MoneyTap, India’s first app-based credit line, has crossed 1,00,000 app installs in three months since launch, becoming the fastest app-based lending start-up to achieve the feat. The company has also lowered minimum salary eligibility to INR 20,000 per month and made the service available to consumers living in shared accommodation.

Since lowering the entry barrier late December 2016, MoneyTap has seen a huge demand from consumers in the lower-middle income group, with average salaries of around INR 22,000 per month and or living with their friends in shared housing.

In the last 20 days, more than 25% consumers who have applied for MoneyTap are in this category. This new category of young consumers, working in public, private or multinational companies in Tier-1 and Tier-2 cities are underserved by the financial institutions and are usually shunned in the absence of credible credit history. MoneyTap realised the need to tap this segment and provide credit line to the eligible shared accommodation dwellers with credible KYC.  This is a significant number of potential customers for MoneyTap.

MoneyTap introduced the concept of a Credit Line [personal line of credit for consumers] for the first time in India when it launched in end of September 2016. “Credit Line” means that the bank will issue a limit of up to INR 5 lakhs, without any collateral or charging any interest.

The credit limit could range from INR 25,000 to INR 5 Lakhs depending on individual credit history. With a patent-pending chat interface, the free app rapidly evaluates the user’s credit in 7-minutes and tells them right then and there the amount they are eligible for. Against this limit, using the MoneyTap app, consumers can borrow as little as INR 3000 or as much as INR 5 lakhs and repay it as EMIs from 2 months to 3 years. Interest is paid only on the amount borrowed and rates can be as low as 1.25% per month. Credit limit also gets automatically topped up as soon as EMIs are paid back.

MoneyTap launched the product in September end with its first banking partner, The RBL Bank. RBL’s technology enables MoneyTap to provide instant decision and instant access to money, 24/7, irrespective of holidays. Though all actions are initiated on the MoneyTap app, per RBI guidelines, all financial transactions such as billing, repayment or withdrawals are directly dealt with the bank using secure APIs. Consumers do not have to hold a bank account or any other account with the partner bank to avail MoneyTap. As an added convenience for shopping needs, a MoneyTap RBL Credit Card is also provided to the user. This is a regular MasterCard Credit Card that is accepted at all locations and for all card purchases – offline and online.

The MoneyTap app is available on Android Playstore to all salaried employees, living in Ahmedabad, Vadodara, Delhi NCR, Mumbai, Bangalore, Pune, Hyderabad & Chennai. The company is continuously expanding across India and will soon be announcing other cities. Qualified customers, after completing the KYC [right from the app with no paperwork involved], will pay a one-time Line setup fee of INR 499 + tax in their first month e-settlement. This includes the cost of issuing the limit for the customer, a free MoneyTap RBL MasterCard and a slew of other benefits. There are no hidden fees or charges and every time the customer chooses to take an EMI, they will be shown the interest & any other applicable charges and the customer will be required to provide explicit consent before borrowing.

Bala Parthasarathy, Co-founder, MoneyTap says

We are humbled by the feedback we have received from our customers and are happy that we have been able to reach a large number of them. Since its inception, MoneyTap’s focus has been to enable easy access to small credit needs. The lower-middle income group in India is largely underserved by financial institutions. It is also a segment which is expanding and in need of credit. With the proliferation of smartphones in every nook & corner of the country, an expanding middle-income group and increasing ability to earn and spend, it will be interesting to see how access to a Credit Line will change their lives.

About MoneyTap

MoneyTap is a Bengaluru-based fintech startup, founded by serial entrepreneurs Bala Parthasarathy, Anuj Kacker & Kunal Varma, who are IIT/ISB alumni. Bala has co-founded multiple startups in Silicon Valley including Snapfish (sold to Hewlett Packard), which he helped grow to 100M users and $300M in revenue. After moving to India in 2007, he volunteered for UIDAI under Mr. Nandan Nilekani before starting AngelPrime in 2011 (now Prime Venture Partners) where he helped create companies like ZipDial (sold to Twitter), EZETap, Happay, etc. Kunal (ex Texas Instruments) & Anuj (ex Airtel & JWT) co-founded Tapstart that grew to 300K users and turned profitable in 2 years. MoneyTap works in very close partnerships with various banks and other financial institutions to make the process painless and on-app. For more details, please visit MoneyTap

While in the last two months, households across India have had to take some tough decisions. The cash problem is directing consumers to online stores where they can pay with cards or mobile wallets and buy grocery.

The days of heading to the supermarket are over as people now trade trolleys for home delivery services. New research from CashKaro, India’s Largest Cashback & Coupons site, takes a closer look at the cultural shifts in the way millennials stock their kitchen cupboards after demonetization.

Key Findings

  • BigBasket, Grofers, Godrej Nature’s Basket, ZopNow and Grocermax are the most preferred grocery sites
  • More than 50% of the respondents have started buying grocery/daily items online after demonetization
  • 44% would like to avail a subscription service for grocery, owing to their busy schedule
  • 79% have grocery applications installed in their mobile phones out of which 33% use more than one App

The online grocery industry seems to be an unintended beneficiary of the move as the customer cannot postpone essential purchases for their home. The survey indicated that more than 50% of the respondents have started buying grocery/daily items online after demonetization & a quarter would like to start soon. BigBasket, Grofers, Godrej Nature’s Basket, ZopNow and Grocermax are voted amongst top hyper-local sites. BigBasket ranks top in overall service [37%], Grofers leads in packaging [34%], Grocermax has the best prices [32%], ZopNow in delivery convenience [34%] & Godrej Nature’s Basket for fresh products [38%].

The main reason consumers cite for shopping grocery/daily items online is that it allows Cash-free transactions [31%] and offers better deals & discounts [25%]. This is followed by the fact that online shopping gives consumers more convenience than visiting stores [24%] as well as offers the luxury of delivery time slots as per own availability [10%].

Added innovations such as subscription-based service may have a significant impact on the growth in online grocery shopping, as 44% of respondents said they would like to avail this service considering their busy schedule. 79% of total respondents said they have grocery applications installed in their mobile phones out of which 33% have more than one App. However, 15% of these App buyers said they still like to order via Desktop.

On the survey Swati Bhargava, Co-Founder, CashKaro.com said

It’s very interesting to notice this changing consumer behavior towards shopping grocery. The shift from superstores/local vendors to online shopping channels is certainly visible as a lot of users have started to shop for daily items online after demonetization. The survey is also an indication that while the changing lifestyle coupled with long working hours has shifted grocery purchasing trend from offline to online format, attractive offers by grocery players are also wooing the consumers to opt for online purchases. We at CashKaro also have seen a 2X growth in the number of transactions on these sites post November 8 last year.

While the survey indicates a rise in willingness to shop grocery online, not all consumers are ditching the trip to the offline shops. 31% still feel concerned about the quality of online products, 26% are not sure about the return policy whereas 20% prefer to inspect products themselves before buying.

The survey also revealed that almost 61% respondents shop for groceries weekly and a majority of them spend between Rs 500 – 2,000 per month. The survey was conducted at a pan-India level with 53% male and 47% female participants. A majority of the participants were over 35 years of age and were employed.

Shell is calling all energy start-ups to enter a national competition that will help develop their bright energy business ideas. The Shell #makethefuture Accelerator India 2017, launched in India for the first time, aims to encourage and accelerate the development of ideas that can help provide more and cleaner energy solutions.

Globally, we are using more energy than ever before. At the same time, the significance of climate change means the world must reduce CO2 emissions. We need innovative thinking to make today’s energy go further and to find cleaner energy to take us towards a lower carbon world. Great ideas come from conversation, collaboration, partnerships; great minds coming together. The aim of the Shell #makethefuture Accelerator India programme is to seek out and support solutions for our energy future.

Commenting on the launch of the programme, Nitin Prasad, Chairman, Shell Companies in India said

At Shell, we believe that collaboration is vital to our purpose of ‘powering progress together for more and cleaner energy’ & to solve the complex global energy challenges. The #makethefuture Accelerator programme provides a platform for innovation, collaboration and conversation around the energy transitions and global energy future while offering a chance for energy start-ups with bright ideas to demonstrate their ability in bringing those ideas to life.

Shell #makethefuture currently supports seven bright energy ideas globally including GravityLight, a UK start-up that, with Shell’s support, recently launched their clean energy solution to communities in Kenya.

Who can apply

The competition is open to startups with products, technologies, services or initiatives that fulfill one or more of the following criteria:

  • improves energy efficiency
  • reduces energy waste;
  • reduces CO2 emissions;
  • generates energy from a new source
  • broadens access to energy.

Enterprises must

  • Operate in an Indian city
  • Have an India registered entity
  • Be in post-pilot or prototype stage

Now, Shell is bringing the #makethefuture Accelerator programme to India to give start-ups across the country the opportunity to collaborate showcasing and developing their bright energy ideas.

Be a part of Make the Future Singapore festival and win ? 10 lakh

Interested energy start-ups will need to apply through an application form available on Shell’s India website. Registration opens on 16th January and will close by midnight 3rd February.

The top 3 finalists will get the opportunity to participate in an Accelerator Event, gather useful insights for their final pitch presentation and connect with like-minded energy start-ups from across the world at Make the Future Singapore, a festival of ideas and innovation for Asia being held in March 2017. During the Accelerator event, the finalists will receive coaching from experts, network and exchange tips with other Asian start-ups on how to grow their ideas into a reality.

These top 3 finalists will then pitch their ideas to an esteemed jury including senior leaders from Shell and Nitin Prasad, Chairman of Shell India at the launch of the Shell Technology Centre Bangalore by March end 2017. Seven semi-finalists will be invited to also showcase their ideas to leaders from business, government and media at the launch event.

The winning start-up will be awarded prize money of ? 10 lakh along with mentorship by senior Shell and industry leaders that will help build a strong value proposition and enable them to access funding to scale.

Tally Solutions Private Limited, a premier Indian software product company, in association with one of the leading financial news channel CNBC Awaaz and business media house The Guild, conducted its successful SME Futures program in Gurgaon, in a mission to train and educate the [non-corporate sector] SME community for easy GST compliance and transition along with discussion on SME related issues and topics.

The event was attended by 200 businesses, members from several Industry associations and CAs. The event was designed to equip the participants on fundamentals, impact on business and preparation in the realm of GST and its seamless adoption among others.

The topics covered in the program included the Journey from USD 1 Million to USD 100 Million Mark, Make in India and the Competitiveness of SMEs in a Globalized Economy; driving growth through innovation and new technologies; deciphering the nuances and impact of GST implementation on SMEs in the coming future. The event was a grand success, helping the SME community in decoding GST and reaping the benefits of technology for transition and implementation.

Sathya Prasad, CFO Tally Solutions Pvt Ltd

Speaking about the meet held in Gurgaon, Bharat Goenka, MD-Tally Solutions said

It is evident from the overwhelming response to our GST program held in Gurgaon, that every businessman is anxious to understand and get ready for this massive change.  Our partnership with CNBC Awaaz-The Guild was motivated by this need to maximize reach to the business community, who are likely to be the most dramatically effected section. We are not just preparing the right products and technologies for them, but also wanting to ensure they are equipped with the right understanding of GST, such that they can transition effectively and take advantage of this revolutionary tax regime.

We have already conducted hundreds of such events, and are executing several thousand more to get as many businesses of India ready as possible.

Speaking at the event, Sathya Prasad, CFO-Tally Solutions said

We are glad to see such an overwhelming response to our event. Gurgaon has evolved as an Industrial and manufacturing hub, as the symbol of rising new India. The entire region will stand to benefit a lot from GST compliance and for that to happen it is very important for them to become aware about the new tax structure. This is one of the reasons for us having chosen Gurgaon as a hub for the series.

Tally partnering with The Guild & CNBC Awaaz, plans to drive the SME Futures program for the SME community in 12 key cities during the course of the next 3 months.

About The Guild

The Guild is India’s first progressive business media brand, with a unique editorial focus on innovation in technology, business, leadership, and design. In an era where digital revolution is changing business, and business is changing the world. Discarding the old rules of business, The Guild is set out to chronicle how these changing companies will create and compete, to highlight new business practices, and to showcase the teams and individuals who are inventing the future and reinventing business. The Guild will provide an insider’s access to India’s innovation economy, featuring unparalleled insights on the emerging technologies driving the economy.

National Instruments (NI), the provider of solutions that enable engineers and scientists to solve the world’s greatest engineering challenges, announced the opening of the new NI Industrial IoT Lab at its Austin headquarters.

The NI Industrial IoT Lab focuses on intelligent systems that connect operational technology, information technology and the companies working on these systems. Designed with flexibility for the future, the lab’s operational focus includes areas such as micro-grid control and communication, advanced control for manufacturing, and asset monitoring for heavy equipment.

Additionally, the NI Industrial IoT Lab fosters collaboration between different companies to improve interoperability. In this space, companies with expertise in communications protocols, controller hardware, I/O components, processing elements and software platforms come together to validate end-to-end solutions that can dramatically change the way businesses operate.

Companies sponsoring the NI Industrial IoT Lab include – Analog Devices Inc, Avnu Alliance, Cisco Systems, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Industrial Internet Consortium, Intel, Kalypso, OPC Foundation, OSIsoft, PTC, Real-Time Innovations, SparkCognition, Semikron, Viewpoint Systems and Xilinx.

Jamie Smith, business and technology director at NI said

We are excited to strengthen partnerships with other world-class technology companies. A working showcase for new technologies can help all companies involved drive breakthrough innovations for utility grids, manufacturing, asset health monitoring and several other industries.

The lab is a working showcase for Industrial IoT technologies, solutions and systems architectures. Through demonstrators, such as the on-site Industrial Internet Consortium [IIC] test-beds, participating companies can promote innovative solutions and drive discussions with the domain experts that see the real-world challenges.

To learn more about the new NI Industrial IoT Lab, please visit IIOT Lab from NI

Atos, an international leader in digital services, and NASSCOM Foundation jointly announced the launch of National Digital Literacy Mission [NDLM] centers dedicated to training and imparting digital literacy at Vadodara, Gujarat. The NDLM centers will conduct skill development programs in the area of Information Technology for the aspiring persons interested to undertake IT literacy programs.

Atos in collaboration with NASSCOM Foundation, will endeavor to leverage the IT training as envisaged under the NDLM Scheme with the objectives of appreciation of Digital Literacy- that aims to make a person IT literate, so that (s)he can operate digital devices, like mobile phones, tablets among other electronic devices and send & receive emails and search the internet for information among other things.

Atos in India will facilitate the training infrastructure and the trainers at these NDLM centers with the help of NASSCOM nominated NGO’s at its respective location centers. These centers together will provide training on all digital devices, specifically, computers and mobile phones.

Once trained, the beneficiaries will be able to send emails, connect on social media, buy from e-Commerce websites, and will even know how to use internet to avail various government services such as registering for AADHAR Cards, Ration Cards, PAN Cards, and other such internet enabled services.

On the occasion, Surendrasinh Gohil, SVP & Head Global Delivery Centers for Infrastructure & Data Management Division said

As a leading international digital services company, we are pleased to announce our association with NASSCOM Foundation in accomplishing the larger goal of Digital Saksharta Abhiyan [DISHA] or also known as NDLM Scheme. The mission is both aspiring and ambitious in its scale to train the non-IT literate citizens to become IT literate. A sound foundation starts with a modest beginning; this is quite an enabling initiative across India. We are confident that this initiative will help a part of the society, that otherwise wouldn’t have been able to access the opportunities offered by the Digital economy in India. We are happy to partner with NASSCOM Foundation and Deepak Foundation in this initiative and look forward to make this community service a success for Vadodara citizens.

Shrikant Sinha, CEO, NASSCOM Foundation said

We believe that digital literacy is one of the most potent tool for the empowerment of the underserved communities in today’s digital and cashless economy. Working in partnership with Atos, NASSCOM Foundation is proud to announce the launch of four new centres across India, taking the total Atos Centre count to eight. Being digitally literate would help the citizens access services as Vadodara leaps forward in its journey towards becoming a smart city.

The National Digital Literacy Mission is a far-sighted, dynamic and integrated platform of digital literacy awareness, education and capacity creation programme that will help rural and the under-served communities to fully participate in the global digital economy. NASSCOM Foundation is the industry partner to the Government of India to accomplish the first phase goal for NDLM or ‘DISHA’ by making 52.5 lakh individuals in India digitally literate in the next four years.

BankBazaar, the Personal Finance marketplace backed by Amazon, has unveiled new features on its Android App to further help users manage their finances. In the new Personal Finance section, a user views a real-time snapshot of their aggregated balance across multiple savings accounts and transaction history of individual bank accounts. Most people use more than one bank account, which makes it difficult to keep track of transactions and balances. BankBazaar.com solves this problem by displaying consolidated information in one single simple interface.

Customers can view a personalized summary of their consolidated bank balance from the Home Screen itself, with the option to view bank-specific balances too.  They can also use the app to quickly and seamlessly update their balance in real time.

In addition, the app also tracks credit card spends, due & minimum due amounts corresponding to the billing cycle. All this is done in a reliable, secure, non-intrusive manner after the user signs in using their Google or Facebook login credentials.

Rati Shetty, CPO and Co-founder, BankBazaar.com said

In our busy day-to-day lives, keeping track of personal finance transactions can take a backseat. When mobile applications help people make every aspect of their lives simpler, why should money matters be any different? We’ve simplified everyday banking transactions and accessibility to the right financial products together in one simple, secure, unobtrusive application.

According to BankBazaar, the app helps reinforce responsible fiscal habits in the user in three ways:

Enhance savings :  The app provides a direct window into a user’s financial health and will help a user get a better handle on over-expenditure and better budgeting.

Schedule payments : The app keeps track of a user’s credit card billing cycle with gentle reminders to pay their bill on time. This will help improve credit score.

Easy credit access : The app delivers the best loan and credit card offers with the added convenience of instant approval, real-time application status tracking and a paperless process.

The new feature update combined with the app’s existing features such as EMI calculators, IFSC search, application tracking etc., gives the user extra fire power with absolute control over cash assets and credit card liabilities in a simple interface. This is yet another firm step in BankBazaar.com’s mission to help users access the right financial products.

BankBazaar app for Android can be downloaded from here

November 8th, 2016 needs no introduction! It would definitely be remembered for many more years from now for the boldest announcement made by the government-Demonetization. Last few months there has been mixed reactions to it where many terming it as a brave move to curb black money, curb funding used in cross-border terrorism, push to promote cashless transactions, etc. On the other side, due to the shortage of lower denomination currency; it resulted in huge queues at ATM’s, small scale industries getting affected (especially those who paid their salaries by cash), falling interest rates in safe investment options like Fixed Deposit, PPF.

Image Source – Real Estate

Demonetization-Real Estate: Short-term Impact, Long-term Gain

The Reserve Bank Of India (RBI) has already received deposits close to Rs. 15 Lakh crore in Rs. 500 & Rs. 1000 junked currency notes (Source). Such huge deposits by individuals and business owners has resulted in increased inflow of funds in banks thus alleviating the banks from the liquidity crunch. As mentioned earlier though increased liquidity has brought down the overall deposit rates, the silver lining is that it has resulted in reduced lending rates! As per financial experts, the effect of demonetization would remain for at least 1~2 years & this is the best time to buy a new property due to reducing home loan rates (Source).

Pokhran Road: Malabar Hill Of Thane

It is a well-known fact that Mumbai has a dense population and life in the city is very fast 🙂 Being from Mumbai, I can blindly vouch for this and it goes without saying that the property rates in western & suburban Mumbai are the highest. Due to the exaggerated property rates, residents from those areas look out for viable options in upcoming places like Vashi, Thane, etc. Thane was recently included in the list of Smart Cities thus ensuring that there would be interrupted power supply, proper waste management, efficient transportation systems, IT connectivity. We all know that buying a good home is an important personal decision since your entire life savings would be put in buying that dream home and you should have a sense of pride in address owing it.

Thane is the preferred destination for home buyers since it offers great physical infrastructure. Pokhran Road, located between Ghodbunder Road & Central Thane is considered the prized jewel of Thane and is also termed as the Malabar Hill of Thane. Malabar Hill is an upmarket residential area in southern Mumbai. Pokhran Road (precisely  Pokhran Road 2) provides a natural green environment, thanks to its close proximity to Yeoor hills & Upvan Lake.

Image Source – Yeoor Hills Waterfalls

While purchasing a dream home, buyers evaluate the locality based on connectivity, infrastructure as well as value creation and Pokhran Road offers much more than that! Several malls, hospitals, educational institutes are within easy reach due to which Pokhran Road 2 has received a lot of investor interest. It is located just ten minutes away from the railway station and Eastern express highway & Ghodbunder Road have added an icing on the cake, making it an ideal tourist and residential destination. Tourists can easily reach the famous Sanjay Gandhi national park from Pokhran Road. It is a coincidence that the postal code of Malabar Hill is 400006 & Pokhran road, Thane is 400610 🙂

Pokhran Road has projects from famous builders namely, Dosti Group, Ackruti, Cosmos, Neelkanth, etc and a lot of up-scale apartments have recently come up in the locality. The latest entrant in the list is Serein from Tata Housing that is located on Pokhran Road No 2, Thane West. It is set to re-define luxury and promises Homes that make a legacy.

Serein from Tata Housing: Living amidst affluence

Serein from the famous Tata Housing is located at Pokhran Road 2 and can be considered as the Epitome of luxury living. It is first of its kind project by Tata Housing that is centered around Wellness. The project has plenty of open spaces, a lot of greenery and breath-taking views. Amidst the busy city life, residents could enjoy the beauty of nature at Serein.

If you are a nature lover, there are plenty of reasons to buy a home at Serein since instead of frequenting malls; you can enjoy the chirping of birds, sounds of nature, etc. at Sanjay Gandhi National Park, Upvan lake, Yeoor hills that are located in close vicinity of the project.

Tata Serein has focused a lot on Wellness and they have gone an extra mile to ensure the well-being of its residents. Safety & security are also given utmost importance. Some of the steps taken by Tata Housing for ensuring sustainable wellness are below (Source):

  • Efficient designing of lighting system
  • Rain water harvesting system
  • Solar water heater
  • Use of low VOC material
  • Use of native species for landscaping
  • Centralized waste management system
  • Dehumidifiers
  • Vitamin C Showers
  • Daylight penetration

Amenities are a critical factor for the success of any project and Serein is loaded with tons of amenities. You would feel like living amidst affluence! Some of the amenities are below:

  • Organic garden with outdoor dining
  • Pet park
  • Nature trail
  • Jogging and Bicycle track
  • Tennis court
  • Skating rink

Importance has been given to minute detailing e.g. Usage of  Vitamin C showers enhance your skin and Solar heating cuts down the electricity bills! If you are looking for an ideal investment in the real-estate sector and want to enjoy the beauty of nature without giving up the benefits of city life, then you should definitely have a look at Serein from Tata Housing.

Though Pokhran Road is famously referred as Malabar hill of Thane with the arrival of the posh & luxurious Serein, it might be termed as #MalabarhillofThane!

For more details, please visit the official website of Serein from Tata Housing.