FSS And India Post Payments Bank AePS Partnership To Promote Financial Inclusion

FSS (Financial Software and Systems), a leading global payment processor and provider of integrated payment products, today announced partnering with India Post Payments Bank (IPPB) to promote financial inclusion among underserved and unbanked segments. As part of the collaboration, IPPB will use FSS’ Aadhaar Enabled Payment System (AePS) to deliver interoperable and affordable doorstep banking services to customers across India.

FSS’ AePS solution combines the low-cost structure of a branchless business model, digital distribution, and micro-targeting that lowers acquisition costs and improves reach. This strategic partnership offers significant opportunities to bring millions of unbanked customers into the  financial mainstream. Currently, there are nearly 410 million Jan Dhan accounts in India.  A primary reason for low usage of banking and payment services is the challenge of accessibility in rural areas and the cost of maintaining active accounts — including transaction and transport— outweigh the benefits. In rural and peri-urban areas, the average time to reach a banking access point potentially ranges between 1.5 and 5 hours, compared with the average of 30 minutes in urban areas.

Leveraging its vast network of over 136,000 post offices, and 300,000 postal workers, 

IPPB has been setup with the vision to build the most accessible, affordable, and trusted bank for the common man in India to deliver banking at the customer’s doorstep.  With the launch of AePS services, IPPB now has the ability to serve all customer segments, including nearly 410 million Jan Dhan account holders, giving a fresh impetus to the inclusion of customers facing accessibility challenges in the traditional banking ecosystem.

Speaking on the tie-up, Mr.Krishnan Srinivasan, Global Chief Revenue Officer, FSS said, “We are proud to be IPPB’s technology partner in this monumental nation-building exercise. The collaboration is evidence of FSS’ deep payments technology expertise and commitment to bringing viable, market-leading innovations that promote financial deepening. FSS’ AePS solution combined with IPPB’s expansive last mile distribution reach empowers citizens of the country with a range of digital payment products and advance India’s vision towards less-cash economy.”  

“Through the vast reach of Department of Posts network along with the advent of the interoperable payment systems to drive adoption, IPPB is uniquely positioned to offer a range of products and services to fulfil the financial needs of the unbanked and the underbanked at the last mile. Having launched AePS services, the Bank has become the single largest platform in the country for providing interoperable banking services to customers of any bank. The strategic partnership with FSS provides us with an opportunity to expand the portfolio of financial services and improve customer experience whilst maintaining operational efficiency, thus building a digitally inclusive society,” said Mr. J. Venkatramu, MD & CEO, India Post Payments Bank.

The infrastructure created by IPPB addresses the accessibility challenges faced by customers in the traditional banking ecosystem. It fulfils the Government’s objective of having an interoperable banking access point within 5 KM of any household and creating alternate accessibility for customers of any bank.

The operation of FSS’ AePS solution is based on agents performing transactions on behalf of customers using a tablet, micro-ATM or a POS device. The system is device agnostic and can accept transactions originating from any terminal. Customers of any bank can access their Aadhaar-linked bank account by simply using their fingerprint for cash withdrawal, balance enquiry and transfer of funds into an operating IPPB account, right at their doorstep. FSS’ AePS exposes APIs to third parties to develop an expansive services ecosystem and extend a broad suite of financial products and tools including micro-insurance, micro-savings, micro-finance, mutual fund investments, enabling the bank to further services adoption among low and moderate-income consumers.

About FSS

FSS (Financial Software and Systems) is a leader in payments technology and transaction processing. FSS offers an integrated portfolio of software products, hosted payment services and software solutions built over 29+ years of experience. FSS, end-to-end payments products suite, powers retail delivery channels including ATM, POS, Internet and Mobile as well as critical back-end functions including cards management, reconciliation, settlement, merchant management and device monitoring. Headquartered in India, FSS services leading global banks, financial institutions, processors, central regulators and governments across North America, UK/Europe, Middle East, Africa and APAC. About India Post Payments Bank

India Post Payments Bank (IPPB) has been established under the Department of Posts, Ministry of Communication with 100% equity owned by Government of India. IPPB was launched by the Hon’ble Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi on September 1, 2018. The bank has been set up with the vision to build the most accessible, affordable and trusted bank for the common man in India. The fundamental mandate of IPPB is to remove barriers for the unbanked & underbanked and reach the last mile leveraging a network comprising 155,000 post offices (135,000 in rural areas) and 300,000 postal employees.

IPPB’s reach and its operating model is built on the key pillars of India Stack - enabling Paperless, Cashless and Presence-less banking in a simple and secure manner at the customers' doorstep, through a CBS-integrated smartphone and biometric device. Leveraging frugal innovation and with a high focus on ease of banking for the masses, IPPB delivers simple and affordable banking solutions through intuitive interfaces available in 13 languages.

IPPB is committed to provide a fillip to a less cash economy and contribute to the vision of Digital India. India will prosper when every citizen will have equal opportunity to become financially secure and empowered. Our motto stands true - Every customer is important; every transaction is significant, and every deposit is valuable.

Teradata Vantage Now Available In The Microsoft Azure Marketplace

Teradata (NYSE: TDC), the cloud data analytics platform company, today announced an additional purchasing channel for Teradata Vantage on Azure: the Microsoft Azure Marketplace, an online store providing software applications and services for use on Microsoft Azure, one of the industry’s most productive and trusted cloud platforms.

Teradata customers interested in using Vantage on Azure – the modern cloud platform that unifies data warehouses, data lakes and analytics into a single connected ecosystem – can now subscribe to Vantage on Azure using a pre-existing agreement with Microsoft. By subscribing to Vantage on Azure through the Marketplace, customers can draw down 100 percent of their Teradata spend against their Azure commitment. Purchases made via Azure Marketplace also significantly help streamline billing and procurement for joint Teradata-Microsoft customers.

“At Teradata, we’re focused on making things easier for our customers – whether that’s helping them solve their most complex data challenges at scale or simply making it quick and easy to find, buy and deploy the world’s leading platform for cloud data analytics,” said Brian Wood, Director and Cloud Advocate at Teradata. “For companies that prefer the worldwide footprint, scalability, reliability and agility of Microsoft Azure, we now offer a one-stop shopping experience for Vantage via a pre-approved and preferred purchasing channel. Through Vantage on Azure, joint Teradata-Microsoft customers can more easily perform analytics on all available data, with as much scale as needed to drive the business forward.”

Vantage on Azure is delivered as-a-service, so companies can start small and elastically scale compute and storage independently, and only when needed. The combination of pricing model flexibility with software tier choice enables Teradata’s cloud customers to match analytic features and performance with diverse business requirements.

Teradata Vantage is the leading hybrid multi-cloud data analytics software platform that enables ecosystem simplification by unifying analytics, data lakes and data warehouses. With the enterprise scale of Vantage, companies can eliminate silos and cost-effectively query all their data to get a complete view of their business.

The Azure Marketplace is an online market for buying and selling finished Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) applications and premium datasets. The Azure Marketplace helps connect companies seeking innovative, cloud-based solutions with partners who have developed solutions that are ready to use.

Availability

Teradata Vantage on Azure can be acquired via the Microsoft Azure Marketplace today, globally.

About Teradata

Teradata is the cloud data analytics platform company, built for a hybrid multi-cloud reality, solving the world's most complex data challenges at scale. We help businesses unlock value by turning data into their greatest asset. 

Cognizant Survey Reveals Indian Companies Weathered Through The Pandemic Much Better

 

* Survey reveals Indian companies, catalyzed by the pandemic, are most bullish on embracing digital ways of working

Indian companies generate 12% of their revenue from digital channels today, highest among all APAC countries

A recent market study by Cognizant reveals that while most Asian businesses were quick to respond to the pandemic—compressing many long-term digital projects into the space of weeks and months—and are therefore emerging stronger from the pandemic, Indian companies weathered through the pandemic much better than most of their regional and western counterparts.

Only 36% of companies in India (compared to the regional average of 44%) experienced slightly negative to a very negative impact on their business performance in 2020. According to the study, businesses in APAC and the Middle East have reached a point of clarity in terms of the real purpose of digital tools and made great strides in understanding what the human-machine balance of work should be.

To understand the changing nature of work, commerce and success in this new world, Cognizant’s Center for the Future of Work surveyed 4,000 senior executives (1,200 from Asia Pacific and the Middle East, including 160 in India) across 23 countries and 14 industries: BFSI, Consumer Goods, Education, Healthcare (including both payers and providers), Information Services, Insurance, Life Sciences, Manufacturing, Media and Entertainment, Oil and Gas, Retail, Transportation and Logistics, Travel and Hospitality, and Utilities. The objective of the study was to gain insights into how organizations worldwide are gearing up for the second act of digital and why Asia seems to be leading the charge.

Key findings among Indian enterprises:

Indian companies are most bullish on embracing digital ways of working as 52% of them (highest among APAC countries) agreed that the pandemic had accelerated the adoption of new, digital ways of working practices.

Revenue from digital: Indian companies currently generate 12% of the total revenue from digital channels (highest among APAC countries). By the end of 2023, they aim to take their digital-driven revenues to 17%.

The top three forces that will have a strong impact on work in India by 2023 are hyper-connectivity as billions of people, machines, and devices become connected (49%), concerns about security and privacy relating to business practices (46%), and process automation (44%).

Human-centric skills will continue to gain prominence: Top five skills that will become more important in 2023 than they are today: Decision-making (62%), Analytical (54%), Learning (55%), Strategic Thinking (54%), and Communication (54%).

Three ways work will be transformed by 2023: Jobs to become more specialized (54%), we will work faster (50%), and work will require greater technical expertise (47%).

Top three technologies that companies are leveraging to augment business processes (from some implemented projects to widespread implementation): AI (40%), Sensors/ IoT (35%), and big data/ analytics (35%).

Machines will augment humans by taking over data-oriented tasks and providing insights for better decision-making. Top three tasks that machines will pick up by 2023: sifting large data sets to filter and identify errors or actionable items (25%), evaluation of options/recommendations to take decisions (23%), and execution of routine, rules-based decisions based on data inputs (23%).

Top three business benefits companies aim at achieving with the augmentation of processes by 2023: decision-making i.e. more informed, accurate, intelligent (70%), operational efficiency i.e. cost savings, increased output, improved asset and inventory management (62%), and customer experience i.e. interaction and personalization (59%).

“Although the digital revolution is 74 years old, it’s kicking into second gear now,” said Manish Bahl, Assistant Vice President, Center for the Future of Work, Asia Pacific, Cognizant. “The first phase saw the dominance of Big Tech giants in West leading the global digital agenda. The second phase will be marked by AI, automation, analytics and IoT – all of which are more aligned with industry and business strengths in Asia Pacific. The work ahead will be all about striking a balance between machine-driven and human-centric work. Even when machines can do everything, it will still be people who are the ultimate X factor.”

The full report can be accessed here: https://www.cognizant.com/whitepapers/the-work-ahead-asia-drives-digitals-future-codex6156.pdf

Cure.fit For Business – A 100% Digital Approach To Employee health And wellness

 ●       Cure.fit’s 100% digital corporate offering encompasses live fitness classes across workout formats, teleconsultation, online therapy and nutrition services

●       100+ businesses have adopted Cure.fit for Business in the past 4-6 months

Cure.fit, India’s leading holistic health and wellness platform, is transforming the way corporates can approach and positively impact employee health and wellness with its exclusive digital corporate offering called Cure.fit for Business.

Cure.fit for Business is a holistic and entirely digital solution that the company had launched earlier to address employee health and wellness needs. With Cure.fit pivoting to digital offerings amidst the pandemic, there has been an increased uptake of online fitness and wellness services such as live fitness classes, teleconsultation, online therapy as well as online nutrition consultations. Having witnessed greater acceptance of these solutions by the individual consumers and corporates alike, this offering by Cure.fit targeted only at corporates provides a host of these digital services that are tailored to prioritize mental and physical health of employees. 

Cure.fit for Business includes some key features such as:

- A comprehensive administrative dashboard which can help employees and employers track progress

- Employee engagement features such as corporate challenges

- Dedicated and hands-on customer support

- 100% privacy and security

Under Cure.fit for Business, the company offers the following services:

LIVE: Subscription for LIVE Classes across fitness, meditation, and nutrition

●        A complete solution for all employee health & wellness needs

●        50+ Trainers from India and Abroad

●        3k+ Unique & Original Workouts

●        Classes in Yoga, Dance, Cardio, Strength, Pilates, Boxing, Meditation, Healthy Recipes

●        Insightful fitness reports and weekly trackers including focus areas for improvement and an overall fitness tracker

●        Intuitive energy-meter wherein the phone camera tracks users’ movements as they try to follow guided content from trainers

●        Squad feature – group classes with friends and family

●        Access to Live classes via mobile, laptop, and TV

Health Coaches - Coaching from the best nutritionists, psychiatrists, psychologists, and fitness experts

●        Access to 1000+ experienced coaches across fitness, nutrition, and mental health

●        1:1 Personalised plans

●        Unlimited chat support for employees

Telemedicine and Diagnostic services – Online teleconsultation service by GPs and specialists

●        Video Consultations with GP and Specialists

●        Comprehensive assessment & advice

●        Free follow-up for 7 days

●        Access to experienced professionals who have completed over 100k consultations

Commenting on Cure.fit for Business, Shamik Sharma, Head of Digital Health, Cure.fit, said, “With Cure.fit going completely digital during the pandemic, we have witnessed a great acceptance for our online health and wellness solutions not just by the general consumer base but also by corporates who are using this opportunity to take a fresh approach towards employee wellness. With most people working from home amidst these trying circumstances, we are happy to see that companies want to place the physical and mental health of employees front and center and proactively use digital tools to address their needs. As such, Cure.fit for Business is an entirely digital solution which is fit for these times and makes sure that employees, too, can use our services in a way that can yield positive results and improve their overall health.”

About Cure.fit 

Cure.fit Healthcare Pvt Ltd is a holistic integrated healthcare platform headquartered in Bangalore. Founded in 2016 by Mukesh Bansal and Ankit Nagori, Cure.fit aims to address preventive healthcare through a combination of engagement, coaching and delivery using a mix of online and offline channels. Cure.fit caters to living a healthy life through its critical dimensions —Cult.fit, Mind.fit, and Care.fit. While Cult.fit focuses on physical strength and fitness, Mind.fit focuses on mental wellbeing and Care.fit on integrated medical and lifestyle care.

Cure.fit is an app-based service provider and is available on Android and iOS.

NSIC And Airtel Join Forces To Accelerate Digital Transformation Of Indian MSMEs

 

Bharti Airtel (“Airtel”), India’s premier communications solutions provider, is stepping up initiatives to accelerate the digital transformation of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) in India by partnering with National Small Industries Corporation (NSIC), A Government of India Enterprise having its mission “to promote and support MSME sector by providing integrated support services encompassing Marketing, Technology, Finance and other services”.

Airtel announced an alliance with NSIC to make it easier for millions of small and medium businesses get access to Airtel’s Connectivity, Conferencing, Cloud, Security, and Go-to-Market solutions.  This partnership with NSIC envisages digital transformation of this critical sector as key to the Government’s vision of ‘Atma Nirbhar Bharat’for enabling MSMEs to scale up faster by ways of adopting digital ways of doing business.  

Airtel’s solutions for MSMEs include: 

Airtel Connectivity:  Internet, Secure Internet, Dedicated Internet, Managed Wifi, VPN, Direct VPN, Intelligent VPN 

Airtel Landline: PRI & Toll-Free Calling solutions 

Airtel Mobile: Corporate Mobile Plans with bundled G-Suite 

Airtel Conferencing: Secure, simple and seamless meetings with Airtel BlueJeans 

Airtel Cloud: Private, Public and edge cloud solutions 

Airtel Secure: Integrated security solutions for businesses  

Airtel IoT: Utilizing the power of IoT to make businesses smarter 

Airtel IQ: cloud communication suite to transform customer engagement 

The offerings will come with the trusted support from Airtel that ensures high customer satisfaction through industry leading service uptime. Airtel already serves over one million medium and small businesses across India with best-in-class products that are available to customers in highly flexible formats. The alliance with NSIC gives it much deeper distribution reach in this segment.  

Sh. P. Udayakumar, Director (Planning & Marketing), NSIC said “These solutions will be available through NSIC’s online portal www.msmemart.com as well as through NSIC’s field offices across the country under NSIC’s Aggregation vertical offering ICT Enabled Digital Services. This partnership with Airtel is envisaged to serve multiple ICT needs of MSME sector for sustained growth and increased productivity.” 

Ajay Chitkara, Director & CEO – Airtel Business, said “MSMEs are critical to the Indian economy. We are delighted to join hands with NSIC to fast-track their digital transformation journeys. Airtel’s pan-India network, deep distribution reach as well easily accessible digital platforms will give MSMEs the flexibility and convenience of addressing all their digital connectivity requirements through a single window.”   

MSMEs are an important growth engine of the Indian economy. With over 60 million business units, the sector contributes to 29% of India’s GDP, 40% of exports and employs over 110 million people. These businesses are looking for reliable, secure connectivity and digital platforms that will add to their efficiency and competitiveness. 

Paytm Payments Bank Leads The Market With 6 Million Fastags As Sales Increase With Deadline Extension

 - Most preferred by users as it allows toll payment directly from Paytm Wallet, no need to create a separate FASTag account

- Country's top issuer for FASTags on vehicles

- Enables cashless payments at more than 250 toll plazas

India's homegrown Paytm Payments Bank Ltd (PPBL) today announced that it is the leading issuer of FASTag in the country with over 6 million FASTags, as more citizens avail the service with the government extending the deadline for its adoption. Paytm FASTag has gained popularity amongst users in the country due to its seamless onboarding and integration process which requires minimum documentation, instant activation and unmatched customer care support. PPBL has now enabled cashless toll payments across 250 plazas in the country.

Paytm FASTag has become the country's most preferred toll payment method as it allows users to directly pay from the Paytm Wallet. Users do not need to create any separate account or download a wallet to recharge their FASTags. Tags issued by other banks require buyers to provide multiple documents like ID proof, photographs, share personal details & maintain separate accounts and login credentials. Also, unlike tags from other banks which may require a couple of hours to get activated, Paytm FASTags are activated instantly from the moment users receive it. All FASTag transactions can be monitored on the Paytm app. Users can raise complaints on the app itself which are addressed by a dedicated customer support team working 24x7.

Satish Gupta, MD & CEO - Paytm Payments Bank Ltd. said "It has been our humble endeavour to empower Indians with the same convenience and seamlessness on-road that our app provides to our users in their daily lives. The innovations that we have made in technology and the deep trust in our bank has helped us become the leading issuer of FASTags in the country. Users have embraced the convenience of paying for tolls directly from their Paytm Wallet and not create separate accounts. We continuously strive to ensure that customers are always charged the correct toll and have a hasslefree time on the road. We aim to expand our services across the length and breadth of the country and contribute towards building fully digital journeys on highways."

Paytm Payments Bank is the top issuer and the largest acquiring bank under the National Electronic Toll Collection (NETC) programme. It has also meticulously analyzed claims of higher toll charges raised by toll plazas against users. Paytm Payments Bank has fought on the behalf of users against higher charges owing to misidentification of vehicles and double taxation. It has also successfully reversed the vast majority of wrong toll charges. Ensuring that users are not inconvenienced, Paytm Payments Bank has the distinction of being the FASTag issuer which raised 60% of all disputes and 95% of all arbitration cases in the National Electronic Toll Collection Program.

Doctormatrimony.com - Exclusive Site for Doctors Launched in India

 Based on its successful history of matching lakhs of doctors over the past 20 years and its understanding that majority of doctors prefer life partners from the same profession due to shared values, Matrimony.com  announced the launch of "DoctorsMatrimony.com" exclusively for the medical professionals. The service is available on the app, mobile site and desktop. 

Through the matrimony.com services, lakhs of doctors have chosen another doctor as a life partner. In fact, Matrimony.com saw a 40% increase in the number of doctors registering over the past 3 years. Interestingly women doctors have no hesitation in signing up on Matrimony.com services as proven by the fact that 54% of the current doctor members are women and only 46% are male doctors. 

The matrimony business opportunity is huge for this category. As per the National Health Profile 2019, the total number of registered allopathic doctors in India is 11,54,686, number of dental surgeons is 2,54,283 and registered AYUSH Doctors in India is 7,99,879. 

Doctors can register and choose their match not only by religion, city, community, education but also by specialisation. DoctorsMatrimony offers privacy and safety while searching for their suitable life partner. The “Who Can See Me” feature helps doctors control who can view their profile and contact them. Other features offer doctors privacy by giving them control to choose who can view their photos. 

Elaborating on why they launched an exclusive service for doctors, Murugavel Janakiraman, Founder and CEO – Matrimony.com says, “Most doctors feel the need for a companion who understands their profession and shared values well and that seems possible when the life partner is also a doctor. Through our current app, we have understood the unique preferences of the doctor community. Seeing lakhs of doctor couples find each other through our services over the past 20 years, it was but natural for us to launch DoctorsMatrimony.com. Covid also drove us to focus on serving the healthcare community heroes better through an exclusive service.” 

About Matrimony.com Limited 

Matrimony.com is India’s leading consumer Internet Company. It is a signature consumer internet conglomerate, managing marquee brands such as BharatMatrimony, CommunityMatrimony and EliteMatrimony. BharatMatrimony is considered the largest and most trusted matrimony brand which has also established a considerable retail presence with over 130 self-owned retail outlets across India. The Company delivers matchmaking and marriage related services to users in India and the Indian diaspora.