Recently Morgan Stanley published research sharing that digital payments penetration in India could increase from 5% today to 20% in 2027; the e-commerce market could reach $200 billion with 475 million shoppers by this time; the author delves deep into the Chinese and Indian payments markets, sharing why America could miss out on India’s fintech revolution. Source
PayU is a largest payments processor in India and it is continuing its moves into lending in that country with...
ICICI Bank will integrate Twitter's digital customer care support features through the bank's Twitter account; Twitter business support features to be utilized by ICICI Bank include Twitter's support indicator, message button and links for customer conversations; with the new customer support features, ICICI Bank seeks to make banking more rewarding for its customers. Source
Karun Thareja, Faircent's chief marketing officer, talks about the firm's business model and technology; the firm is one of the largest peer-to-peer consumer lenders in India and offers its investors annual returns ranging to 20%; it has built a comprehensive loan operating system with integrated client relationship management technology and lead generation channels; recently it has been focused on client acquisition through Facebook which it has integrated with its platform for customer communication. Source
India will be utilizing the world's largest biometrics database, Aadhaar, to implement smart health cards for its senior citizens; senior citizens will be receiving an Aadhaar-based smart card; the cards will include information on their health, healthcare and healthcare history; the Aadhaar smart cards will also have payment processing capabilities; the government will test the use of the Aadhaar smart cards in 15 districts during the 2017-2018 fiscal year. Source
Starting on April 14th consumers in India will be able to use their Aadhaar ID number to make payments; in theory this could replace payment services like PayTM and debit and credit cards; the Aadhaar Payments System (APS) will allow consumers to use their fingerprints to complete a transaction so long as they have an APS linked bank account; the system is not without drawbacks as there are privacy concerns and the entire system is based around data protection; this does fit in with Prime Minister Narendra Modi's move to a cashless society, though it remains to be seen how everyday consumers will utilize it. Source
Asia fintech specialist Henri Arslanian from PricewaterhouseCoopers provides insight on Asia's fintech market; innovation and rapid adoption are factors that have helped China to be a global leader in fintech; support from Baidu, Alibaba and Tencent continue to be drivers of infrastructure growth; in Asia, demonetization and the India Stack project, which includes biometric data for consumers, are also increasingly helping the region's fintech growth; regtech is also an increasingly important trend across the region. Source
Indian digital lender Capital Float is reportedly beginning a fundraising deal that would result in Rs 300 crore ($47 million) of new capital; the round is being led by Ribbit Capital and the firm is expecting a valuation of approximately Rs 1,300 crore ($203 million) following the deal; Capital Float plans to expand its lending portfolio to consumer lending and will also seek to finance kirana stores. Source
India's demonetization of the Rs 500 ($7.32) and Rs 1,000 ($14.65) continues to help online alternative finance lenders; uncertain investors are increasingly utilizing alternative finance platforms as a safer investment over gold, real estate and the stock market; invoice financing platform KredX has reported investment increases of 400% to 500%; with less of a cash focused society, P2P lenders Capital Float, Faircent, i-lend and AnyTimeLoan.in have also reported significantly higher platform investments. Source
Online lending platform, Capital Float, received the Fintech Startup of the Year award at the India Fintech Awards 2016, demonstrating its kirana loan app which it says gives instant approval with no paperwork; the award provides Capital Float with INR 500,000 along with many event partner benefits; within the industry the company has also been focusing on the country's demonetization which has been helping business growth for fintech firms. Source