Jaguar Land Rover Inaugurates New 3S Retailer Facility in Bengaluru

 New 3S in the city

* Jaguar Land Rover unveils new state-of-the-art 3S (Sales, Service and Spare parts) Retailer Facility on New Airport Road

* Spread over a total area of over 4 160 m2, the facility offers a showroom display of a wide range of products from Jaguar and Land Rover’s portfolio, and a fully equipped service workshop with 19 service bays. 

* Jaguar Land Rover India distribution network is spread across 27 outlets in 24 major cities across India.

Jaguar Land Rover India today announced the opening of a new 3S Retailer facility in Bengaluru by Marqland in a fast developing area on New Airport Road.

This new 3S Retailer facility in the prominent location of New Airport Road complements the Boutique showroom in City Centre on Cunningham Road to offer exceptional Customer Experience and Convenience. Marqland previously operated its 3S facility on Hosur Road.

This Retailer facility is spread over 4 160 m2 and is designed to provide the highest quality of sales and after-sales service. It provides an enhanced premium customer experience, displaying a wide range of products from the Jaguar and Land Rover portfolio, and has an impressive handover bay for delivering vehicles to customers. 

This facility also has a Jaguar Land Rover approved pre-owned car section and showcases a wide range of Jaguar Land Rover branded accessories and merchandise for its discerning customers. It also has a fully equipped workshop, with state-of-the-art tools and equipment and highly trained technicians and staff to provide the highest quality after-sales experience. 

Rohit Suri, President & Managing Director, Jaguar Land Rover India Ltd (JLRIL), said, “Post the opening of the Boutique Showroom in City Centre in  2019, this new, ultra-modern integrated 3S facility on New Airport Road will further strengthen JLR’s presence in the Bengaluru area. It will ensure that our customers are able to enjoy world-class sales, service, and spares under-one-roof from a location that is convenient and easily accessible.”

Customers can even book their cars by visiting the online booking platform at www.findmeacar.in for Jaguar and www.findmeasuv.in for Land Rover..

Aditya Birla Sun Life Insurance Launches ABSLI Assured FlexiSavings Plan in Indian Market

 Aditya Birla Sun Life Insurance (ABSLI), the life insurance subsidiary of Aditya Birla Capital Limited (ABCL), today announced the launch of its new plan ABSLI Assured FlexiSavings Plan. It offers fully guaranteed benefits and allows policyholders an instant access to their money by giving them the flexibility to make unlimited withdrawals from their policy. The flexibility to make unlimited withdrawals is hitherto unseen in the insurance market- making it a market differentiator for this product. Besides life cover, it aims to provide guaranteed benefits to provision for future goals while empowering customers with liquidity at hand, to fulfil short term goals or unplanned money needs.

ABSLI Assured FlexiSavings Plan is a fully guaranteed, non-linked non-participating life insurance plan. This plan provides annual Income to the policyholder which is accumulated for 10 years or 12 years till the end of the policy term. These annual incomes grow with a 5% Income Booster added every year to augment savings, provided it is not withdrawn. Additionally, the specialty of this plan is that it provides flexibility to withdraw the accrued amount as and when needed, with no restrictions or charges on withdrawals. Moreover, the plan returns 110% of total premiums paid, back to the policyholder during policy maturity. It also offers a one-time loyalty addition on the accumulated amount under the policy.

Commenting on the launch, Kamlesh Rao, MD & CEO, Aditya Birla Sun Life Insurance said, “During unprecedented times, most people become risk averse, while enhancing their liquidity provisioning. This results in customers taking a conservative approach, which leaves them with limited options of saving and growing their hard-earned money. ABSLI’s Assured FlexiSavings Plan aims at locking in the benefit of long-term guaranteed returns while unlocking the flexibility of withdrawals or liquidity, as and when required. Guaranteed tax-free returns with liquidity along with life cover, will enable customers to continue achieving their financial milestones in a break-free and stress-free manner”.

ABSLI Assured FlexiSaving Plan provides four benefits-

1. Upto 105% of annual premium added every year (depending upon the premium payment term chosen by the policyholder)

2. 5% Income booster annually which enhances the accrued amount further

3. Upto 25% (depending on the premium payment term and policy term chosen by the policyholder) loyalty addition on the total accrued amount is added to the policy at the end of the policy term

4. 110% of total premiums paid is additionally paid as maturity benefit in addition to the accrued amount under the policy

ABSLI Assured FlexiSaving Plan is designed for customers who are looking for guaranteed wealth and ease of liquidity, while protecting their loved ones during the time of uncertainties. Besides offering guaranteed returns and an instant access to money, it also provides protection with a comprehensive life cover across the policy term, additional riders and a variety of Premium Payment Terms.

Toyota Kirloskar Motor Empowers 1 Lakh People to Fight Against the Spread of COVID-19

 In its mission to help citizens fight the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, Toyota Kirloskar Motor (TKM) has been undertaking several initiatives. One such initiative is the distribution of health and hygiene kits through an employee led CSR program, Sanjeevini.

Under the Sanjeevini initiative, TKM distributed health and hygiene kits to 5,000 employees, each of whom took it upon themselves to distribute the kits to five families in their neighbourhoods in Bangalore urban and rural areas benefitting totally 25,000 families. The kits comprised sanitizer bottle, three-ply facemasks and hand-wash soap. The volunteering employees also created awareness on the safety precautions vital to contain the viral outbreak with special emphasis on maintaining health and hygiene in these times. The intention behind involving the employees was to propagate important hygiene practices and the use of masks to as many people as possible in their neighbourhoods.

Commenting on the successful completion of the initiative, Mr. Vikram Gulati, Country Head & Senior Vice President, External Affairs, Public Relations, Corporate Social Responsibility & Corporate Governance, TKM, said, “Since the onset of the pandemic, TKM has been proactively responding to the crisis according to the needs of the community as well as by supporting the Government efforts. The distribution of the health and hygiene kits carried out over the last one month is another such program aimed at empowering the community we live in. The idea for distribution of the kits stemmed from the view of safeguarding not just our employees but also the other families residing in their neighbourhoods. In all, 25,000 families or about 1,00,000 people were benefited by the health and hygiene kits. As a responsible corporate citizen, we will continue with such endeavours in the battle against the coronavirus spread.”

In the recent past, TKM has contributed INR 2 Crore to the Karnataka Chief Minister’s Relief Fund followed by the handing over of 3,000 Hazmat suits to the Government Health Volunteers in the state. About 3,500 essential kits, benefitting over 15,000 members were given to daily wage workers. TKM deployed 14 buses to support the health department in the state in addition to the distribution of sanitizers and masks to the state police. TKM also supported its supplier partner, Stump Schuele and Somappa Springs to ramp up its production of face shields from 275 to over 17,000 units per day.

Further, TKM handed over a Mobile Medical Unit to the Indian Institute of Science to help scale up COVID-19 testing in the state. TKM has also provided 45 thermal scanners, 45,000 hand sanitizers, 100 beddings, consumables for 100 patients, 20 sets of equipment such as intravenous stands, blood pressure monitors and safety gear including 12,000 examination gloves, 70,000 three-ply face masks and 7,500 N95 masks to the Health Department, Government of Karnataka and Bangalore police personnel. The company handed over 10 fumigation equipment to Victoria Hospital through Bangalore Medical College and Research Institute and another 10 to the Town Municipal Corporation of Bidadi, Ramanagara District as per their requirements.

Phoenix Marketcity Introduces Curbside Service & Phoenix @Doorsteps for Seamless Shopping Experience

Embracing the ‘new normal’, Bengaluru’s favourite shopping and lifestyle destination, Phoenix Marketcity has introduced Curbside service for its customers who may want to shop at the mall at the comfort of their homes. Curbside service ensures comfort and convenience to consumers by offering a seamless retail experience designed with safety in mind. The mall has set up a Curbside pickup desk keeping in mind minimal interaction and trouble-free experience to get the shopping orders picked. Another modest initiative is Phoenix @ Doorsteps which is basically a home delivery service where customers will get their shopped bags delivered at their doorsteps.  

Phoenix Marketcity is now offering these concierge services for its patrons where they can place their shopping orders through the Whatsapp application platform, which will direct customers to select merchandise and products from their catalogues or through assisted virtual shopping. Customers can shop from the favourite brands and make payments online while easily enquiring about, timings and delivery with a chatbot to respond to frequently asked questions and connect with individual stores for brand related queries at the same time. The orders would be ready for contactless a Curbside pickup at an allotted time. 

Speaking on the launch of Curbside service, Mr. Gajendra Singh Rathore said “Curbside service is being introduced to keep the interest of customers alive with a hassle-free experience and smart shopping. The initiative has been introduced with an understanding towards the needs of the consumer and the changing scenario. We intend to offer seamless access to products and a process with minimal human interaction ensuring safety”. 

Other than this, the mall is taking utmost care of the safety of all with mandatory temperature checks at entry points, sanitisation, social distancing and limiting the number of people on the escalator to four at a time.  

Curbside Service: Steps to Follow  

SHOP ON THE GO – CURBSIDE PICK-UP 

Step 1- Send a Hi message on our WhatsApp number +916366940002. You will be assigned a Personal Shopping Assistance  

Step2: Select Merchandise/products from the Catalogue we share with you, or through assisted virtual shopping. 

Step 3: confirm your order and pay online securely 

Step 4: Choose a time slot to collect your safely packaged items from Curbside Pick-up 

Step 5: Drive to the curbside Pick-up point at your designated time. Your shopping bags will be placed in your car or Opt for home delivery  

Samsung Offers 15% Cashback, Easy EMI Options and Exciting Deals this Ganesh Chaturthi

Festival Offers

* Get Galaxy S20+ worth INR 77,999 with QLED 8K TVs and Note 10 Lite worth INR 37,999 free with SpaceMax Family Hub Refrigerator 

Celebrating the auspicious festival of Ganesh Chaturthi, Samsung India, country’s most trusted consumer electronics brand, today announced exclusive offers for its televisions, refrigerators, smart ovens, washing machines and air conditioners.

These exciting offers, coupled with bundled deals, attractive finance schemes with up to 15% cash back, and easy EMIs of as low as INR 990 will be valid till August 31, 2020.

The unique offers provide assured benefits to consumers purchasing Samsung consumer durable products such as Samsung QLED TVs, 4K UHD TVs, Smart TVs, SpaceMax Family Hub™ Refrigerator, Side-by-Side and Frost Free Refrigerators, FlexWash Washing Machines, AddWash Washing Machines, Fully Automatic Front Load and Top Load Washing Machines, Smart Ovens and WindFree Air Conditioners, among others. Expanding its wide consumer electronics portfolio, Samsung recently launched Soundbars with the unique Q-Symphony feature in select models, to give an immersive sound with the TV.

During the offer period, consumers purchasing Samsung QLED 8K TVs will get a Galaxy S20+ worth INR 77,999. Additionally, consumers will get a 10-year no screen burn-in warranty on panel on select QLED TVs.

Consumers buying Samsung Smart TVs will get a cashback of up to INR 15000 and easy EMIs as low as INR 990 along with the convenience of one EMI off on 43-inch and above models. Delivering on the entertainment front, Samsung TVs come with one month free Zee5 subscription and 30% discount on Zee5 premium packs.

In the refrigerator category, consumers buying Samsung SpaceMax Family Hub™ Refrigerator will get a Galaxy Note10 Lite worth INR 37,999. Additionally, on purchase of Samsung refrigerators and washing machines, consumers can avail up to 15% cashback and easy EMI options as low as INR 990, along with one EMI off on refrigerators above 300L capacity.

While refrigerators will come with 10-year Warranty on the Digital Inverter Compressor, washing machines will come with 12-year Warranty on the motor and 30year Warranty on the complete machine. These offers are applicable on Family Hub, Side-by-Side and Frost-Free refrigerators, and on FlexWash and AddWash Washing Machines as well as Fully Automatic Front Load and Top Load Washing Machines.

Consumers purchasing Samsung Air Conditioners can avail easy EMIs of as low as INR 990. On purchase of Samsung’s Wind-Free™ Air Conditioner that comes with 23,000 micro-holes to gently spread air evenly throughout the room, maintaining a comfortable level of coolness without any draft, consumers will get up to 15% cash back Additionally, benefits such as 5-year condenser and PCB controller warranty, 10-year Warranty on the Digital Inverter Compressor on select air conditioner models along with free installation and free gas recharge will also be offered.

On purchase of select models of convection Smart Ovens, above 28L, consumers will get a free Borosil kit, a 10-year warranty on the ceramic enamel cavity along with 5-year warranty on the magnetron.

Adding to the occasion, Samsung with its My Samsung My EMI offer provides consumers with an option to choose EMIs and down payment as per their budget on select televisions, refrigerators, microwave and washing machines. Consumers can further avail options such as EMIs of up to 36 months and one free EMI on select TV and refrigerator models.

Festive season is the time when consumers upgrade to newer and smarter technologies to reimagine their homes. Being a consumer centric brand, our focus is to deliver unparalleled technology for our consumers. Samsung is committed to deliver the best products and our latest offers come with guaranteed benefits on a wide range of products across price points. With consumers seeking value proposition, we are confident these unique offers will meet their expectations and enrich their lives with meaningful innovation,” said, Raju Pullan, Senior Vice President, Consumer Electronics Business, Samsung India.

Samsung’s Diverse Product Line-up

Samsung QLED Televisions:

Samsung QLED TV breaks new ground for premium TVs and home entertainment, delivering beautiful design that is supported with the most advanced picture quality. Powered by HDR10+ technology that optimizes the TV’s brightness levels and delivers brighter and deeper colors, to deliver the visual experience intended by creators. The technology also features Direct Full Array Elite for enhanced contrast and precise picture quality.

The QLED TV features an Ambient Mode which turns the TV into a piece of art, building on the Ambient Mode’s ability to blend in with the home interior, the TV can be hung on the wall with a No Gap Wall-Mount, intelligently embedded in the back of the TV so that it blends in seamlessly. It also allows the users to take voice control one step further with the new Bixby feature on One Remote Control allowing connections to all connected devices without additional connectors or complicated setups.

4K UHD Televisions

Samsung’s 4K UHD TVs offers distinctive features through integration, consumption and interaction of TV in the everyday lives of its consumers. Driven by PurColor technology, Samsung UHD TVs are aimed to deliver superior colours with unmatched sharpness and contrast levels. With a host of features such as Live Cast, Tune Station, Screen Mirroring, Lag Free Gaming, Real 4K resolution and 60+ Titles. These TVs empower consumers to enjoy enhanced picture quality and superior content consumption capabilities.

Samsung Spacemax Family Hub™:

The Family Hub™ works with the SmartThings ecosystem, allowing users to control and monitor their connected appliances – Flex Wash Washing Machine and Smartphone – from the Family Hub™ screen. The built-in View Inside camera allows users to digitally label their food with expiration dates or use a mobile device to peek inside their fridge from anywhere. So now, consumers can see what is inside their fridge from the grocery store and/or leave a note on screen to remind the kids to clean their rooms after school. Users can do countless other things without ever leaving the kitchen.

Consumers can manage food, with the View Inside app that enables users to see inside the fridge from anywhere. The recipes app offers multiple recipes to choose from around the world and prepare the food that the family loves.

Samsung Side-by-Side and Frost Free Refrigerators:

The Spacemax Side-by-Side Refrigerators and Frost Free Refrigerators cater to the diverse storage needs of Indian consumers. Samsung refrigerators are a blend of freshness, energy efficiency, even cooling and durability. They are the perfect solution to provide savings on electricity bills, retain uninterrupted cooling and freshness even during power cuts.

WIND-FREE 2.0 SERIES:

Samsung’s Wind-Free™ 2.0 system uses 23,000 micro-holes to gently spread air evenly throughout the room, maintaining a comfortable level of coolness without any draft. Once the desired temperature is reached, the system disperses fresh air uniformly. The design has been upgraded to rectangular from the previous triangle design and with this change the micro-holes have been increased to 23,000 from 21,000 in the previous version.

The Wind-Free 2.0 enables users to control their ACs using the Smart Home App through Wi-Fi. The ACs allow the user to remotely control the functions and schedule operations along with live feedback. Users can also monitor and limit power usage as per their needs. The latest Wind-Free ACs are equipped with Motion Detect sensors (MDS) and automatically go into an energy saving mode if it does not detect any human presence for 60 minutes. Another option which users get through this feature is to choose the wind direction.

Samsung Digital Inverter Air Conditioners:

Samsung Air Conditioners have been designed carefully keeping in mind the consumers’ needs and expectations, which are faster cooling, less electricity consumption and uncompromised cooling even in hot summers. Convertible Mode, introduced this year, is Samsung’s another technology, which when activated allows consumers to save more energy when they are sitting alone in a room.

Samsung Microwave Ovens:

Samsung has revolutionized Indian cooking with innovations in microwave ovens that have been made specifically for India. Consumers can now prepare Masala, Tadka and Sun-dry food, in addition to making Roti/Naan and Curd in the new Microwave range.

Samsung Digital Inverter Motor Washing Machines:

Samsung Washing Machines, powered by digital inverter motors, consume less energy while producing minimal noise and vibration, when the washing machine is running. Having less friction makes the washing machine run much quieter and smoothly, which makes it perfect for open plan living and keeping that budget in check.

Mswipe Launches “Bank Box” to Revolutionize the Digital Payment Landscape for SMEs

 * New affordable offerings comprising of zero rental and zero MDR solutions

* Small businesses can collect and pay digitally even without a bank account

* Enters issuance business with Mswipe Moneyback Card to help merchants earn as they spend

* One-time digital KYC for hassle free and instant signup

Mswipe announced today the launch of Bank Box, a digital acceptance and payment solution designed to meet the cost-centric needs of MSMEs and merchants, as well as provide for a seamlessly integrated experience. Through this launch, Mswipe aims to pave the way for a futuristic payment solution platform and address key challenges that merchants and MSMEs face, with recurring costs on POS terminals like PoS rentals and Merchant Discount Rate (MDR).

Mswipe, India’s largest merchant acquirer with a network of 6.75 lakh POS and 1.1 million QR merchants, set out with the vision to build a cutting edge product – one that combines their acquiring and issuing platforms into a one-stop-shop, “Bank Box”, which enables easy signup, instant activation of the terminal and lifetime zero rental and zero effective MDR for merchants.

Manish Patel, Founder and CEO, Mswipe said, “COVID-19 has significantly impacted the earnings of small businesses, which in turn has led to curbed expenditures from their end. As a market innovator, Mswipe is helping MSMEs and merchants control costs incurred while accepting digital payments and further incentivize them to make digital payments. Essentially, Mswipe’s Bank Box facilitates small, medium and micro businesses to break into the digital ecosystem at the lowest possible TCO and sign up - even if they do not have a bank account.”

With a one-time digital KYC, businesses can choose between Bank Box Go - a POS solution with zero rental and zero MDR or Bank Box Lite - a QR solution with 0 rental and 1% cashback on all transactions and instantly go live. In both offerings a merchant gets a UPI QR and a Moneyback Card. Bank Box Go additionally provides an affordable mPOS capable of accepting chip + pin and contactless card payments. For Bank Box Go merchants have to pay a one-time fee of Rs. 4,000 plus taxes while for Bank Box Lite, they pay only Rs.199 plus taxes.

Sameer Hoda, President, Strategy and Operations, Mswipe said, “With Bank Box we have democratized the digital acceptance and payments ecosystem for the smallest of businesses by giving them a choice. With Mswipe now both an acquirer and issuer, we have provided an end-to-end digital enablement of MSMEs and merchants and empowered them to join the Digital Bharat movement.”

While mPOS allows acceptance of multiple modes of payments including UPI, Visa, Mastercard and American Express, mQR accepts payments from more than 150 UPI and mobile banking apps like PayTM, Axis Bank and BHIM among others. To spend digitally, merchants can load their Mcard with up to Rs. 1,00,000 per month.

Mswipe is targeting merchants with an average daily digital collection of Rs. 2,000 - Rs.2,500 in tier 3-4 markets and Rs. 8,000 - Rs. 10,000 in Metro and semi-urban areas.

About Mswipe:

Mswipe aims to be India’s largest financial services platform for SMEs and merchants by providing seamless mobile POS and value-added Services. It is the largest independent mobile POS merchant acquirer and network provider with 6.75 lakh POS and 1 million QR merchants across the country. Mswipe offers a host of POS solutions for all types of payment acceptance - cards, wallets, mobile payment apps and bank apps, contactless and QR payments. Headquartered in Mumbai, Mswipe began operations in 2011. Its key investors include B Capital, UC-RNT, Falcon Edge Capital, Matrix Partners India, DSG Partners and Epiq Capital. 

Stride Ventures Invests Rs 15 Crores in ZipLoan; Marks First Foray into Fintech Lending

Stride Ventures, one of India’s leading venture debt funds, has led a debt round of INR 15 crores in ZipLoan, a technology-enabled lending platform that provides loans to MSMEs. Through their customized offerings and deep relationships across banks and corporates, Stride aims to be a strategic partner in Ziploan’s journey.

This is Stride’s first foray into Fintech lending and the amount will be disbursed across two tranches. The investment underlines the firm’s commitment to leverage traditional banking capital to cater to the startup ecosystem.

ZipLoan caters to the need of working capital loans for kirana stores and micro industries. Its proprietary ZipScore platform, that tests creditworthiness of a borrower, has so far helped it maintain its non-performing assets (NPA) at under 3%. 

Ishpreet Gandhi, Founder and Managing Partner, Stride Ventures, said “We are excited to partner with ZipLoan in their pursuit to revolutionize lending to small business owners. It is our endeavour at Stride to make credit accessible and efficient as we try to prevent equity dilution and make entrepreneurs truly ‘Atmanirbhar’. The company has exhibited tremendous growth without compromising the quality of the loan book. We are confident that the company will continue to scale even in these challenging times.”

Kshitij Puri, Co-founder & CEO, ZipLoan, added, “We are privileged to partner with Stride Ventures as they help us realise our mission of addressing funding needs of small business owners. The MSME segment is the most important contributor to our economy, but still continues to be credit starved. Even during the current crisis, the MSME segment has shown great resilience demonstrated by strong collections we have had.” 

Stride Ventures launched its maiden fund in 2019 with a target corpus of INR 500 crores and plans to invest in 35-40 startups over the next 3 years.

About Stride Ventures 

Stride Ventures is focused on providing debt solutions to growth stage start-ups. Stride provides tailor-made debt solutions to start-ups, enabling them to strategically allocate capital. Bringing more than six decades of collective underwriting experience, the fund helps its portfolio companies leverage the banking ecosystem through their domain expertise and extensive network.

About ZipLoan

Ziploan is a tech-driven digital lender focused on small ticket business loans. Till date, Ziploan has disbursed approx. INR 400 Cr across 10,000 borrowers. Ziploan is present in Delhi NCR, Mumbai, Indore, Jaipur, Lucknow and Dehradun. Ziploan is addressing the key pain point of small businesses i.e. access to formal credit by customizing the loan sourcing and underwriting process for its target customer base.

VN Finance Announces Small Ticket Loans – ‘Shramik Loan’ and ‘Rozgar Loan’ for Migrant Workers and Financially Excluded

Small Loans 

* 24X7 service; Within 1-day loan disbursal; minimal no of documents

* Funds even for those who cannot provide security or existing assets

In sync with the Prime Minister and RBI Governor’s clarion call to provide credit/ loans to the financially excluded and the unbanked, VN Finance, a tech-enabled NBFC, has announced small ticket loan offerings – ‘Shramik Loan’ and ‘Rozgar Loan’ for migrant workers and financially excluded small business men and women on the eve of Independence Day 2020. In the aftermath of Covid-19 and the problems faced by lakhs of people, VN Finance's approach is to deploy 24X7 service and disburse loans within a day with the least number of documents and hassle-free interaction using technology.

The ticket size of the loan starts from Rs. 25,000 onwards. Those people, who need unsecured loans and have no security or no existing assets, can directly (or through intermediaries) approach VN Finance and share their creditworthiness and repayment capacity. They will get the funds at the best of terms to achieve their dreams.

VN Finance also offers Secured Loans such as Loan Against Property, Loans against Gold Jewellery and Loans against Inventories. Every business needs ongoing working capital and this requirement keeps increasing with the growth of business. VN Finance's professional team fully understands business needs and provides funding against the goods and inventories already lying in the shops/godown. The small business owner just needs to furnish the inventory list, its value and their needs.

Mohit Kakkad, Director & Founder, VN Finance, said, “We stand committed to our vision of changing the society by helping people to follow the dreams by easy and quick financing. We are focusing on the segments who cannot afford to wait and cannot meet or understand the complex and time-consuming processes of conventional lenders. We work tirelessly to develop delivery mechanisms with technology to make our disbursal process easy, efficient and widespread. We plan to expand aggressively in Mumbai MMR region, Maharashtra State and gradually across India.”

VN Finance is also developing a network of banking intermediaries, Self-Help Groups (SHGs), NGOs and correspondents who can help facilitate credit to migrant workers, unbanked and financially deprived business men and women. Since the target segment is not necessarily highly literate and educated in technology, VN Finance is using technology to help them and the financial intermediaries in the easiest of ways.

Mohit Kakkad firmly believes that if India has to achieve financial inclusion in the true sense, NBFCs such as VN Finance have to play a significant role in enhancing financial literacy, seeking minimal collateral, shorter processing time and building distribution network while grappling with lack of credit history, absence of formal identity, cyclical income and paper work.

The Union Government and regulators have taken various initiatives such as Basic savings bank deposit account (BSBDA), Lead banking scheme (LBS), Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY) and set up payments’ infrastructure like BHIM, UPI, DBT to jumpstart the process of financial inclusion. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in its National Strategy for Financial Inclusion 2019-24, announced that public credit registry has to be made fully operational by March 2022 so that authorised financial entities can leverage the same for assessing credit proposals. NBFCs can also access and analyze data from Google Pay, Walmart-owned PhonePe and Whatsapp Pay (to launch soon).

About VN Finance

VN Finance Pvt. Ltd. (VNF) is an innovative financial company Incorporated in March 2019 as a Non-Deposit taking NBFC (ND). The company is founded by 31-year old Mohit Kakkad with a vision to use technology to provide finance to hitherto unbanked section of society. The company is mainly engaged is providing the small and medium size ticket loans on secured and unsecured basis. Unsecured loans are being provided based on creditworthiness and repayment capacity of the borrowers. The senior management of the company consists of senior leaders from banking industry and mentored by some of the highly qualified professionals. VN Finance has put in place an interest rate policy, adopted by the Board, taking into account relevant factors such as, cost of funds, margin and risk premium, etc and determine the rate of interest to be charged for loans. It has a robust KYV Policy, Fair Practices Code and Corporate Governance Policy.

Paytm Launches India's “First Pocket Android POS Device” for Contactless Ordering & Payments

 

* Styled like a mobile phone this sleek device has been launched at an introductory monthly rental of Rs 499 

* It comes bundled with Contactless Ordering software for SMEs, restaurants and takeaway joints 

* Enabled with integrated billing software, camera for QR scanning, works with 4G sim cards, Wi-Fi & Bluetooth connectivity 

* Company to invest Rs 100 crore on distribution & marketing of these devices in FY21 

On a mission to equip SMEs with technology-led solutions, India's homegrown financial services platform Paytm has launched the country's “first pocket Android POS device” for contactless ordering & payments. The company has introduced 'Paytm All-in-One Portable Android Smart POS' at an introductory price of Rs 499 per month rental. Styled like a mobile phone for accepting orders and payments on the go, this is the first such Android-based device to be introduced in India and is much more powerful than the portable Linux based POS devices presently available in the country.

It also comes bundled with Paytm's 'Scan to Order' service that is fast getting adopted by thousands of restaurants and takeaway joints the country. Paytm is offering this high-end POS device effectively at the lowest price in the market, in an effort to empower a large number of SMEs to kickstart their businesses with contactless ordering and payment solutions. This device enables delivery personnel logistic players, Kirana stores, and small shopkeepers to accept digital payments on the go.

The robust, featherweight & ergonomic device weighs only 163 grams, 12mm thick, and has a 4.5-inch touch screen. It comes bundled with a powerful processor, all-day battery life, and an inbuilt camera to scan QR codes and instantly process payment. This fully-loaded device has many industry-first features & services including cloud-based software for billing, payments, and customer management. It works with 4G sim cards, Wi-Fi and has Bluetooth connectivity to ensure payments never fail and stays round the clock connected with all of Paytm's bouquet of services. The company aims to issue over 2 lakh devices within the next few months which will generate over 20 million transactions per month.

This smart POS device is integrated with the ‘Paytm for Business’ app to generate GST compliant bills and also to manage all transactions & settlements. Besides this, Paytm for Business app also helps merchants to avail of numerous business services and financial solutions such as loans, insurance, and Business Khata to manage digital ledger of all their transactions including udhaar, cash, and card sales. It also has a merchandise store on the app offering Paytm All-in-One QR integrated utility items such as soundbox, calculator, power bank, clock, pen stands, and radio. The Paytm for Business App has witnessed over 20 million downloads and is one of the most popular merchant apps on Google Play Store and App Store. 

Renu Satti, Sr. Vice President at Paytm said, "We innovate products & services that are aligned with our mission of enabling SMEs with technology-led solutions. We are confident that this affordable pocket-sized Paytm Android POS device will enable everyone from SMEs to delivery personnel of Kirana Stores to collect payments safely. It is our endeavour to help merchants & traders to easily digitize their business operations, without any investment in technology or backend infrastructure. Our Paytm for Business app, Khata, and payout services are providing the much-needed digitization support to businesses to improve their efficiency & supporting them to join the Digital India mission."

Launched this year, Paytm Payout is fast becoming a must-have tool for businesses to make regular payments to their employees, vendors, and business partners. During the ongoing pandemic, more businesses have used the service to process payments of over Rs. 1500 crores either to the Paytm wallet, food wallet, gift voucher, or bank account of millions of beneficiaries. 

Mswipe launches “Bank Box” to Revolutionize Digital Payment Landscape for SMEs

 * New affordable offerings comprising of zero rental and zero MDR solutions

* Small businesses can collect and pay digitally even without a bank account

* Enters issuance business with Mswipe Moneyback Card to help merchants earn as they spend

* One-time digital KYC for hassle free and instant signup

Mswipe announced today the launch of Bank Box, a digital acceptance and payment solution designed to meet the cost-centric needs of MSMEs and merchants, as well as provide for a seamlessly integrated experience. Through this launch, Mswipe aims to pave the way for a futuristic payment solution platform and address key challenges that merchants and MSMEs face, with recurring costs on POS terminals like PoS rentals and Merchant Discount Rate (MDR).

Mswipe, India’s largest merchant acquirer with a network of 6.75 lakh POS and 1.1 million QR merchants, set out with the vision to build a cutting edge product – one that combines their acquiring and issuing platforms into a one-stop-shop, “Bank Box”, which enables easy signup, instant activation of the terminal and lifetime zero rental and zero effective MDR for merchants.

Manish Patel, Founder and CEO, Mswipe said, “COVID-19 has significantly impacted the earnings of small businesses, which in turn has led to curbed expenditures from their end. As a market innovator, Mswipe is helping MSMEs and merchants control costs incurred while accepting digital payments and further incentivize them to make digital payments. Essentially, Mswipe’s Bank Box facilitates small, medium and micro businesses to break into the digital ecosystem at the lowest possible TCO and sign up - even if they do not have a bank account.”

With a one-time digital KYC, businesses can choose between Bank Box Go - a POS solution with zero rental and zero MDR or Bank Box Lite - a QR solution with 0 rental and 1% cashback on all transactions and instantly go live. In both offerings a merchant gets a UPI QR and a Moneyback Card. Bank Box Go additionally provides an affordable mPOS capable of accepting chip + pin and contactless card payments. For Bank Box Go merchants have to pay a one-time fee of Rs. 4,000 plus taxes while for Bank Box Lite, they pay only Rs.199 plus taxes.

Sameer Hoda, President, Strategy and Operations, Mswipe said, “With Bank Box we have democratized the digital acceptance and payments ecosystem for the smallest of businesses by giving them a choice. With Mswipe now both an acquirer and issuer, we have provided an end-to-end digital enablement of MSMEs and merchants and empowered them to join the Digital Bharat movement.”

While mPOS allows acceptance of multiple modes of payments including UPI, Visa, Mastercard and American Express, mQR accepts payments from more than 150 UPI and mobile banking apps like PayTM, Axis Bank and BHIM among others. To spend digitally, merchants can load their Mcard with up to Rs. 1,00,000 per month.

Mswipe is targeting merchants with an average daily digital collection of Rs. 2,000 - Rs.2,500 in tier 3-4 markets and Rs. 8,000 - Rs. 10,000 in Metro and semi-urban areas.

About Mswipe:

Mswipe aims to be India’s largest financial services platform for SMEs and merchants by providing seamless mobile POS and value-added Services. It is the largest independent mobile POS merchant acquirer and network provider with 6.75 lakh POS and 1 million QR merchants across the country. Mswipe offers a host of POS solutions for all types of payment acceptance - cards, wallets, mobile payment apps and bank apps, contactless and QR payments. Headquartered in Mumbai, Mswipe began operations in 2011. Its key investors include B Capital, UC-RNT, Falcon Edge Capital, Matrix Partners India, DSG Partners and Epiq Capital. For more information, visit https://www.mswipe.com

Experience Driving Pleasure of the New Tata Nexon EV with Just a Monthly Subscription

 Key Highlights:

* Tata Nexon EV available at an all-inclusive fixed rental starting at only Rs. 41,900/- per month

* Select the tenure of your choice from 18, 24 or 36 months

* Available in 5 key cities during the inaugural launch – Delhi/NCR, Mumbai, Pune, Hyderabad and Bengaluru

* Comprehensive insurance cover, instant roadside assistance and a hassle free end-to-end maintenance- all included

* End-to-end digital engagement to eliminate any common and shared touch points

Tata Motors, India’s leading automobile manufacturer, today announced the launch of a first of its kind subscription model for electric vehicles (EV). Designed to make EVs more accessible to a rapidly growing base of future conscious citizens, Tata Motors is making available its flagship EV, the Tata Nexon at an all-inclusive fixed rental starting at just Rs. 41,900/- per month. Discerning customers can select the tenure of their subscription from a minimum period of 18 months to 24 and 36 months. Through a collaboration with Orix Auto Infrastructure Services Limited, amongst India's top leasing companies, this service is being offered in 5 major cities - Delhi/NCR, Mumbai, Pune, Hyderabad and Bengaluru, during the inaugural phase of the launch.

With no hassle of vehicle registration and road tax, the entire process of subscribing to the Tata Nexon EV has been made seamless via end-to-end digital engagement. Additional benefits include comprehensive insurance coverage, on call roadside assistance plus free maintenance with periodic servicing and doorstep delivery. Additionally, customers can have their own EV charger installed at their home or office, as convenient.

Announcing the launch of this unique EV subscription programme, Shailesh Chandra, President, Passenger Vehicles Business Unit, Tata Motors said, “EVs are the future, and as the leader of this fast growing segment, Tata Motors is committed to popularise their access and use in India. With this novel subscription model, we are making it more convenient for interested users of EVs to experience their myriad benefits. It is ideal for customers preferring ‘usership’ over ownership in the rapidly growing era of shared economy.”

The subscription model is customised and perfectly suited for corporates who prefer to lease, individuals with frequent inter-city job transfers, and expatriates who stay for a fixed tenure, among others. Further, the partnering with Orix Auto provides a comprehensive value proposition, inviting customers to easily experience the magic of EV. Post the tenure of their subscription, customers can either choose to extend it or just return the vehicle.

To know more about the Tata Motors EV Subscription Program, please visit https://evsubscription.tatamotors.com

Zebra Survey: The Future of Retail Depends on Seamless Experiences

Zebra Technologies Corporation, (NASDAQ: ZBRA), an innovator at the front line of business with solutions and partners that deliver a performance edge, today revealed the results of its 12th Annual APAC Shopper Study, which analyzed retailers’ technology plans for solving chronic shopping issues. Results show that retailers are looking to harness technologies like intelligent automation, cloud computing and mobility to drive economic growth. To strengthen retailers position in these unprecedented times, the launch of the 12th Annual APAC Shopper Study is aligned with the unveiling of array of products by Zebra Technologies.

As businesses reopen and rebuild from the COVID-19 pandemic, the resiliency of retailers and supply chains are being tested more now than ever before. One monumental shift relates to the concept of “Economy at Home,” which addresses the way consumers have completely changed their shopping habits. The frequency and volume of online spending on food has increased across the region, with consumers expressing a preference for self-checkout rather than assistance from cashiers for safe distancing.

To meet rising customer expectations, retailers need to rethink the safety of the customer journey, whether it is in store or via delivery. Click-and-collect, or buy online, pick-up in store (BOPIS), are becoming preferred methods of shopping, with 55% of consumers requesting more retailers to offer mobile ordering options. This is forcing businesses to rethink their fulfillment strategies given that only 36% of respondents agreed that their stores are equipped to fulfill web orders.  The study expects this trend to continue, while retailers implement additional solutions that minimize in-store contact and improve customer convenience at the same time.

“COVID-19 has significantly altered the retail sector, forcing both essential and non-essential retailers to assess their omnichannel fulfillment capabilities and quickly adapt their operating models in a matter of days – some implementing changes within hours,”  said Deep Agarwal, Regional Sales Director of India, Zebra Technologies. “We’re seeing how retailers are transforming ‘dark stores’ to serve as temporary distribution facilities inside their establishments. Retailers should prioritize the expansion of click-and-collect service offerings and invest in technologies that increase shopping capacity and speed. This reduces in-store traffic and aids in social distancing efforts, while providing retailers with inventory visibility across every corner of the shop floor.”

Putting a mobile device into the hands of a retail associate simplifies tasks like inventory management, yet an estimated 64% of retail associates are not equipped to maximize the benefits of technology. In response, retailers are moving away from dated green-screen technology to enterprise-class devices with intuitive, user-friendly interfaces with smartphone-like operating systems.

The pandemic has proven this true as click-and-collect orders have surged, creating the need for store associates to enable contactless transactions via curbside pickup with handheld mobile computers and tablets. When paired with a mobile printer, the likes of the TC52 touch computer and TC21 touch computer form Mobile Point of Sale (mPOS) solutions that can drive contactless fulfilment by alerting associates of new online orders, enabling them to pack merchandise, label products and print receipts prior to the customer’s arrival .

The adoption of mPOS solutions is expected to hit 98% by 2026, up from 76% today. The same trend is also observed for handheld mobile computers with scanners as retail associate device usage is expected to reach 96% by 2026, up from the current 75%.

Zebra Technologies has also launched Self-checkout solutions like the DS9900 Series Corded Hybrid Imager, DS9300 Barcode Scanner and the upgraded MP7000 Grocery Scanner Scale that are helping retailers to reshape the front-of-store experience. Growing up with technology and automation, 89% of surveyed shoppers agree that self-checkout improves their shopping experience. Additionally, self-checkout has become even more relevant during this pandemic as both shoppers and retailers strive to minimize in-store contact to ensure safety.

Returns are another pain point for shoppers and poses a significant challenge for retailers. Up to 51% of retail executives report that they have started or are planning to start upgrading their returns management technologies in the next five years. Meanwhile, 83% of retailers currently have or plan to implement automated inventory verification systems within the year to advance real-time inventory accuracy.

ASIA-PACIFIC HIGHLIGHTS

88% of retailers agree maintaining real-time inventory visibility is a significant challenge, and 85% say their companies need better inventory management tools to ensure accuracy.

Retailers also cite robot assistance (83%), smart check-out and real-time store IoT platforms (89%) as extremely important to their operations over the next five years.

81% of retailers plan to provide mobile ordering as a fulfilment option by 2021.

70% of retailers are integrating social media within their ecosystem for digital native shoppers to provide feedback.

SURVEY BACKGROUND AND METHODOLOGY

Zebra’s 12th Annual Shopper Study surveyed over 6,300 global respondents, including over 1,200 APAC region respondents (retail executives, store associates and shoppers) to gauge the attitudes, opinions and expectations that are reshaping brick and mortar and online retail. The results, summarized in a two-part series, are essential reading for industry leaders seeking actionable insights to serve today’s tech-savvy shoppers.

YES BANK Launches KuchNayaSocho Campaign Across India

As India unlocks in phases from the current COVID-19 situation, YES BANK has launched a campaign, ‘KuchNayaSocho.’ Through this campaign, the Bank endeavours to instill hope amongst people and give a positive message to the society that we can adapt to the new normal through collaboration and innovative thinking. Since the lockdown was announced, the Bank launched a range of innovative solutions to help its customers adapt to the new normal.

All through our lives, be it at school, college or workplace, we have been encouraged to think innovatively and this approach has become an indispensable part of how we think. Building on this, the Bank has launched a campaign to partner communities and support them by building a bridge to a new future - KuchNayaSocho, a campaign embracing change and innovation to support customers and partners, alike. The campaign is being amplified across YouTube and Facebook.

Commenting on the launch, Jasneet Bachal, Chief Marketing Officer, YES BANK said,” While the last few months transformed our lives beyond imagination, bringing in a whole new world of isolation and social distancing, it has also reminded us that we are all interconnected like never before - a part of one another. The ‘#KuchNayaSocho’ campaign mirrors the way this transformation has impacted us, and how innovative thinking will pave the way for us to embrace the ‘new normal’. Through this campaign, we have also showcased how YES BANK is supporting all our stakeholders in adapting to the COVID-19 induced normal through digital solutions. The campaign urges ‘innovative thinking’ in order to adapt to the evolving changes, in readiness for the new.”

Keeping in mind the financial health, well-being, and daily travel requirements of commuters, the Bank recently launched solutions such as Fixed Deposit + COVID-19 Insurance Cover, an Overdraft against Fixed Deposit to meet financial and liquidity needs, a tap and go card for making contactless payments during bus travel, and a UPI payment solution for excess baggage during flight check-in for travelers of a renowned airline.

eBay Announces its Association with the International Gemological Institution for its Seller Community

With an objective to drive precedence in one of the most significant categories in Indian exports, eBay in India announced its association with the International Gemological Institute (IGI).The largest organization of its kind, IGI is a highly trusted name in certifying the widest variety of gemstones and jewelry in the world.

The Gems and Jewelry Certification program (GJCP) introduced by eBay for Indian sellers primarily aims to support the country’s jewelry industry in the global market and establishing eBay as an ultimate destination for fine jewelry products.  The sellers can now get their products certified from IGI at the most competitive pricing available exclusively to the Indian domiciled eBay seller community.

Commenting on the launch, Mr. Vidmay Naini, India Country Manager at eBay said, “At eBay our aim is to provide our sellers avenues to win more customers across the world and to get global customers the best quality of products. Our association with IGI is a step in that direction. Transparency and authenticity are the topmost considerations while making a purchase for fine jewelry. In the current scenario, with most of the purchases happening on the e-commerce platforms, it is only fair to say that consumers expect authenticity in what they purchase. The certification of Diamond Jewelry and loose stones will foster that confidence in the buyers and sellers alike on eBay.”

He further added, “Loose Diamonds & Gemstones category has witnessed a healthy push in the previous quarter with the introduction of GJEPC certification program. Meeting the demand for higher priced gemstones along with building trust amongst the buyers globally through certification has been the strategic approach at eBay INCBT, and we will continue to build upon the same in 2020 and onwards.”

Mr. Tehmasp Printer, Managing Director at IGI said,” We at IGI, consider the association with eBay as the beginning of a revolutionary consumer experience. With IGI certification, customers can now purchase their jewelry online, validated as per internationally acclaimed grading standards and practices. We look forward to empowering buyers on eBay with our services.

eBay Sellers domiciled in India can avail Gems and Jewelry Certificate Program benefits in three simple steps:

1.      Sell the Gemstone and Fine Jewelry Items on eBay marketplace

2.      Apply and obtain IGI certification for such Fine Jewelry items

3.      Ship the certified Fine Jewelry items with the IGI certificate to buyers

For more details, check https://bit.ly/GemsAndJewelryCertification

The Indian jewelry industry holds prominence on the platform and has shown a steady growth in recent years, providing a shining example of achieving international competitiveness. With real-time insights into the global market demands, eBay- INCBT has enabled some of India’s top diamond jewelry manufacturers and exporters who offer latest designs best quality diamonds and free customization at aggressive price points to the world.

eBay is committed towards understanding the concerns of both the buyers and sellers alike. The IGI certification provides a global standard of excellence to the diamonds and loose stones exported from India and gives much needed impetus to this commitment.

About eBay:

eBay Inc. is a global commerce leader that connects millions of buyers and sellers across 190 countries around the world. eBay has over 1.4 Billion live listings. eBay marketplace boasts of $90.2 Billion GMV (FY2019), $10.7 Billion revenue (FY2019)

eBay in India is focused on driving cross border trade and providing Indian MSMEs and artisans a platform to expand their reach to global customers. The cross-border trade business has more than 1,00,000 sellers registered on the website with over 16.8 million product listings. eBay is working towards building a robust ecosystem for Indian sellers and facilitating with the requisite skills and knowledge to undertake retail exports and provide them with an opportunity to expand their reach out to millions of buyers across the globe.

BharatPe Launches ‘ESOP Cheque Cash Karo’ Scheme in India

BharatPe, India’s largest merchant payment and lending network company, has launched India’s first ‘ESOP Cheque Cash Karo’ scheme. All ESOP holders have been given option to sell back shares from their 1st vesting back to BharatPe.  

BharatPe has one of the most progressive ESOP schemes amongst the startups. BharatPe has 6% (US$ 25M+) of its overall equity allotted to the ESOP pool. All employees are given ESOP Grant along with appointment letter. ESOPs carry ZERO strike price. The vesting is front ended in favour of employees with 25% vesting on year 1 and thereafter 2% every month. The employees are not required to exercise the ESOPs on leaving and can time it with a liquidity event anytime up to 5 years. Now with the ‘ESOP Cheque Cash Karo’ scheme, employees will be able to enjoy liquidity upfront which will establish ESOP as valuable and liquid currency.    

Mr. Ashneer Grover, Co-Founder & CEO, BharatPe, said: “In Indian ecosystem, ESOPs have been one of the most abused and misunderstood instruments. Verbal grants, back ended vesting and last-minute changes to even documented ESOP grants have eroded employee faith in ESOPs.” 

”BharatPe is pioneering welcome change in ESOPs. BharatPe ESOP grant is like a cheque in the hands of employees. We are encouraging our employees to bank their first ESOP cheque and enjoy the value they’ve created as cash in bank. BharatPe ESOP is not a mere promise – it is an appreciating currency. 1US$ = Rs.70; 1 BharatPe ESOP = Rs.7,00,000” Ashneer added. 

Mr. Geetanshu Singla, Head of Engineering, BharatPe, said: “Really happy that the company has announced buyback of the ESOPs during the pandemic to support current and even ex-employees. It’s like a post-dated cheque. This is the first and last time I’m exercising my stock options and will hold on to them, they will be the most valuable asset that I hold"  

About BharatPe 

BharatPe was co-founded by Ashneer Grover and Shashvat Nakrani in 2018 with the vision to make financial inclusion a reality for Indian merchants. BharatPe launched India’s first UPI interoperable QR code, first ZERO MDR payment acceptance service, first UPI payment backed merchant cash advance product, and the only P2P NBFC investment product. In 2020, post Covid, BharatPe also launched India’s only ZERO MDR card acceptance terminals – BharatSwipe. Currently serving over 40 lakh merchants across 35 cities, the company has grown business 30x in 2019 and is the leader in UPI offline, processing 5 crore+ UPI transactions a month (annualized TPV of US$ 3 Bn). The company has already disbursed more than 35,000 loans (Rs. 175 crores). 

FAITH Revises Indian Tourism Value at Risk Guidance to ₹ 15 Lakh Cr

‘Now or Never’ Point 

* Worst period ever for tourism in 100 years. 

* Till a vaccine is found, concept of tourism will be in dire threat

* Tourism COVID Support Fund needed

* RBI must give a multi-year moratorium on principal & interest to tourism.  

* Stop the clock on all central & state Government for statutory payments

* 75% value or minimum 9 months of the almost 10% of India’s GDP from Tourism at risk from collapse 

* Generations of tourism businesses and crores of jobs getting impacted

Federation of Associations in Indian Tourism & Hospitality,the policy federation of all the national associations representing the complete tourism, travel and hospitality industry of India (ADTOI, ATOAI, FHRAI, HAI, IATO, ICPB, IHHA, ITTA, TAAI, TAFI) & cause partner AIRDA has further revised upwards it’s value at risk to Indian tourism to ₹ 15 lakh crores. 

FAITH’s first guidance which was calculated and was shared with the Government in March 2020 had put tourism’s economic value at risk at ₹ 5 lakh crores from this pandemic.  FAITH revised this further during the quarter as the situation deteriorated and the value at risk was put at ₹ 10 lakh crores. This has been revised again to touch a value at risk of upto ₹ 15 lakh crores in terms of the economic output of tourism in India 

Given the way the virus is progressing, tourism supply chains have  broken down in India across all its key inbound, domestic & outbound markets and is not expected to recover for the next  5 months too making the total impact to a minimum of 9 months starting from March this year. 

The direct and indirect economic impact of Tourism industry in India is approximately estimated at ~ 10% of India’s GDP.  This roughly puts the full year economic multiplier value of tourism in India at ~ ₹ 20 lakh crores. Minimum three quarters of tourism will be fully impacted 

This value covers the whole tourism value chain from airlines, travel agents, hotels, tour operators, tourism destinations restaurants, tourist transportation, tourist guides. Each of these segments of tourism is non - performing or under performing and will stay that way for many months of this year.

This is evident across all segments of tourism. Pending refunds for travel agents,  shut down or vacant  hotels & restaurants,  empty or locked down conventions and meeting or wedding halls, no order pipelines for tour operators, tourist transport lying locked in parking lots, laid off or leave without pay staff , managers, the summer domestic and outbound holiday season gone,  no visible bookings for the peak October - March season, meetings shifted to virtual apps , non - essential travel closed and so on. 

Be it leisure ( inbound, outbound, domestic) corporate travel, heritage, adventure, meetings incentives, exhibitions & events religious, spiritual and in upcoming high value niche tourism products such as sea & river cruises, camping, rafting, golf  film tourism, jungle tourism, agri tourism and many more across all states, this will the worst performing year for tourism in a century. 

Tourism has one of the largest economic multipliers and FAITH based upon its industry estimates believes that each rupee spent on tourism could have an economic multiplier of upwards of  3- 4 times more for India given its most globally unique natural and cultural heritage spread across the Indian hinterlands. The cumulative job losses for the full year both in organised & unorganised category of tourism could go as high as 4 crores. 

FAITH has been requesting over the past 5 months that for revival of any demand in tourism, it is first important that the survival of tourism businesses in India has to first remain intact. 

Tourism sector requires a very customised sector specific relief package and it cannot be delayed any further,  FAITH spokesperson said.

The following are immediately critical to maintaining the survival of tourism businesses 

* A Tourism fund which can be used by tourism enterprises in India for taking care of their employees. 

* A multi-year moratorium by RBI on principal and interest payments by tourism, travel & hospitalty businesses. 

* An immediate full year waiver of all central and state statutory liabilities be it PF , ESi, income taxes, GST , fixed power and utilities tariffs, property , excise , inter-state tourist transportation taxes and license fees, all without any accumulated or penal interest has to be done immediately. 

* Robust booking payments refund mechanism for travel agents & tour operators from airlines, railways, state tourism parks and other suppliers. 

Only this will keep the Indian tourism track and hospitality industry alive for a revival, it will keep the jobs intact and it will protect the exposure of the banking sector to tourism preventing their loans from becoming NPAs. 

Post the Unlock tourism is seeing some spur, but that too very limited, very  short -  haul  domestic travel and not enough to make any tourism business viable. 

FAITH has already raised requests over the past five months to the Prime Minister, the Finance Minister, to each of the 28 chief ministers , to the RBI, Niti Aayog, to tourism parliamentary panel, ministries of aviation, commerce, Finance and to more than 600 parliamentarians and is closely in coordination with ministry of tourism.  

It has also requested the Parliamentarians to raise the question as to ‘why not tourism’ for sector specific support when tourism industry contributes to pan India jobs across urban & rural, forex , robust IT & GST collections, capex driven GDP & so on. 

Tourism is a very unique business and is a discretionary activity.  Tourism is a means of unwinding, letting oneself immerse in local experiences. With each aspect of the travel journey now under the threat of virus from contact, this puts tourism at risk. Till the time there is a vaccine found, the very concept of tourism will be in question.  

This will be reflected in all data points of the Government whether in GST collections, banking data, PF, ESI or state level fixed charges. 

Tourism cannot be treated economically like any other business and needs NOW a Fiscal & Monetary structured package coordinated among all arms of Governments. 

The whole value chain of Indian tourism will be under threat - which catered to almost 10.8 million incoming foreign travellers , almost 1.8 billion Indian domestic tourism visits, almost 5 mn- + expats Indians visiting back,  almost 28 mn + outbound travelling Indians & almost $ 29 bn + forex earnings.

BR Shetty Siphoned-Off Millions from NMC Health to Daughter’s Tottering Businesses

Disclosure 

* Leaked confidential documents reveal that the NMC Health subsidiary transferred payments worth millions to daughter Reema Shetty’s failing business

* While these transfers were termed as ‘internal transfers’, accounts for the year ending December 2015, did not include the above-mentioned entities as subsidiaries

* Shetty was the chief executive and executive VC of NMC Health at the time of the proposed payments

 

In a shocking disclosure on UAE billionaire Dr. BR Shetty whose fortune suffered a blow after his two London-listed companies, hospital chain NMC Health and payments group Finablr, accounting for more than 70% of his net worth, were shrouded in controversies, it has been found that had been pumping millions in his daughter’s struggling business ventures.

Leaked confidential documents reveal that the NMC Health subsidiary transferred two payments of Dh 1m in 2015 to the company behind the 'Just Falafel' chain of restaurants that was established by Dr. Shetty’s daughter Reema and her husband Md. Bitar about a decade earlier.

The very next year, it signed off on five bank transfers totaling Dh 4 million in little more than two months, to another one of her ventures, the UAE based catering and food consultancy company, 'The Foodsters Inc'. This enterprise was set up in 2015 by Reema and her husband after the failure of the global expansion of ‘Just Falafel’.

While these transfers were termed as ‘internal transfers’, accounts for the year ending December 2015, did not include the above-mentioned entities as subsidiaries, nor do they appear among the hospitality interests of BRS Ventures, Shetty’s UAE-based holding company.

Says a forensic accountant, on conditions of anonymity, “The series of proposed payments, approved by NMC raise concerns of potential wrongdoing because they were labelled as internal transfers within the hospital group.”

This exposé amply hints at the fact that Shetty being the chief executive and executive vice chairman of NMC Health at the time of the proposed payments, made payments that were 'unusual' and that the transfers should not have been described as internal movements.

‘’If the group does not own these food companies, then it is not an internal transfer. In the corporate world, it must either be one of three things, for purchasing goods or services, lending money or repaying a debt,” adds the forensic accountant.

While Shetty has been constantly claiming that 'fraudulent transfers' were made that he had no knowledge of, before the company was forced into administration by its largest lender, Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank, these transfers authorised by NMC Health to a company run by a member of his family are raising a big question mark on who was this unidentified person authorizing money transfers from NMC’s account at Bank of Baroda in Abu Dhabi to ‘Just Falafel Holdings Limited’ as well as 'The Foodsters Inc'. The proposed payments are all detailed in transfer request documents sent by NMC Healthcare to the Abu Dhabi branch of the Bank of Baroda.

The former London-listed NMC holding company was forced into administration in April amid claims of fraud, mismanagement and the discovery of undisclosed loans of $4.1 billion (Dh 15bn). Administrators Alvarez & Marsal said last month they were scanning documents and preparing a series of interviews with directors to figure out what could be retrieved for creditors.

The NMC scandal came into the limelight in December last year, when short seller Muddy Waters raised concerns in a report about NMC’s debt, alleging that it was vastly understated. While NMC termed the report ‘false and misleading’, the company’s shares plummeted 64% in the days after the Muddy Waters report was published. In late March, the company admitted to having a debt of $6.6 billion, more than three times the $2.1 billion it reported in June last year.

FCC & NPCI to Host Global Virtual Fintech Festival on July 22-23, 2020

Fintech Festival

* One-of-a-kind global event convened by NPCI and IAMAI and presented by RBI and Department of Economic Affairs (DEA), to bring together Fintech & BFSI ecosystems

* Event supported by World Bank and the United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF)

* Premier global fintech event to be hosted on 22-23 July 2020

* To host 50+ countries, 100+ speakers and 10,000+ delegates

* Amitabh Kant, Nandan Nilekani, Uday Kotak, V Vaidyanathan, Sachin Bansal and Alderman William Russell among key speakers

* To facilitate discussions on the road ahead and collaborations for businesses in the post-pandemic world

To bring together fintech and BFSI ecosystems across the globe, the Fintech Convergence Council (FCC) the flagship fintech committee of Internet & Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) along with National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), and the Payments Council of India (PCI) will host the Global Fintech Fest (GFF) a first-of-its-kind international virtual fintech event.

The event is presented by the Department of Economic Affairs (DEA), Ministry of Finance, Government of India and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).

The two day event themed – ‘Fintech: With and Beyond COVID’ is scheduled for 22-23 July 2020. The event is also supported by the World Bank and the United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF).

In times of global uncertainty, India continues to be a bright spot in the world economy. GFF aims to showcase India’s thought leadership across the global ecosystem, while harnessing the BFSI and fintech sector to be the ‘change agent’ for the economy in the post-pandemic world.

Naveen Surya, Chairman, Fintech Convergence Council & Chairman Emeritus, Payments Council of India, said, “The bank and fintech ecosystem has the potential to act as ‘agents of change’ for the economy in the post-COVID-19 world. With more than 2000 fintech startups as we speak, India today stands tall as the world’s second biggest fintech hub which puts a lot of onus on us to drive this growth momentum. GFF is our endeavour to bring all stakeholders together to discuss the challenges and opportunities for the BFSI and fintech sector globally whilst sharing ideas on fuelling sectoral growth through collaboration.”

Dilip Asbe, Managing Director and CEO, NPCI said, “The contribution of fintech start-ups in digitalizing the economy is important and hence NPCI wants to act as a catalyst for bridging the gap between the established financial entities and the start-ups. By encouraging open discussion among start-ups and established entities we hope that it will lead to collaborations benefiting the nation.

GFF will be the largest virtual congregation for the BFSI and Fintech ecosystem. It will be the ‘go to platform’ for companies and entrepreneurs to showcase their innovations and ideas as well as connect with peers, investors and potential customers thus creating growth and networking opportunities for the eco-system.”

Amitabh Kant, CEO, Niti Aayog, Nandan Nilekani, Co-founder and Non-Executive Chairman of the Board, Infosys, Uday Kotak, Managing Director & CEO, Kotak Mahindra Bank, V Vaidyanathan, MD & CEO, IDFC First Bank and Alderman William Russell, The Rt Hon Lord Mayor, City of London are among the keynote speakers for the fest.

Justice BN Srikrishna, Retired Judge, Supreme Court of India, Sopnendu Mohanty, Chief Fintech Officer, Monetary Authority of Singapore, G Padmanabhan, Non-Executive Chairman, Bank of India, Sachin Bansal, Founder, Navi, Stephen Ingledew, Chief Executive, Fintech Scotland, Lizzie Chapman, Co-founder & CEO, Zestmoney, Denise Gee, Managing Director, Finexable, Dilip Asbe, Managing Director & CEO, NPCI, Praveena Rai, COO, NPCI, Arif Khan, CDO, NPCI, Rajan Anandan, Managing Director, Sequoia Capital, Kunal Shah, Founder & CEO, CRED, T R Ramachandran, Group Country Manager, India & South Asia Visa, Sameer Nigam Founder & CEO, Phonepe, Shivananda - SVP & CTO, Paypal, are some of the distinguished speakers among many others.

The global platform will host discussions by eminent industry stakeholders on -- the next stage of growth for financial institutions, ways for businesses to collaborate and the role fintech will play in the post pandemic world. The fest will drive thought leadership and conversations across sectors and subjects including -- Digital Payments, Digital Lending, Digital Insurance, Data Management, Financial Inclusion, Digital Transformation and Blockchain etc.

With 50+ countries, 100+ speakers and 10000+ delegates in attendance, GFF will bring together representatives of banking, financial technology and investment industries from across the globe to host impactful dialogues, public discussions and a curated exhibition of the latest disruptive technologies.

The fintech fest will stream live on social media platforms of YouTube and Facebook and is likely to be viewed by 100,000+ audience. For more information on GFF, including how to participate in or sponsor the event, please go to https://www.globalfintechfest.com

FCC has been at the forefront, working towards positioning India as a thought leader across the global fintech map. In the recent past, the body had joined hands with the Mumbai Fintech Hub, Government of Maharashtra, Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) and NPCI to host ‘India Fintech Festival (IFF)’. A first-of-its-kind global platform, IFF eyed for a collaborative growth ecosystem for fintech in India. The event which got stalled on account of the global pandemic is set to resume soon and the dates are expected to be out shortly.

About NPCI –

National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) was incorporated in 2008 as an umbrella organization for operating retail payments and settlement systems in India. NPCI has created a robust payment and settlement infrastructure in the country. It has changed the way payments are made in India through a bouquet of retail payment products such as RuPay card, Immediate Payment Service (IMPS), Unified Payments Interface (UPI), Bharat Interface for Money (BHIM), BHIM Aadhaar, National Electronic Toll Collection (NETC Fastag) and Bharat BillPay. NPCI also launched UPI 2.0 to offer a more secure and comprehensive services to consumers and merchants.

NPCI is focused on bringing innovations in the retail payment systems through use of technology and is relentlessly working to transform India into a digital economy. It is facilitating secure payments solutions with nationwide accessibility at minimal cost in furtherance of India’s aspiration to be a fully digital society.

SunnyBee Unveils India’s First Self-Checkout Grocery Store in Chennai

SunnyBee Market, a chain of food stores in Chennai has introduced India’s first-of-its-kind self-checkout store in Besant Nagar, Chennai, considering the need for a safe shopping experience by limiting contact and to improve overall speed of checkouts.

WayCool Labs – the technology arm of WayCool Foods & Products, a leading agritech firm based in Chennai has developed this custom solution for SunnyBee.

An integrated hardware and software solution, the self-checkout counter occupies a minimal 4 sq.ft. floor space with a built-in high-speed scanner, touchscreen panel, and a billing printer. The counter eliminates the need to interact with the store staff altogether. Shoppers scan their purchases on their own and place the scanned products in the conveniently hanging bags or use their own bags. With a single click on the touch screen to pay, a QR code will pop up on the screen. Customers scan this QR code on their mobile using any one of the numerous UPI payment methods such as GPay, PhonePe, Paytm, etc.

This solution frees up the store billing staff to manage the store operations and improve customer service. The only place where there is an interaction with store staff is when staff will assist the customer for F&V produce to weigh, pack, and print/paste a barcode. The F&V bags with barcode can be scanned at the Selfie counter as well.

Sriram Sridharan, Business Head, SunnyBee Market said, “There has been a steady flow of shoppers as they look to stock up during these uncertain times. Though several retailers are open through the lock down with strict enforcement of safety measures, there is a sense of uncertainty among shoppers due to multiple interactions within the store. Hence, the self-checkout solution was designed, developed, and implemented in 15 days despite the lockdown. The initial response from customers is very positive and this is evident from their excitement to use the self-checkout counter every time they walk into the store.”

SunnyBee Market, founded in July 2015, is a one-stop premium food store that offers a wide assortment of more than 5,000 SKUs across multiple categories like regular & exotic F&V, Dairy, Staples, Indian and International foods. Operating 6 stores in Chennai, SunnyBee Market also conducts SunnyBee Santhai, a farmer and consumer connect platform where farmers sell their produce directly to consumers.

Enjoy a Six-months EMI Holiday on Your New Tata Car in India

Key Highlights:

* Enjoy up to 100% on-road funding with zero-down payment

* Service only monthly interest during the 6-month EMI Holiday period

* Loan tenure of up to 5-years

* Offer available on Tiago, Nexon & Altroz

Tata Motors, India’s leading auto brand, today announced the launch of a novel and attractive financing offer on its popular brands Tiago, Nexon and Altroz. Customers can now make zero down payment, avail a 6-month EMI holiday (only interest needs to be serviced monthly) and access up to 100% on-road funding for a loan tenure of 5-years. This offer is being made available through a partnership with Karur Vysya Bank (KVB), one of India’s oldest and most trusted banking institutions, to eligible salaried and self-employed persons.

In its endeavor to make safe personal mobility solutions more affordable and accessible to individuals and families, and help maintain norms of social distancing, Tata Motors is also offering affordable, step-up EMIs on long tenure loans of up to 8-years through its association with multiple financing partners. For just Rs 5,555/- as starting EMI, you can now drive home the 5-star GNCAP safety rated premium hatchback Altroz. Popular SUV Nexon and hatchback Tiago are also available for EMIs starting at only Rs. 7499 and Rs.4999/- respectively

Tata Motors manufacture cars that are proudly Indian with international quality, design and safety. To know more about the offers and car buying options, call your nearest dealership or visit cars.tatamotors.com. Customers can also enquire, request a test drive, make bookings and select their preferred financing option via the recently launched ‘Click to Drive’, an end-to-end online platform from the comfort and safety of their homes.

Test drives are being offered on demand at the customer’s preferred location. To maintain social distancing, only one person drives the vehicle with a dealer staff member sitting in the rear seat to avoid any physical contact.  Following every test drive, the vehicle is fully sanitised including replacing protective covers shielding the interiors of the vehicle that come in contact while driving.