FSS Business Support Suite Enables BancNet To Maximize Billing And Settlement Efficiencies

FSS (Financial Software and Systems), a leading global provider of integrated payment products and a payments processor, announced its Business Support Suite enables BancNet, the Philippines ATM switch operator, bring efficiencies of speed and scale to automate billing, and settlement for all switched transactions among participants, and to provide their members with an efficient dispute platform facility.  In 2020, BancNet processed a record one billion transactions through its platform, significantly contributing to the growth of the country’s digital payments economy.   

BancNet is a consortium of 124 members comprising banks, cooperatives, electronic money issuers, affiliate switch networks and independent ATM deployers in the Philippines. It has a 31-year track record of building digital payments infrastructure and currently operates a network that spans more than 22,000 ATMs and 400,000 POS terminals. 

In the wake of a rapid shift to digital, FSS Business Support Suite helped BancNet modernize legacy, disparate Billing and Settlement systems and improved flexibility and agility to respond to evolving market and regulatory requirements. A full stack offering, the Business Support Suite consolidates critical operations, such as Partner Management, Fees Computation, Partner Settlement, , Billing and Dispute Management, for a wide set of transactions, onto a single platform. The resulting benefits of an integrated approach include reduced operational costs, improved control and visibility across payment processes and lower risk exposure for member banks.

Speaking on the partnership, Krishnan Srinivasan, Chief Operating Officer, FSS PayTech stated, “The Asean market is of strategic importance to FSS. We are proud to collaborate with Philippines’ largest payments consortium to modernise core billing, settlement processes and dispute management among participants for smooth functioning of the payments system. The partnership affirms FSS’ ability to work with central institutions and deliver large-scale digital transformation projects. We remain fully committed and confident that this partnership will contribute to significant digital payments growth in the Philippines and the region.” 

BancNet Chief Operations and Technology Officer Arnel Lim said, “For three decades, BancNet has been at the forefront of the payments revolution in the Philippines, building critical payments infrastructure to enable its members to make formal financial services accessible to more people, including financially underserved segments. The efficiency from automating billing and settlement processes, including dispute management among the participants, helps us gain member trust, attracts more participants and more transactions onto our network, advancing our efforts to build inclusive digital payment ecosystems at scale.”

The Business Support Suite automates critical back-office functions and helps maintain financial integrity of the ecosystem, mitigate risk, and foster trust amongst scheme participants. With the Business Support Suite, BancNet can streamline billing, settlement, and dispute management between member institutions for transactions originating from any delivery channel such as ATM, POS, and   Internet Gateway. Through partnerships with multiple interchanges – Visa, MasterCard, KFTC , JCB and UnionPay -- the system supports billing and settlement for transactions between member and non-member institutions. Built on a standards-based, open architecture framework, the Business Support Suite simplifies integration with upstream and downstream financial systems such as partner systems, multiple Interchanges, Switch and Core Banking systems. The system is PADSS and OWASP compliant.

About FSS                             

Financial Software and Systems (FSS) is a leader in payments technology and transaction processing. The company offers an integrated portfolio of software products, hosted payment services and software solutions built over 30+ 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 Chennai, India, FSS services leading global banks, financial institutions, processors, central regulators and governments across North America, UK, Europe, ME, Africa, and APAC and has 2,500 experts on-board. For more information visit www.fsstech.com.

Toyota Kirloskar Motor Breaks Ground For Lab Construction At Government Pre-University College In Yellapura To Enable Education

* TKM to develop and construct a lab at Government Pre-University College in Yellapura (Uttara Kannada District) with an investment of over INR 3.2 million to cater to more than 730+ students under CSR initiatives.

* The company intends to support the rural students by establishing good infrastructure facilities at the Government Pre-University College.

* Ground-breaking ceremony held in the respected presence of Shri Shivaram Hebbar, Hon’ble Labour Minister, Government of Karnataka.

In line with its commitment to support the growing educational needs at grassroot level in rural areas, Toyota Kirloskar Motor (TKM) today held a groundbreaking ceremony for the construction of a laboratory facility at the Government Pre-University College in Yellapura (Uttara Kannada district of Karnataka). The occasion was graced by  Shri Shivaram Hebbar, Hon’ble Labour Minister, Government of Karnataka, and TKM senior official Mr. K V Rajendra Hegde, General Manager, along with other officials.

The Government Pre-University College is known for providing quality formative education; however, increase in enrollments has resulted in infrastructure challenges due to which college had to shift the labs to classrooms causing shortage of teaching space. Toyota, thus, volunteered to construct a lab building at the Government Pre-University College as a part of its CSR undertakings at an investment of INR 3.2 million. Construction of the new lab facility is likely to be completed by April 2022 and is expected to benefit over 730 students from the local communities.

Commending TKM on relentless efforts towards the betterment of the society, Shri Shivaram Hebbar, Hon’ble Labour Minister, Government of Karnataka, said, “Education is the basic premise for any country’s progression and providing good school infrastructure in our country’s remotest area will undoubtedly foster better learning and brighter future. We are happy that corporate like Toyota have been consistently working towards ensuring quality school infrastructure in rural Karnataka. We hope the new lab facility will help in nurturing better learning and education for the college students to learn and grow.”

Talking about the project, Mr. K V Rajendra Hegde, General Manager, TKM said, “Development of rural education plays a vital role in the social and economic advancement of the people and as a responsible corporate, it is our duty to provide the right infrastructure for the overall progress of the country. With this agenda in mind, we aim to build schools and avail necessary facilities to children in India's remotest villages that will give them an opportunity to a diversified culture and an array of knowledge. We hope the new lab facility will help in promoting better learning while improving retention of college students and further translating into enhanced learning outcomes.”

Since 2001, CSR has been an integral part of TKM’s philosophy. The voluntary initiatives taken up by TKM and our employees focus primarily on scalability and sustainability. The activities revolve around five main themes of Education, Environment, Hygiene, Health, Road Safety, and Skill Development.

Toyota Kirloskar Motor, over the years, has initiated several projects to accelerate access to quality education in Karnataka. In total 11 schools have been constructed, along with other initiatives like education materials distribution, anganwadi development program etc has cumulatively benefitted 1,16,396 students. Toyota remains committed to bringing in more enriching and sustainable CSR projects for the holistic development of the community members, thus effectively contributing to the underlying cause of positive societal development and bringing in a change towards the transformation of the larger community.

De Beers Forevermark Sees Strong Demand In South India This Festive Season

With the onset of the festive season, De Beers Forevermark, one of the most trusted diamond brands, is upbeat about demand for diamonds in South India. The brand has already witnessed a huge response post the second wave, and compared to the pre-festive season consumption, it is looking forward to growth of over 35-40% per cent over the next few months given the extended wedding season and pent-up demand coinciding with the timely easing of Covid-19 restrictions. The brand continues to grow in South India, the largest market for De Beers Forevermark in India. While the brand has 270 doors in India spread over 60 markets, it has around 100 doors in South India currently. The brand also has 10 exclusive boutique stores in India and plans to increase this to 30 by next year.

The company is now focused on consolidation in the South as it sees immense potential in the growing number of metros, tier-2 and tier-3 cities in the region, where it partners with select authorized retailers who share the same brand ethos as De Beers Forevermark. The company’s research has shown that there is increasing demand for its natural, rare, beautiful and responsibly sourced diamonds in South India and that consumers here value the diamond’s quality over size.

Commenting on the festive season outlook, Mr. Sachin Jain, Managing Director, De Beers India, said: “We expect to see significant rise and rebound in diamond consumption and it has been a big comeback for the industry that has got to do with what diamonds and jewellery mean for the Indian consumer. People want to invest in luxurious products but ones that hold value and want an assurance of genuineness. The market will witness good growth in the upcoming festive & wedding season. While the year 2020 was a big setback due to the pandemic, we see the 2021 festive season to be the strongest one in a decade and expect to perform at 25-30% higher than 2019 which was our best year. The growth trajectory has been very strong for us in the past few years and we are hopeful it will continue. One of the key lessons the pandemic has taught us is to value that which is genuine and real.”

Mr. Suraj Shantakumar, Director Kirtilals said: “We see great demand from the younger generation this year as they prefer jewellery to complement their personality and define their individual style statement. Besides this, we see demand for minimalistic and everyday wear diamonds as the sentiment has now shifted towards wearing diamonds for any occasion including the festive season. De Beers Forevermark’s diamonds are produced through a very rigorous selection process and are rare, natural and beautiful and we believe they will continue to find a huge acceptance among our discerning consumers.”

Mr. Vinod Hayagriv, Managing Director & Director, C. Krishniah Chetty Group of Jewellers said: “While the festive season this year is seeing a large uptick in sales, we will see a dramatic rise in solitaire diamond sales. Our association with De Beers Forevermark has not only been an old and a great relationship since a decade, but with patented technology, each De Beers Forevermark diamond is uniquely inscribed and comes with a guarantee that every diamond is genuine, natural and responsibly sourced. This provides additional assurance to our customers who are keen on buying natural diamonds to celebrate this festive season. Millennials realize that diamond jewellery is truly a gift that lasts a lifetime.”

Mr. Joseph Prince, Director – Prince Jewellery Chennai said, “The festive season has always been considered auspicious to buy jewellery. The consumer sentiment has improved dramatically in the recent past and there is pent-up demand and consumers are seeking meaningful purchases. This is an opportunity for the diamond jewellery market to gain a significant share of consumer spending. Given that less than 1 per cent of the world’s diamonds secure the De Beers Forevermark inscription, we believe consumers would like to spend on valuable and niche products that convey a strong emotional bonding, especially in the post-pandemic world.”

Despite the challenges experienced due to the pandemic, Indian consumers expressed strong demand for diamond jewellery, outstripping demand for other luxury categories and apparel, as they sought out purchases with emotional meaning and enduring value.

Lam Research India Breaks Ground On New Engineering And R&D Facility In Bengaluru

Lam Research India today broke ground on a new engineering, research & development facility at Bagmane Tech Park (BTP), CV Raman Nagar in Bengaluru. The site will be home to Lam Research India’s development of advanced semiconductor manufacturing equipment hardware and software, as well as its new virtual reality research labs.

“With our new Bengaluru lab and office facility, we will significantly increase Lam Research’s engineering and R&D capacity and capability in India, in alignment with our business strategy to expand our global footprint and leverage expertise all around the globe,” said Rangesh Raghavan, Lam Research India corporate vice president and general manager. “This site will enable us to leverage the large pool of technical talent and research institutes in India to scale Lam’s capacity to meet growing customer requirements. The new India Center for Engineering (ICE) lab will enable the success of our customers by enhancing speed to solution and commonality while contributing to the profitable growth of Lam Research.”

Lam Research India leaders were joined by eminent guests at today’s groundbreaking ceremony, including Mr. Jitendra Chaddah, Country Manager, Global Supply Chain at Intel India; Mr. Rajeev Khushu, Chairman, India Electronics & Semiconductor Association (IESA), and Director of Corporate Affairs & Government Relations at Texas Instruments; Prof. Srinivasan Raghavan, Chairperson – CeNSE at IISc Bangalore; Prof. Mahesh Panchagnula, Dean - Corporate Relations at IIT Madras; and Dr. Sasangan Ramanathan, Dean (Engineering) at Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham.

With more than 1,000 employees in Bengaluru, the Lam Research India site plays a crucial role in supporting Lam’s mission to drive the semiconductor breakthroughs which define the next generation. Lam India continues to grow and is currently hiring across a broad range of disciplines: Mechanical, Electrical, Software, and other engineers, Computational Analysts, Procurement and Operations experts, IT programmers, network, and infrastructure experts, Data scientists, Finance, Operations and HR professionals.

About Lam Research

Lam Research Corporation (NASDAQ: LRCX) is a global supplier of innovative wafer fabrication equipment and services to the semiconductor industry. Lam’s equipment and services allow customers to build smaller and better performing devices. In fact, today, nearly every advanced chip is built with Lam technology. We combine superior systems engineering, technology leadership, and a strong values-based culture, with an unwavering commitment to our customers. Lam Research is a FORTUNE 500® company headquartered in Fremont, California, with operations around the globe. Learn more at www.lamresearch.com.

Caution Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

Statements made in this press release that are not of historical fact are forward-looking statements and are subject to the safe harbor provisions created by the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such forward-looking statements relate to but are not limited to:  our expectations for how the new facility will impact Lam’s engineering and R&D capacity and capability; our expectations for how the new facility will allow us to leverage India’s technical talent and research institutes; our ability to enable customer success and the effect of the new facility on Lam’s speed to solutions and profitability. s. These statements are based on current expectations and are subject to risks, uncertainties, and changes in condition, significance, value and effect including changing business conditions in the overall economy and the semiconductor and semiconductor equipment industries; supply chain challenges and disruptions; regulatory and other government-imposed restrictions, duties or taxes; and the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on our employees, suppliers and customers as well as those risks and uncertainties that are described in the documents filed or furnished by us with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including specifically the Risk Factors described in our annual report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended June 27, 2021. These uncertainties and changes could materially affect the forward-looking statements and cause actual results to vary from expectations in a material way. The Company undertakes no obligation to update the information or statements made in this release.

Garmin India Celebrates The Spirit Of Outdoor Travelling With New Track ‘Unleash Your Outdoor Spirit’ Ft. Khasi Bloodz

 

Garmin India, a unit of Garmin Ltd. (NASDAQ: GRMN), has introduced a new title track, ‘Unleash Your Outdoor Spirit’, to celebrate the success of their digital campaign ‘Open the Door to the World’. Sung by Shillong’s famous musical band, Khasi Bloodz, the song highlights the essence of outdoor travelling with the Garmin adventure series- Garmin Instinct Solar and Garmin Fēnix Solar.

With the underlying belief that there is a unique door for everyone, the digital campaign ‘Open the Door to the World’ gained substantial prominence and has successfully promoted the spirit of travelling among the adventure seekers. Several travel enthusiasts created memorable experiences across the country through this unique virtual campaign. 

‘Unleash Your Outdoor Spirit’, the song conceptualized by the Khasi Bloodz, celebrates the essence of travelling and the zeal to get back on track despite the challenges brought about by the pandemic. The song highlights how Garmin devices encourage its users to pursue their passion and reach their ultimate fitness and travel goals.

The song features various characters like a dancer profoundly showcasing her expertise in freestyle dancing, fitness enthusiasts following their fitness regime, a rock climber and the bicycle rider who are in line to quench their thirst for adventure and achieve victory by beating yesterday.

The multisport smart-watches are integrated with a GPS navigation feature that breaks the conventional approach and guides the users in exploring the road less travelled.

The song highlights the users experiencing unprecedented battery life with solar charging feature and rugged yet sophisticated designs constructed to withstand harsh environments, encouraging them to push their performance to a whole new level while the voice-over “ I'mma reach as far as the rays of the sun coz my instincts solar. Even if I'd fall I'll rise again like a Fénix, this time I'mma be bolder.” echoes in the background.

Speaking on the initiative, Mr. Ali Rizvi, Director, Garmin India, said, “Our outdoor digital campaign has received good traction and success by the adventure seeker exhibiting their desires for travel. The mass vaccination and reduced COVID-19 cases have infused confidence in people, and they are travelling for relaxation and taking a break from their daily routine. The song pays respect to all those who are overcoming their challenges every single day and bouncing back towards the road of positivity with their undying spirit and passion towards outdoor adventures“

Link to the song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EUZrq0rj6Mw

About Garmin: Garmin International Inc. is a subsidiary of Garmin Ltd. (Nasdaq: GRMN). Garmin Ltd. is incorporated in Switzerland, and its principal subsidiaries are located in the United States, Taiwan and the United Kingdom. Garmin, Instinct and Trackback are registered trademarks, and Garmin Connect, Garmin Explore, and UltraTrac is a trademark of Garmin Ltd. or its subsidiaries. Wi-Fi is a registered trademark of the Wi-Fi Alliance.

BharatPe Announces The Launch Of Its First Marketing Campaign For Postpe

●        The campaign with the theme ‘De Dena Aaram Se’ will promote the company’s newly launched BNPL product

●        Launched on the sidelines of ICC T20 World Cup in UAE

BharatPe, India’s fastest growing Fintech company, announced the rollout of its TVC campaign ‘De Dena Aaram Se’, to promote its newly launched Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) product- postpe. This campaign is based on a simple tenet of relationship based on trust and comfort between a shop owner and his loyal customer, that enables the retailer to offer credit to the customer based on verbal assurance that he will pay back soon. postpe allows end users to share the same relationship with the brand irrespective of where they shop. The campaign will be live across TV and digital channels, throughout the ICC World Cup 2021 and the ongoing festive season.

As part of the campaign, a video commercial has been created around the theme- ‘De Dena Aaram Se’ that captures various use cases of customers’ retail purchases at - ranging from a coffee shop, multiple retail outlets, restaurant delivery, to salons and clubs. The commercial closes with a close-up of postpe's logo with a tagline saying ‘don’t pay. postpe.’

Speaking on the launch of this new campaign, Mr. Suhail Sameer, CEO, BharatPe, said, “We have recently forayed in the Consumer Fintech category with the launch of 12% Club and postpe. We are confident that postpe can totally transform the Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) category with its compelling proposition of enabling credit for one and all, anywhere and everywhere. The initial response has been overwhelming and I am confident that this latest campaign will help create awareness for postpe amongst consumers. The ICC T20 World Cup is one of the most sought after cricketing events and our new campaign launched with this event will go a long way in catapulting the growth of postpe. We are already facilitating disbursals at a run-rate of INR 150 crores per month in just 2 weeks of launch, and I am confident to scale this up 10x by the end of the campaign.”

The commercial will run across a host to of top television channels including Sports Channels like STAR Sports 1 and STAR Sports 1 HD; GEC channels like STAR Plus, Colors, Sony Sab, Star Gold, STAR Gold 2; Hindi news channels like Aaj Tak, India TV, News18 India; music channels like B4U Music, MTV Beats, 9XM, Zing; and regional channels like Zee Telugu, Zee Kannada, Colors Kannada, Sun TV, Star Vijay, Star Vijay Super and Zee Bangla. The campaign will also be live across digital assets including Disney Hotstar and YouTube.

Adding his thoughts on the new TVC campaign launch, Mr Parth Joshi, Chief Marketing Officer, BharatPe, said, “Buy Now Pay Later has been around for a while but I believe that postpe is the first product that is really democratizing it- with its universal usage (on QR, Card or Online) and interest free credit of upto Rs. 10 lacs for a period of 30 days. The TVC has been conceptualized keeping in mind the personal connect and trust that a customer enjoys with his preferred local store owner in India. We have tried to weave in various use cases to connect with a larger audience, as our postpe product is not limited to a specific set of stores. The TVC has been crafted with the objective of communicating how postpe enables our customers to pay on credit anywhere and for any amount, and pay it back later as per his convenience. We will be running this campaign for the October –December 2021 quarter.”

BharatPe forayed into the customer segment in August 2021 with the launch of 12% Club, a product that allows individuals to take loan at 12% interest as well as invest and earn upto 12% interest rate. It also entered into the ‘Buy Now Pay Later’ (BNPL) category last month with the launch of the first-of-its-kind BNPL product, that is not only limited to big-ticket purchases but also assists with micro-purchases. The product is designed for the new-age customers who believes in shopping smart and are well-versed with digital payment modes.

BharatPe will also be running a host of other promotional campaigns to garner customers’ interest and enhance engagement. All transacting customers stand a chance to win 3,500 free passes for the World Cup matches to be held from 17th Oct to 14th Nov 2021. Also, the company is running a referral program where users can get up to 5% cashback.

About BharatPe

BharatPe was co-founded by Ashneer Grover and Shashvat Nakrani in 2018 with the vision of making financial inclusion a reality for Indian merchants. In 2018, BharatPe launched India’s first UPI interoperable QR code, the first zero MDR payment acceptance service. In 2020, post-Covid, BharatPe also launched India’s only zero MDR card acceptance terminals – BharatSwipe. Currently serving over 70 lakh merchants across 140+ cities, the company is a leader in UPI offline transactions, processing 11 crores+ UPI transactions per month (annualized Transaction Processed Value of US$ 11+ Bn). The company has already facilitated disbursement of loans totaling to over Rs. 2,800 crores to its merchants, since launch. BharatPe’s POS business processes payments of over Rs. 1,400 crores per month. BharatPe has raised over US$ 650 million in equity and debt, till date. The company’s list of marquee investors includes Tiger Global, Dragoneer Investment Group, Steadfast Capital, Coatue Management, Ribbit Capital, Insight Partners, Steadview Capital, Beenext, Amplo and Sequoia Capital.  In June 2021, the company announced the acquisition of PAYBACK India, the country’s largest multi-brand loyalty program company with 100 million+ members. In October 2021, the consortium of Centrum Financial Services Limited (Centrum) and BharatPe, was issued a Small Finance Bank (SFB) license by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).

MIT- MAHE Students Launch Blood Donors Digital Platform “Sociio Ichor”

In yet another initiative, Manipal Institute of Technology (MIT) - MAHE, Manipal, students in collaboration with KMC, Manipal have launched a new platform Sociio Ichor which aims to connect blood donors with patients in need of blood. The platform also displays Live requests of the patients who are in need of the blood and its components. The potential donor can register themselves to the platform to get connected to the patients in need. The platform, Sociio Ichor, has put all the digital privacy measures in place to keep the donors and receivers’ information safe. Starting from Manipal, the team envisions to spread across the nation and implement blood delivery system in its future plans.

Sociio Ichor platform was launched by Dr. HS Ballal, Pro-Chancellor of MAHE.

While launching the platform, Dr. Ballal said, “I am very happy you have initiated this noble cause of blood donation under the banner of Sociio Ichor. I am elated to participate in this program and launch this platform which I am sure will go to a long way in meeting the blood shortage that we have in the country.”

Speaking on the occasion, Lt General (Dr) MD Venkatesh, Vice Chancellor, MAHE said, “There is a saying in Kannada that goes “Rakt Dana, Maha Dana”, which translates to ‘There is nothing greater than donating blood. It is heartening to see the students of MIT of the Team Sociio Ichor has conceptualized and has already put this platform in action. I am sure this will be looked up and adopted by many other students and social groups, becoming a movement that revolutionizes blood donation and makes a huge difference in the entire nation.”

The platform created by the team is efficient and user-friendly. A registration form is available on the site which can be filled by donors willing to donate blood. This information is carefully handled by the team, making sure no privacy breach occurs. When a blood request is received, the donor compatible with the blood type of the patient is notified. If no donor is found, then a search for live donors is initiated.

The team of Sociio Ichor consists of Manorath Khanna, Mohammed Dilshaad Uzair, Abhishek Gupta, Pratik Shewkani, Amulya Kollipara, Insha Manowar, Nivedita Singh, and Yash Aryan, each bringing a unique skill set to the table. 

The event was also blessed by Registrar, MAHE - Dr. Narayana Sabhahit, Director of MIT - Commander Dr. Anil Rana, Medical Superintendent, KMC - Dr. Avinash Shetty, Associate Dean of KMC - Dr. Anil Bhat, HoD of Immunohematology, KMC  - Dr. Shamee  Shastry, Director of Student Affairs, MAHE – Dr Geetha Maiya,  Director of PR & Media Cell - Mr. SP Kar,

Chief Innovation Officer - Dr. Arun Shanbhag, Joint Director, MIT - Dr. Somashekara Bhat, Faculty Advisor - Dr. Alapati Vittaleswar, along with other dignitaries.