all provisions for paying digitally at her shop. She says, “80% of my transactions are through digital modes. This solves my chutta problems and I think is safer than using cash.” She says that she and her 6 employees encourage customers to pay digitally as well. 
As part of the Government initiative in popularizing Digital Payments, DigiDhan Melas are being organized in 100 cities over a period of 100 days. As on 30th March (90th day) the Melas have been held in 26 States and 7 Union Territories. Over 5000 financial institutions have reached 15 lakh citizens through the Melas and at least 16,000 government and private institutions have been declared cashless. The 100 days of the DigiDhan Melas will end with the Mega Draw on April 14th. Melas are planned for Gangtok, Imphal, Haridwar, Nellore among others for the remaining 10 days. 
Since demonetization, there has been a phenomenal 584 per cent increase (0.3 to 4.5 million) in transactions made through the UPI. In this same period, payments using Adhaar have also seen an unprecedented jump of 1352 per cent (0.7 to 2.7 million). Also, the BHIM App, the UPI payment App launched by the Prime Minister on 30th December 2016, has been downloaded a record 18 million times since its launch. Besides there has been an increase of nearly 13 percent in the number of PoS machines sold since October 2016 indicating that more number of merchants across the country are willingly accepting digital payments. Today around 8 billion transactions take place annually through digital payment methods. The Government is planning to increase this to 25 billion transactions in the current year to bring an end to the shadow economy by reducing black money flowing into the system. 

Background: 

NITI Aayog launched two schemes on December 25, 2016 - Lucky Grahak Yojana (LGY) for consumers and Digi-DhanVyaparYojana (DVY) for merchants to incentivize them and promote digital payments. The two schemes shall remain open till April 14, 2017. There are 15,000 daily winners qualifying for total prize money of Rs. 1.5 crore every day. In addition to this there are over 14,000 weekly winners qualifying for total prize money of over Rs. 8.3 crore every week. Customers and merchants using RuPay Card, BHIM / UPI (Bharat Interface for Money / Unified Payments Interface), USSD based *99# service and Aadhaar Enabled Payment Service (AePS) are eligible for wining daily and weekly lucky draw prizes. 

Source:PIBNEWS


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Thursday, 9 March 2017

14:08

Paytm to charge 2 percentage fee on loading wallet via credit card

Paytm to charge 2 percentage fee on loading wallet via credit card
"We will put 2% fee (inclusive of taxes) only on adding money to wallet using credit cards while adding money using any other payment option remains free," Paytm said in its statement.
New Delhi, Mar 9: E-commerce application Paytm on Wednesday announced it will now levy a 2 percent charge for adding money into the wallet using credit cards. The 2 per cent fee, inclusive of taxes, would be charged whenever the wallet would be loaded through the user’s credit card. The decision is expected to impact a large number of Paytm users. Paytm will provide an equivalent amount of cashback for using credit card to add money to the wallet. Paytm users can add money to their wallets through other modes such as netbanking and debit cards without any extra cost.
“To avoid this misuse, we are making some changes in our terms. There will be no fee when you shop on Paytm or pay for any utilities using your Credit Card or any other payment option but to avoid the misuse highlighted above, we will put 2% fee (inclusive of taxes) only on adding money to wallet using credit cards while adding money using any other payment option remains free,” Paytm said.
“However, this 2% fee charges on credit card would be reversed in the form of a discount coupon for same amount which will be issued within 24 hours of adding money effectively giving you this fee back. This hopefully keeps unintended misuse of our platform away and as a consumer you still enjoy our services at no extra cost,” the statement further read.
The company also announced a slew of other changes as follows:
At Paytm we allow multiple payment options when you buy any product or pay for any utilities. We offer you to pay using Credit Card, Debit Card & Net Banking. Now, we are also adding 2 new payment options — UPI & IMPS. All these payment options are also available when you add money to your wallet. Every day millions of our customers use various methods to pay for products/services or add money to wallet.
As you are aware, in the month of November we launched a new payment platform for small merchants at 0% fee. Millions of merchants are accepting Paytm at their shops/establishments. They prefer to take money to their bank accounts and as a promise to democratizing payments, we made transfer to bank fee at 0%. This was extended to all our users as many shopkeepers/merchants also used their personal Paytm accounts to accept payments at their Shops.
This 0% transfer to bank fee left an opportunity to misuse this great service meant for our valuable customers. We saw a disturbing trend when many users started funding their Paytm wallet with their credit cards and transferring it to the bank all for free. They were not only getting free loyalty points which effectively is free cash but also getting access to free credit.
Incidentally, Paytm pays fee to card networks or banks whenever you use any payment instrument like any other online commerce company. Paytm pays a hefty charges when you use your credit card to card networks & issuing banks. If user simply adds money and takes to bank, we lose money. Our revenue model requires users to spend money within our network and we make money from the margins available to us on various products/services we offer.
We understand many of us use credit cards for consolidating all our monthly payments and using it to get a credit period for buying a product/service but this disturbing trend of using credit cards to rotate cash affects our ability to serve our valuable customers.
Some financially savvy users (surprisingly many of them employees of national financial institutions) exploited this model to rotate money. This may surprise normal users like most of us but for a savvy user it meant freebies at Paytm’s cost.
Paytm grew its user base in an unprecedented manner following the demonetisation drive carried out by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Due to unavailability of cash, people downloaded the e-commerce application for cashless transactions. Within 10 days following the demonetisation drive, Paytm recorded a total of 7 million transactions.

Source:India.com
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Saturday, 4 March 2017

06:19

Aadhaar Number to facilitate digital payments,all accounts on net banking by March 2017

Aadhaar Number to facilitate digital payments,all accounts on net banking by March 2017

Government to Banks: Get all accounts on net banking by March 31, 2017
The government has instructed banks to enable internet banking across all accounts by March 31 and mandatorily link them to the Aadhaar number to facilitate digital payments and online transactions. The measure has been approved at the "highest levels" in the government, and is aimed at facilitating digital payments across the banking system.
"This measure will further enable the rapidly-evolving digital payments setup in the country and will help add in a new set of consumers to the world of online transactions," IT minister Ravi Shankar Prasad told TOI here. The ministry has been coordinating efforts to digitise transactions and is a nodal point for several initiatives in this direction, including ensuring digital safety and putting in place cyber security measures.
Prasad chaired a review meeting on the growth and proliferation of digital payments, and also the various issues associated with the measure. "These were focused around looking at regulatory and monetary framework related to digital transactions."
"Banks have been requested to get Aadhaar on board by March 31. This would mean that the bank account is ceded to Aadhaar that will enable easier digital transactions," Prasad said.
Top officials in the IT ministry said that around 35% of existing bank accounts do not have linkages to Aadhaar, which could be an obstacle in aligning them to online transactions and digital payments applications. "If net banking is not allowed, some of the applications may not be able to make digital transactions," an official said.

Source:TOI
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Monday, 26 December 2016

08:42

PM Narendra Modi on Mann ki Baat: Go cashless, get cashback

PM Narendra Modi on Mann ki Baat: Go cashless, get cashback

PM Narendra Modi defends frequent changes in demonetisation rules, says these are being done to reduce people's problems.

In an effort to push consumers and traders towards embracing digital transactions, Prime Minister Narendra Modi Sunday announced the launch of two schemes — Lucky Grahak Yojana and Digi-Dhan Vyapar Yojana. For the next 100 days, starting today, 15,000 people making digital payments will get Rs 1,000 cashback in a daily lucky draw, PM Modi said. He added that there will also be a weekly draw and the prize money will run into lakhs. “A bumper draw will be held on BR Ambedkar’s birthday,” PM Modi said. Under the two schemes, the lucky draw will take place in 100 cities across the country. Traders adopting digital payment methods will get a tax rebate under the Digi-Dhan Vyapar Yojana scheme.
The prime minister was speaking in his monthly radio address to the nation ‘Mann ki Baat’. The prime minister also elucidated why RBI has been frequently updating and issuing fresh guidelines. “Government is taking regular feedback from people and it is alright to make changes according to it ,” he said.
He also said that out of the 30 crore debit/credit cards in the country, 20 crore of these are held by those belonging to lower and middle-income background. “In last few days, cashless transactions have gone up by 200-300 per cent. To give it a push, government has taken a big step,” he said.
Exemplifying the benefits of cashless transactions, PM Modi asserted that they will help in ending the exploitation faced by workers in the informal sector. “In our country, the informal sector is quite big and most of the workers are paid their wages in form of cash. They also face exploitation because of this. Now digital transactions are helping these workers,” said PM Modi.
Speaking on why political parties will not come under the scrutiny of tax authorities for cash deposits in demonetised currency, PM Modi said that he wanted a discussion in Parliament regarding party funding, but the Opposition “did not let the Houses run”. “People are spreading rumours that political parties have free hand but this is not true,” PM Modi said.
The Prime Minister, however, lauded both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha for passage of the Disabilities Bill to secure the rights of disabled and also their honour and dignity. The new law, he said, is in consonance with the spirit expressed by the United Nations.
Terming this war against corruption as “an extraordinary one”, he said the forces involved in “this murky enterprise of perfidy and corruption” have to be defeated as they are devising new tactics to thwart government’s efforts every day. “To counter these new offensives, we too have to devise appropriate new responses and anti-dotes. When the opponents keep on trying out new tactics, we have to counteract decisively since we have resolved to eradicate the corrupt, shady businesses and black money,” he said.
Lauding the public for their support in exposing the wrong-doings of some, who are devising “newer wily ways and means” to counter the fight against corruption, the Prime Minister sought more public support. “Everyday many new people are being taken into custody, currency notes are being seized, raids are being carried out. Influential persons are being caught. The secret is that my sources of such information are people themselves.
“Information being received from common citizens is many times higher than that being obtained through government machinery,” he said, adding that people were taking risks to expose such elements. He asked them to share such information on e-mail address of the government as also on the MyGov App.
Modi also talked about the Benami Property law that came into being in 1988, but neither its rules were framed, nor was it notified and laid dormant for years. “We have retrieved it and turned it into an incisive law against ‘Benami Property’. In the coming days, this law will also become operational. For the benefit of the nation, for the benefit of the people, whatever needs to be done will be accorded our top priority,” he said.
He also wished the people on Christmas and remembered former Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee on his birthday while wishing him good health and long life. Modi also congratulated the Indian Cricket team for its emphatic 4-0 victory over England, as also the performances of some young players like Karun Nair who scored a triple century, K L Rahul for scoring a brilliant 199, besides the leadership provided by Captain Virat Kohli and off-spin bowler R Ashwin. He also complimented the Junior Hockey Team for lifting the World Cup and the Indian Women’s Hockey Team that won the Asian Champions Trophy.



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Sunday, 11 December 2016

08:14

Digital payments and internet shutdowns cannot go hand in hand

Digital payments and internet shutdowns cannot go hand in hand
India will need to rethink its stance on internet shutdowns if the digital payments push is to continue. Over the last few years, suspending internet services partially or otherwise has emerged as a favoured tactic of the government to counter potential security threats. But one look at the current digital payments trends and it is clear that the shutdown approach will now be as useful as the old Rs 500 and Rs 1000 notes.
In August this year, an internet shutdown in Gujarat following the Patidar agitation resulted in a loss of Rs 1,500 crore in one day, according to the Maha Gujarat Bank Employees Association. In September 2016 on the eve of Eid-ul-Zuha, Kashmir saw a 72-hour suspension of internet services and mobile internet (barring BSNL) as a “precautionary measure” to contain a security threat. In Haryana, Sonipat had internet and mobile services suspended ahead of the June 2016 protests by the Jat community.
Think tank The Brookings Institution calculated the financial loss suffered by India as a result of its 22 temporary internet shutdowns between July 2015 and June 2016 (pdf). It arrived at a figure of $968 million. This figure accounts for the percentage of the GDP “derived from the internet economy”, online ad services, and of course, digital payments.
This was then.
Within a week of the demonetisation announcement of 8 November 2016, Indian digital wallet companies like PayTM, Freecharge, and MobiKwik claimed an increase of up to 200% in mobile downloads. And now, Prime Minister Narendra Modi himself is advocating an uptake of digital payments and pushing the Unified Payments Interface cause.
In part due to this push, and in large part due to lack of options, adoption of digital payments has gone up by nearly 300% in one month alone.
One can do the math to see where this will eventually go looking at the latest numbers. According to a recent Medianama and Akamai report, the number of debit card transactions stood at 129.07 million between July 2015 and July 2016. These accounted for transactions of Rs 17,091 crore. Number of mobile banking transactions for the period March 2015 to March 2016 stood at 49.47 crore. The amount transacted in this period grew at a jaw dropping rate of 239%. The absolute value of the transactions stood at Rs 57, 280 crore at the end of this time period.
By March 2017, these figures are sure to swing higher up with the ongoing cash crunch. If an internet shutdown were to happen now, the financial losses would be colossal. In going for a digital payment push with a reliance on internet shutdowns for law and order, the Modi government has planted both its feet in two boats headed in different directions. Neither of them seems built to float.
In the course of implementing the demonetisation project, we have seen the government bumble through several obvious snags that anyone with a plan would have foreseen.  Lack of circulating cash, ATM machines that were not calibrated for the new currency bills, and accounting for those not covered by the formal banking system were just some of these. Now as a clean-up is cobbled together at the last minute, one can only hope policy makers account for the consequences before the government approves another suspension of internet services.
DISCLAIMER : Views expressed above are the author's own.

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Monday, 22 August 2016

08:02

Mini ATMs - Made in India, Made for the World

Mini ATMs - Made in India, Made for the World

The PMJDY (Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana) aims to ensure access to various financial services -- savings bank account, access to need based credit, remittances facility,        insurance and pension - to the excluded sections i.e. weaker sections & low income groups.
However, the last-mile of cash-disbursal remains a challenge:  Typically, a human agent with a POS device and a bag of cash is the means.  Designated as a “Micro ATM”, such a human agent is generally considered the key technology product for last-mile delivery of the PMJDY scheme and DBT (Direct benefit transfer). But such “Micro-ATMs” have never worked satisfactorily for a number of reasons, compelling the beneficiaries to visit the bank or head post office, which is not nearby, to obtain the payment.
On the other hand, a conventional ATM is considered an overkill for deploying in these contexts.  In the emerging economies like India, the major challenge in deploying ATMs in semi urban/ rural areas is to provide 24/7 availability at a viable cost.  Grid power availability is a major challenge in these areas, and high cost involved in power backup solutions for traditional ATMs with high power rating and the air conditioner needs makes it unviable to deploy ATMs.
Pioneering Low Footprint – Desktop/Mini ATMs for shared spaces:
The above business challenges warrant reducing the costs in running an ATM network in tier IV-VI locations. Vortex has pioneered an innovative Desk Top/Mini ATM solution, operating typically in day time hours, located in a shared space, consuming low power (solar backup) and with connectivity through GSM/CDMA dongle.
With the Desktop/ Wall mounting possibilities these ATMs can be installed in shared spaces within the post offices/ Kirana stores / common service centres. These Mini ATMs offer a low cost and high impact solution to the problems of not just the beneficiaries who want to access their balances, but also a befitting solution for the Banks and the ATM operators.
These Mini ATMs eliminate the shortcomings of the regular ATM installation by reducing the Cap-ex and Op-ex costs, making it viable for the ATM to break even at 40 to 50 transactions per day.
Setting benchmarks in Indian Design
The “Ecoteller Mini” comes with a “completely India designed” and patented dispenser technology.  The software component of this ATM is based on Open Source technology which is also in line with current Govt. of India policy for public sector enterprises & in line with the “Digital India” initiatives. 
Why Small is indeed Beautiful
  • This first of its kind smaller ATMs can be mounted like a post box in shared spaces within office/ bank/ post office lobby, kirana shops, hospitals, Metro stations, IT parks, shopping malls, etc.,
  • Easy Mobility: Can be easily ported wherever required
  • The low foot print (2 sq.ft) reduces the space requirement, hence it brings down the rental overhead in commercial spaces
  • No separate space to construct an ATM centre is required as it can be easily fixed in the available space within the banks’/ post office’s premises
  • As it can be deployed in the available shared space, no ATM centre construction cost is involved. E.g: separate infrastructure like glass doors, wall, ceilings etc.,
  • Exclusive surveillance costs like security personnel, security systems like CCTV is not involved due to usage of shared spaces
  • Provision to include cash deposit function
  • Low OPEX and CAPEX

 Source:IBEF
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Saturday, 21 May 2016

08:11

HSBC India is closing 24 branches across the country due to the rise in digital banking.

HSBC India is closing 24 branches across the country due to the rise in digital banking.

Following a “strategic review” of its retail banking and wealth management business in India, it says it will move from 50 branches across 29 cities to 26 branches across 14 cities.

HSBC India says: “This change reflects changes in customer behaviour, who are increasingly using digital channels for their banking.”

Stuart P Milne, group general manager and CEO, HSBC India, adds: “Customer expectations are changing rapidly and we need to adapt accordingly.”

HSBC India says it does not expect any “additional branch consolidation”; and the cuts to the branch network will take place over the coming months in a “phased manner”.

According to the bank, the branches being closed account for less than 10% of HSBC’s retail customer base in India.

The bank also says the closures will affect 1% of its total number of employees in the country, which is around 33,000. HSBC says redeployment opportunities will be offered to those affected.

List of impacted branches (alphabetical order):

Chennai (Adyar Branch); Delhi (Punjabi Bagh and Basant Lok Branch); Guwahati Branch; Indore Branch; Jodhpur Branch; Kolkata (Shakespeare Sarani, Howrah, Ultadanga, New Alipore and Salt Lake Branch); Lucknow Branch; Ludhiana Branch; Mumbai (Thane Branch); Mysore Branch; Nagpur Branch; Nasik Branch; Patna Branch; Pune (Deccan Branch); Raipur Branch; Surat Branch; Trivandrum Branch; Vadodara Branch; Vishakhapatnam Branch.

Cuts and closures

Recently, HSBC announced it will cut 850 information technology jobs in the UK, the first stage of its restructuring plan that will see 8,000 British jobs terminated by the end of 2017.

HSBC set out its three-year restructuring plan last year with clear ambitions in mind – reduce its extended global network, shut down underperforming businesses, and improve earnings.

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Thursday, 31 March 2016

20:45

First Digital Branch of State Bank of India inaugurated in North East

First Digital Branch of State Bank of India inaugurated in North East 

Mukul inaugurates 1st digital branch of NE SBI

SHILLONG, March 30 - The first Digital Branch of State Bank of India in North East was inaugurated by Chief Minister Mukul Sangma here today at the premises of State Bank of India, Main Branch.

Inaugurating the branch, Sangma said the new digitized branch will cater to “smart clients with smart banking facilities and associated financial delivery systems.”

The Digital branch is driven by smart and user-friendly state-of-the-art technology with a wide range of banking facilities like Internet banking, Internet savings, mobile banking etc. with minimum human intervention. It is a self-contained and self-sufficient branch having safe features in all its features.

The Chief Minister also expressed concern over Internet Banking security and stated there is a need to adopt higher application system to make it temper proof and make Internet Banking more safer.

Sangma also said there is a need for an “aggressive sensitization and Financial Literacy programme” to be conducted by banks.

In this regard, he urged the banks to collaborate with the different government programmes so that such initiatives would open up opportunities not only for the banks but also for micro and small entrepreneurs.

Sangma said that with access to digital highway there would be better Internet connectivity in the state and the whole digital connectivity could be taken to the last village.

 Source:AssamTribune
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Tuesday, 23 February 2016

07:42

Bankers call for digitisation, financial inclusion

Bankers call for digitisation, financial inclusion

Urge RBI to relax KYC norms, encourage use of digital signature for authentication

To promote digitisation and a ‘less cash economy’, the banking sector has suggested to the Reserve Bank of India to consider paperless account opening, without a specimen signature (physically signed).

In a presentation made to RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan recently under the aegis of the CII Banking Summit, it was mentioned that methods such as one-time password, biometric authentication and digital signature could be used to open such accounts.
The industry observed that online verification of the customer and consent capture were possible using Aadhar by UIDAI, through KYC details registered with NSDL, and the likes.
Bankers said that accounts without signature could be allowed only for digital transactions or at biometric ATMs, as a tiered offering, adding that such facilities were available in various countries like the US, the UK and Poland.

Further, it was suggested that KYC requirements for merchants with volumes below ₹50,000 a month be re-evaluated. It was urged that these merchants be acquired through limited KYC.

Another measure mooted was the strengthening of the inter-bank payments system (IMPS), so that non-financial information could also be carried along with amount details, thereby enabling banks to offer value-added services to merchants and customers.
Tax incentives

Tax incentives to both the payer and receiver of money for using electronic means were discussed.
On the issue of fostering financial inclusion, bankers felt that policy needed to be amended, so as to provide data of individuals and small businesses with their permission to potential lenders, besides inclusion of bill payment, tax payment, and provident fund payment behaviour into credit information bureaus.

Another aspect pointed out was the re-evaluation of the use of branches in semi-urban and rural areas, based on the number of active customers, as it was possible to reach people using technology. A uniform KYC between banks and telecom service providers was recommended to harmonise documentation requirements and reduce customer acquisition costs.

Use of ATMs
On the ATM front, the use of ATMs as a property to display advertisements in accordance with the Advertising Standards Council of India was proposed, with a view to generate an additional stream of income and reduction in cost of setting up and operating ATMs.

A level-playing field with e-market places was urged, stating that all e-market places should accept every payment instrument, besides making two-factor authentication compulsory for all (there is no two-factor authentication for wallet users). Additionally, the industry pressed for suppression of two-factor authentication for low-ticket transactions.

Also mooted were ‘zero per cent EMI’ programmes by banks, akin to those offered by original equipment manufacturers associated with NBFCs (banks are prohibited as of now), thus allowing banks to offer schemes at rates above the base rate and where interest was borne by the OEM.

Finally, aligning capital requirements of Indian and foreign banks was sought, besides allowing Indian banks to participate in the non-deliverable forwards market with the rise of masala bonds – for investors to hedge currency volatility (foreign banks can access the NDF market while Indian banks cannot).

Source:Banking and Bankers
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Thursday, 28 January 2016

06:32

‎Provident Fund ‬Account‬ handling made simpler

‎Provident Fund ‬Account‬ handling made simpler

With Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation shifting to electronic mode of payment and employers making remittances through internet banking, the time taken for calculation of PF dues and remittances has been reduced, leading to the cancellation of concession of five days grace period, officials said.

Speaking to reporters on Monday, Regional PF Commissioner-II and officer in-charge Tambaram ‪#‎EPFO‬ Regional Office, S. Murugavel said that with effect from January 1, digital signatures have been made mandatory for all employers.

“Universal Account Number is the latest initiative which is a unique 12-digit number to all subscribers of the fund which can be utilised to view their account passbook, file requests for transfer of PF accumulations from their previous accounts to present accounts,” he said.

“Employees whose details like ‪#‎Aadhaar‬ number and bank account number have been seeded in their ‪#‎UAN‬ may submit claims in Form 19, Form-10C and Form 31 directly to the respective provident fund commissioners without attestation of their employers for fast settlement of claims,” he said.

He also added that a mobile app is available that can be downloaded from the EPFO website - www.epfindia.gov.in (or) Google playstore with which the members can activate their UAN accounts
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Saturday, 16 January 2016

19:49

Implementation of digital signed pension revision authorities in all banks.

Implementation of digital signed pension revision authorities in all banks.

Finmin order for Implementation of digital signed pension revision authorities in all banks

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA
MINISTRY OF FINANCE
DEPARTMENT OF EXPENDITURE
CENTRAL PENSION ACCOUNTING OFFICE
TRIKOOT-II, BHIKAJI CAMA PLACE,

NEW DELHI-110066
PHONES : 26174596, 26174456, 26174438

CPAO/Tech/e-PPO/2015-16

Dated 11.01.2016

Office Memorandum

Subject: Implementation of digital signed pension revision authorities in all banks.

After the implementation of paperless movement of digitally signed e-Revision authorities with four banks i.e. SB1, Chandani Chowk, Punjab National Bank, Bank of Baroda and Canara Bank, paper authorities for these four banks have been dispensed with. In the meeting held with eight major banks on 05.11.2015, it was decided to roll out e-revision authorities for all remaining banks w.e.f. 01.01.2016 along with parallel run of physical authorities for one month.

In this context all remaining banks were earlier already advised to complete their preparatory work and other formalities by the end of July, 2015 vide this office OM No. CPAO/Tech/e-PP0/2015-16/440-511 dated 03.07.2015. It is expected that all the banks are ready to accept the digitally signed e- authorities received from CPAO.

In respect of the 14 CPPCs of SB1 pilot run has been over and physical movement of papers have been stopped w.e.f. 01.01.2016.

For remaining 25 banks the trial run will be effective from 01.02.2016 to 15.02.2016. during this period physical authorities will also be sent to the CPPCs parallel with electronically authorities. With effect from 16.02.2016 sending of physical authorities to CPPCs to remaining banks will also be stopped.

All Heads of Government Account Departments and CPPCs of the all the authorised banks are requested to ensure the implementation of e-Revision authorities as per schedule indicated above. All the Heads of CPPCs are requested to alert their Technical teams for making necessary provisions in their software, if not already done.

Source:Govemployees
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Tuesday, 15 December 2015

07:46

SBI prepares plan to transform into full-scale digital bank

SBI prepares plan to transform into full-scale digital bank

The State Bank of India is readying a plan to bring its 44.7 crore customers on mobile banking and digital wallet platforms as part of the 2020 digital transformation strategy at the country's largest lender.

The strategy involves digitising all processes, implementing green banking and upgrading the legacy network to offer speedy services to customers of the state-run bank which has an annual IT budget of Rs 3,000 crore.

"Digitisation will help customers carry out banking using self-service available on omnichannels at any time of their busy day," said SBI's chief technology officer Shiv Bhasin. The bank will be approaching customers using inferences drawn from their profile and transactional behaviour to offer products and services, he said.
The bank plans to declutter its branch network which currently stands at over 16,415 and enhance financial inclusion in an effective manner via its digitisation plan. SBI is also working towards simplifying financial narrative, overhauling existing network and provide banking via omnichannels and devices, said Bhasin.

SBI, which launched mobile wallet application SBI Buddy in August, will soon become the first bank in the country to launch a mobile wallet for feature phone users. The bank has about 350,000 customers on its buddy platform. It is also planning to provide digital green debit card personal identification number or PIN to customers over SBI Quick app. Currently, the bank dispatches PIN to its customers via courier or post.

The bank projects significant growth in its revenues and loan book once all these digital processes are operationalised.
"The bank will be able to combat disruptions from payments banks and carry out cross-sell of various innovative product bundles along with its joint ventures (mutual funds, equities, life and general insurance)," Bhasin said.

The bank will be able to bring process efficiencies and improve the turnaround time for various services, which will help it grow its loan book and acquire good quality assets, he said.
SBI also plans to spend over Rs 200 crore to upgrade its network to improve its customer service. It plans to convert all its network circuits to 2 mbps from the current 64 kbps to eliminate network outage in the remotest areas. The bank will tie up with Airtel, Vodafone, Tata Docomo and Sify to provide alternate connectivity. Currently, BSNL is SBI's main network service provider.

As per the digitisation plan, all processes implemented in 2015 will be suitable for the multifold transaction volume projected for 2020.
Besides, the bank plans to open 250 SBI Intouch branches which offer instant savings bank account opening and personalised debit card service in 12-15 minutes. SBI has seven such outlets at present.

Source  :BankingUpdates
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Tuesday, 3 November 2015

22:17

Mobile banking will become our primary digital channel soon: Axis Bank

Mobile banking will become our primary digital channel soon: Axis Bank

India's third largest private sector bank Axis Bank is increasingly focusing on mobility, and expects mobile banking to become its primary digital channel soon.

"Most of the countries have gone through two phases of digital revolution -- one was the Internet and second is the mobile. Because of lack of infrastructure, India sort of missed the Internet revolution, but in terms of mobility, huge adoption across the country can be seen. So we, as a country, actually from the Internet generation directly moved to the mobile generation. With the mobile population increasing at such a fast pace, we see huge demand from our customers to use banking on the mobile,” Amit Sethi, President and CIO, Axis Bank, tells Firstpost.

"The company is witnessing 250-300 percent growth in mobile banking. A major chunk of our transactions is moving to the digital channels, especially on the mobile front. Today, 88-90 percent of transactions at Axis Bank are actually happening electronically; and only 11 percent are happening in the branches. It is a huge switch,” he notes.

So, with digital transactions increasing and decreasing footfalls in the branches, can we expect branches to be obsolete? Sethi clarifies that it doesn't mean the end of branches but their inherent function is changing. "Branches are becoming a major channel for advising customers, helping them manage their finances better, and more. Today, branches have become more of customer-centric rather than a transaction focused place. We do not see branch banking going anywhere, in fact we are opening more branches every year,” Sethi elaborates.

Talking about the investments in new technologies, he asserts, "We are big believers in ROI-based investment. We want to be technology leaders in the banking sector. 

So, all investments are made with that particular focus. We see SMAC (social, mobile, analytics and cloud) very relevant for banks. We are building solutions to remain socially relevant for our customers and analytics is a key portion of everything that we do today both in terms of what we give as an offering to the customer as well as to sharpen our back-end. We are using analytics to sharpen our fraud system, risk management system, our decision making ability, our product offerings, and our operational capabilities.”

Additionally, the company is focused on security. There are multiple levels of security that we give on handsets as well as through the application. As a backup, we use numerous tools which we call adaptive authentication tools to check in on fraud. We keep on enhancing our security offerings while we offer our customers the digital property, Sethi says.

Talking about the competition, he signs off saying, "Axis Bank is way ahead of the competition in the digital space.”
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Tuesday, 25 August 2015

07:58

Call for separate brand for online, digital banking

Call for separate brand for online, digital banking

MUMBAI, AUGUST 24:  

To achieve long-term growth, public sector banks should focus on younger, digitally active customers, according to Bank of Maharashtra Chairman Sushil Muhnot. The banks should even consider launching a separate brand for such customers, he said here on Monday, addressing a session on digital banking at the FIBAC Banking Conclave.

The average age of banking customers is 45 years, said Muhnot. Such customers are not very savvy with digital banking. On the other hand, customers aged 25-45 are native users of digital banking,

This customer segment is aligned with India’s demographic dividend and has more disposable income. Costs of serving such customers is also low, therefore a separate brand could serve them, he added.

“Today technology is available with all banks in the form of mobile wallets and online payment systems. The challenge is to make non-native customers use such technologies. We need to have different strategies for native and non-native customers,” he said
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Sunday, 23 August 2015

11:06

Payments bank license to promote massive digital transactions: Mukesh Ambani

Payments bank license to promote massive digital transactions: Mukesh Ambani

Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) chairman Mukesh Ambani on Friday said the payments bank license issued to its joint venture with the State Bank of India (SBI) will promote massive adoption of digital transactions with low cost access.

"The payments bank is integral to RIL's digital initiative in a rapidly converging world of telecom, internet, commerce, media and financial services. This is one of our many initiatives to contribute meaningfully to the government of India's ambitious Digital India programme," said Ambani in a statement.

RIL said the payments bank will function in conjunction with JioMoney, a prepaid payment instrument of Reliance Jio, to facilitate cashless payments across multiple-use cases and build India's largest digital merchant network.

RIL and SBI applied for payments bank license in which RIL is the promoter and SBI the joint venture partner with an equity investment of up to 30 percent.

SBI chairman Arundhati Bhattacharya said the partnership is the "first-of-its-kind public private partnership (PPP) to make India's financial services digitally smart".

"SBI's vast experience in structuring financial products for different customer segments will be combined with the digital access provided by RIL in completing the most efficient, simple and affordable delivery model with utmost focus on financial inclusion," the statement cited her as saying.

On Wednesday, the Reserve Bank of India granted payments banks license to 11 entities - Aditya Birla Nuvo, Airtel M Commerce Services, Cholamandalam Distribution Services, Department of Posts, Fino PayTech, National Securities Depository Ltd, RIL, Dilip Shantilal Shangvi of Sun Pharma (who applied in personal capacity), Vijay Sekhar Sharma, Tech Mahindra and Vodafone M-Pesa - saying these had the reach and technological and financial strength to serve the numerous excluded customers across the nation.
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