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). 

Trend Micro Announces Cloud Solution to Strengthen Misconfiguration Protection for Microsoft Azure

Trend Micro Incorporated (TYO: 4704; TSE: 4704), a global leader in cloud security, today announced its Trend Micro Cloud One™ – Conformity offering is now available to Azure customers, helping global organizations tackle misconfigurations, compliance challenges and cyber-risks in the cloud.

The company also achieved the CIS Microsoft Azure Foundation Security Benchmark. This certifies the Conformity product has built-in rules to check for more than 100 best practices in the CIS framework. 

“The security of the cloud is a cloud providers’ responsibility, but security in the cloud falls to the customer, which is where we fit,” said Wendy Moore, vice president of product marketing for Trend Micro. “Our Cloud One platform integrates closely with Microsoft Azure allowing DevOps to easily deploy against any hybrid cloud environment during their migration to the cloud.”

In-house skills are often overloaded with the challenge of managing hybrid cloud complexities. The proliferation of shadow IT projects in the enterprise also means IT functions are often the last to know if cloud accounts have been created by business units without adequate care and attention paid to compliance, security and governance controls.

Conformity tackles these challenges by providing powerful visibility and control of Azure environments. Its continuous cloud security and compliance posture management capabilities alert customers to the risk status and provide easy-to-action remediation recommendations. These can help prevent common mistakes such as unauthorized database access and public access to Blob storage accounts. 

By implementing the Conformity API into a CI/CD pipeline and existing workflows, DevOps teams can identify potential risk in their cloud infrastructure before they are deployed to live environments for automated, proactive prevention of vulnerabilities. 

Trend Micro Cloud One – Conformity identifies around 230 million cloud misconfigurations for its global Azure and AWS customers every single day. 

Trend Micro’s experience securing multi-cloud environments is a key differentiator to many organizations. “Trend Micro is one of just a few vendors that provides the same full security and monitoring capabilities across both Microsoft Azure and AWS,” said Mario Mendoza, Team Lead, Cyber Security Architecture and Engagement at Blackbaud. “Blackbaud adheres to a DevOps approach internally, so any shift in security vendors requires buy-in from the DevOps teams. The fact that Trend Micro is able to protect Blackbaud’s hybrid cloud environment without slowing down its DevOps teams was critical in our decision for Trend Micro.” 

Trend Micro helps Blackbaud maintain constant vigilance for security and monitoring across its cloud operations. Trend Micro is always on the cutting edge of new threats, and they include us in those efforts. As a market leader, that’s what we look for in partners,” said Mendoza. 

Emirates SkyCargo Keeps the World Connected with Over 10,000 Flights in 3 Months

Between April and June 2020, Emirates SkyCargo has facilitated the movement of essential commodities and other supplies for individual consumers and businesses across the world by operating more than 10,000 cargo flights to destinations across six continents. The flights were a mix of scheduled, ad-hoc and charter operations.

Nabil Sultan, Emirates Divisional Senior Vice President, Cargo said: “As a customer focused organisation, Emirates SkyCargo has innovatively adapted our cargo operations and offerings over the last few months in line with rapidly evolving market demand. In keeping with our core value as a global facilitator of trade and economies, we have re-grown our network to over 100 destinations with robust flight frequencies to key production and consumer markets. We continue to be able to offer our customers an unmatched reach and connectivity for their valuable cargo and our flight milestones are a validation of our customers’ trust in our service.”

During the months of May and June, Emirates SkyCargo operated on an average more than 3,800 flights per month, with the aircraft travelling to over 100 destinations and covering approximately 37 million kilometres, which is the equivalent distance of roughly 50 trips to the moon and back.

Starting from just over 35 destinations at the end of March 2020, Emirates SkyCargo has expanded its network to over 100 scheduled cargo destinations across the world for the month of July 2020. From transporting urgently needed medical supplies and food to materials required for manufacturing and other industries from origin to destination, Emirates SkyCargo is helping reconnect cities to international trade lanes as manufacturing and other economic activities recommence.

QuEST Global Rolls Out a New Equity Compensation Plan Globally

* The plan will be rolled out to eligible employees

* Aims at developing and retaining future leaders of the company

QuEST Global, a global product engineering and lifecycle services company, today announced a broad-based equity compensation plan for its employees globally. The plan, aimed at increasing employee ownership in the organization, comprises of Employee Stock Options (ESOPs) which have the potential to provide significant benefits to the participants. ESOPs will be rolled out to eligible employees - selected based on roles, performance, and growth potential - in the coming weeks.

The ESOP grants vest over a future period - typically 3-5 years and will provide employees with a financial interest in the future success of the business. Along with this, the ESOP will also enable the company to develop and retain its future leaders as equity plans help align the interests of the shareholders and the employees.

Calling it a significant business decision, Ajit Prabhu, Chairman & CEO, QuEST Global said, “The well-being of the company is in the hands of our loyal, long-term employees and clients who rely on them. Over the last two decades, our belief in the power of people has led us to build an organization that employs over 11,000 talented engineers across the globe. It is not just the founding families and private equity firms who are the owners of the company but also our employees, who double up during crises to rebuild the business. It is befitting to reward them with ownership by rolling out ESOP for their loyalty and commitment, providing them with a great opportunity to participate in generating and sharing the wealth.”

Ajit also said that he is grateful to all the employees, shareholders, and investors who supported the organization during this unprecedented situation as the COVID-19 pandemic hit businesses worldwide. “The year 2020 has been tough. With the strong support of our shareholders and investors, who continue to believe in us, along with the positive spirit demonstrated by our employees, we have been successfully sailing through the trying times. With their support, we will continue to build an organization where we have put purpose over profit, empowerment over control, networking, and engagement of employees over control and command. The culture and employees are truly the greatest assets of QuEST, and it will lead us to a bright and successful future,” he added.

Niketh Sundar, Global Head – People Function and Culture, QuEST Global, said, “The founders of the company always believed in greater employee ownership and participation. This has translated into us going deeper and enrolling a lot more employees across multiple levels than what is typically expected of such plans in the industry. This strategic move will also help us groom experienced and dedicated engineers who can solve problems for our customers, while they directly benefit from the continued success of the company. At QuEST, we are very excited about the future.”

Over the last two decades, QuEST has seen multiple equity-linked incentive plans, and this is the company’s fourth ESOP grant cycle following grants in 2004, 2011, and 2017. The new plan will enroll almost twice as many participants as compared to previous years; providing greater flexibility and adopts several good practices in terms of design – be it around plan vehicles, vesting, and performance conditions.

Microsoft Occupies Top Spot as India’s Most Attractive Employer Brand

Randstad Employer Brand Research 2020

* Employees seek work-life balance, attractive salary & benefits and job security

* 69% of the survey respondents indicated that they stayed with their employer in the past year and 81% agree that non-monetary benefits are equally important when choosing an employer

Microsoft India, the technology giant emerged as India’s most ‘attractive employer brand’, reveals the findings of Randstad Employer Brand Research (REBR) 2020 - the most comprehensive, independent and in-depth employer brand research in the world. Microsoft India scored high on financial health, strong reputation and utilization of the latest technologies – the top 3 EVP drivers for the organization, as per the survey. Samsung India emerged as the runner up, followed by Amazon India.

The annual employer brand research, based on perceptions of the general audience (students, employed and unemployed workforce) has been conducted by Randstad, the global leader in the HR services industry. REBR has been providing valuable insights to help employers shape their employer brand for over 20 successful years globally and it is the 10th edition in India this year.

The Randstad Employer Brand Research, covering 75% of the global economy with 33 participating countries and more than 1,85,000 respondents worldwide, clearly revealed that in 2020, work-life balance (43%) emerges as the top EVP driver for the Indian workforce while choosing an employer, followed by attractive salary and employee benefits (41%) and job security (40%). These are also the areas where there is a significant gap between what employees want and what they think employers offer in India.

This year, it is interesting to note that there are no gender differences in the top two EVP drivers. Both male and female respondents attributed equal importance to work-life balance (43%) and attractive salary and employee benefits (41%) as key factors while choosing an employer. However, more men (40%) considered job security as a key factor while choosing an employer than women (39%).

A higher percentage of male respondents (36%) also accorded more importance to career progression opportunities compared to their female (33%) counterparts.

Presenting the REBR 2020 survey insights, Paul Dupuis, MD & CEO Randstad India said, “This is the 10th edition of REBR in India and 20th edition globally. For the last 10 years, our research has been consistently adding value to India’s HR community, by bringing out remarkable insights on workforce sentiments and allowing them to evaluate their employer brand. Employer branding is an evolving journey based on newer and deeper insights that unravel with time, so organizations must make this a strategic business agenda”.

“I believe that effective employer branding is a function of an organization’s purpose. If the company has clear visibility of its true north, a great culture and can define and articulate why they exist, while making real connections, the process of creating a ‘meaningful employer brand’ that resonates with their audience will become easier. This process has become increasingly important since the onset of COVID19 – when the job market is undergoing a paradigm shift and the need for organizations to transform their employer branding proposition to make it more ‘humane’ in the new world of work becomes even more critical”, he added.

Top 10 most attractive employer brands in India for 2020:

1.         Microsoft

2.         Samsung

3.         Amazon

4.         Infosys Technologies

5.         Mercedes-Benz

6.         Sony

7.         IBM

8.         Dell Technologies Ltd

9.         ITC Group

10.       Tata Consultancy Services

Other key findings from the Randstad Employer Brand Research 2020

What do potential employees want by generational profile:

38% of Gen Z’s (18-24 years) are looking for good training opportunities from their employer, while 34% of the Millennials (25-34 years) are attracted to forward-thinking and tech-savvy organizations and deem the use of latest technologies as a very important attribute. 46% of Gen X’s (35-54 years) find good work-life balance a very important pull-factor towards an employer, whereas 32% of the Boomers (55-64 years) find a convenient location as the key factor.

Switchers, Stayers and Intenders In Focus:

69% of the survey respondents mentioned that they stayed with their employer in the past year and 43% mentioned that they plan to change their employer within the next year.  Work-life balance emerged as the top factor for stayers (45%) while 71% of switchers and intenders mentioned that they changed their employer or plan to do so shortly because of a lower salary compared to elsewhere. 35% of the survey respondents who left their previous employer received a salary increase between 1% and 10%. 81% of the respondents find non-monetary benefits like company phone/car, childcare services and support, flexible working hours etc. important.

The top 5 most attractive benefits for the Indian workforce are healthcare (85%), flexible working hours (84%), the possibility of working from home (83%), internal training and subsidized higher education like short-term courses, certifications etc. (80%) and group life insurance (79%).

Top 4 sectors in India by awareness and attractiveness:

The survey also highlights that the Indian workforce prefers to work for companies operating in sectors like IT, ITeS & Telecom, Automotive, followed by FMCG, Retail & E-commerce and BFSI.

BCT Digital Launches ‘IND AS 109 Product Suite’ to Tackle Expected Credit Loss

BCT Digital, a global Fintech company specializing in BFSI, Predictive Analytics, and Risk Management, has announced the launch of rt360-ECL solution from ‘IND AS 109 Product Suite’ for Expected Credit Loss (ECL) reporting. The rt360-ECL is an integral part of the IND AS 109 Product Suite and has been designed exclusively keeping in mind the unique and specific nuances of Indian Financial Institutions and the Indian Regulatory Environment.

With the introduction of the global International Financial Reporting Standards-9 (IFRS 9) and its equivalent Indian Accounting Standards (IND AS) 109, financial institutions are moving towards adopting scientific methods for computing credit losses. The first set of guidelines in this regard were issued by the RBI in February 2016, which  was followed by a series of amendments, and the latest one was issued in March 2020. This amendment announced the implementation of the Indian Accounting Standards, including IND AS 109 for NBFCs and Asset Reconstruction Companies.

IND AS 109 requires financial institutions to take the Expected Credit Loss (ECL) approach as opposed to the Incurred Loss approach. Under the ECL approach, credit losses must be granularly and systematically estimated and provided for throughout the life span of a loan. The rt360-ECL is a business-driven technology solution that enables banks to compute Expected Credit Loss as per regulatory guidelines, while addressing requirements such as Point-In-Time Probability of Default (PD), Validation and forward-looking estimates.

“During these unprecedented times, banks are facing huge credit losses as their customers suffer through the COVID-19 pandemic. Managing credit risk in a volatile financial market is very critical. If not carefully monitored, the systemic risks can easily snowball, and this can impact not only the banking network, but also the financial health of the country at a macroeconomic level. The rt360-ECL is an integral part of BCT Digital’s IND AS 109 product suite and has been exclusively designed keeping in mind the unique nature of the Indian regulatory environment and specific nuances of Indian financial institutions.” said  Jaya Vaidhyanathan, CEO at BCT Digital.

The rt360-ECL aggregates banks’ historical data and estimates parameters such as Probability of Default (PD), Loss Given Default (LGD) and Exposure at Default (EAD) and Effective Interest Rate (EIR). It’s inbuilt standard functions support validation and calibration of models to ensure that the process is efficient and robust. It’s essential value additions include automation of credit risk monitoring processes, faster turnaround time to achieve regulatory compliance and internal reporting and proactive credit risk assessment and monitoring. The core features of the rt360-ECL include computing 12 months’ and lifetime ECL for both fund-based and non-fund-based facilities; automated computation of Probability of Default, (Loss Given Default and Exposure at Default); Effective Interest Rate computation; automated validation of parameters as per RBI/Basel requirements through a pre-built library of model validation tests; integration with other solutions, such as core banking/Asset Liability Management systems& and prebuilt dashboards for management reporting. Click here for more information.

BCT Digital being a FinTech specialist and pioneer in risk management solutions aims to empower banks and financial institutions to recognize expected change in credit risk and provide a framework to manage forward-looking credit loss through the rt360 Risk Management Suite. rt360 risk products are a 100% “Made in India”, by BCT Digital, keeping in mind the complexity of internal and external risk factors faced by banks.

66% of Active Job Seekers will Increase their Time Spent on Job Search: LinkedIn Workforce Confidence Index

LinkedIn, the world’s largest professional network, today announced the findings of the seventh edition of the Workforce Confidence Index, a fortnightly pulse on the confidence of the Indian workforce. Based on the survey responses of 1,303 professionals in India, findings from June 15-28 reveal India’s rising optimism towards job security as businesses slowly reopened last month.

The seventh edition of the Workforce Confidence Index shows a modest increase in India’s overall workforce confidence, which reflects in this fortnight’s composite score of +50 (up from +48 in June 1-14). This growing confidence comes at a time when the economy continues to reboot, thus sparking hiring prospects across varied industries such as ecommerce, IT services, insurance and gaming. In fact, the economic repercussions of the pandemic have also urged businesses to innovate their offerings to lead through change, thereby stimulating job creation across sectors. Backing this up, Arvind Mediratta, MD & CEO of Metro Cash & Carry India says, “There is going to be a lot of demand for new products and services which, maybe, we’re not even able to envisage right now.”

Active job seekers confident about career progression as economy reboots

The lifting of the lockdown in several states and the continued adversities caused by COVID-19 have instituted a new set of workforce demands, thus creating new economic opportunities across the country’s industrial landscape. This uptick in hiring has fuelled the confidence of active job seekers towards career progression as findings show that about 2 in 3 professionals will increase their time spent searching for (66%) and applying to (64%) jobs in the next 2 weeks. Findings also highlight the active job seekers’ clear intent to upskill today for a safer tomorrow as 68% say they will increase their time spent on online learning to harbor long-term job security and career progression.

Decision makers more confident about job security than junior workers

To understand how this optimism towards job security differs across seniority levels, the LinkedIn Workforce Confidence Index also captured responses from professionals with varied work experience levels. Findings state that decision makers appear to be more confident about their job security when compared to their junior workers. Only 1 in 4 senior professionals said they would increase their time spent on searching for jobs in comparison to almost half (45%) of the junior workforce. Further reinforcing the confidence of senior executives towards job security, findings showed that only 16% of Director+ professionals (decision makers) would increase the number of jobs they apply to, when compared to 48% of the junior workforce.

Commenting on this growing optimism, HR expert Prabir Jha explains why India’s rising hope towards job security comes with slight trepidation - “It must be understood that retaining a job in the present times is in itself a strong confidence booster. Many people are also willing to take up to 50% cut in their salaries for an assured job. This means that whoever retains a job today, clearly knows that his/her role matters to the organization even in the new reality.”

He also added, “More experienced workers may have savings to support them in the long run,” to explain why senior professionals are not as inclined towards increasing their time spent on searching for jobs.

Job-seekers can signal that they are #OpenToWork, with LinkedIn’s new feature

To help job seekers land a job in an uncertain environment, LinkedIn is providing free tools and resources for effective job search and placement. One such profile feature that was recently launched is #OpenToWork, which helps job seekers maximize their visibility on the LinkedIn platform. The feature, which frames the profile picture on LinkedIn, helps members signal to recruiters that they are immediately available to take up in-market opportunities. The feature also helps them specify the types of jobs they are interested in, and what their preferred start date and location is. So far, more than 30 million job seekers have used the #OpenToWork tool to find their next job on the platform.

Here are a few member stories that show how this tool is assisting them to connect with the right opportunities during such testing times -

●     Shilpisweta asked for advice, or opportunities from her network as she embarked on finding a new role in a LinkedIn post.

●     Yash moved back to India and decided to post on LinkedIn to find opportunities in the Social Media Management and Branded Content Strategy fields.

●     Vijay lost his job due to the COVID-19 situation and asked his LinkedIn network to refer him to new opportunities in a LinkedIn post.

●     Gopinath thanked his previous employer- Uber for the learnings in a LinkedIn post and asked his connections for leads to another exciting job opportunity.

Other free tools that help job seekers prepare for interviews and gain the right guidance include ‘Interview Prep’ and ‘Offer Help’. While ‘Offer Help’ makes it easier for our members to share that they are willing and able to extend a helping hand to their connections who are actively looking for opportunities, ‘Interview Prep’ offers free tools, including a new Microsoft-AI powered feature, to help members demonstrate their skills through effective interviewing and real-time feedback.