|In: Digital|Last Updated: | 2 Comments

National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), the umbrella organisation for all retail payments system in India is pleased to announce that Unified Payments Interface (UPI) is going live for customers with 21 banks.

On April 11, 2016, the soft-launch of UPI was announced by Dr. Raghuram Rajan. For the last few months it was under pilot run mainly with employee-customers. The purpose of ‘pilot run’ was to ensure that technical glitches, if any, are fixed and the product gives a smooth experience for immediate ‘Pay’ and ‘Collect’ with Virtual Payment Address (VPA).

A. P. Hota, MD & CEO, NPCI said

This is a success of enormous significance. Real-time sending and receiving money through a mobile application at such a scale on inter-operable basis had not been attempted anywhere else in the world. Now the UPI App will be made available on Google Play Store by banks.

After assessing the success of pilot run, RBI had accorded their final approval for public launch of the product. NPCI had decided that only the banks with 1000 pilot customers, 5000 transactions and success rate of around 80 percent would be permitted to go live. Such a threshold criteria helped banks to refine their systems and procedure.

The UPI app of 19 banks will be available on the Google Play Store in next two to three working days for the customers to download and start using. The relevant details of the service would be available on the website of 21 banks.

List of Banks which are going live with UPI

Banks providing UPI enabled mobile app on Google Play Store:

  • Andhra Bank, Axis Bank
  • Bank of Maharashtra
  • Bhartiya Mahila Bank
  • Canara Bank, Catholic Syrian Bank
  • DCB Bank
  • Federal Bank
  • ICICI Bank
  • TJSB Sahakari Bank
  • Oriental Bank of Commerce
  • Karnataka Bank
  • UCO Bank
  • Union Bank of India
  • United Bank of India
  • Punjab National Bank
  • South Indian Bank
  • Vijaya Bank &
  • YES Bank.

 

Issuers

  • IDBI Bank and RBL Bank are on-boarded as issuers. It enables their customers to download any UPI enabled Apps mentioned above and link their account.

 

About UPI

UPI is a unique payment solution which empowers a recipient to initiate the payment request from a smartphone. It facilitates ‘virtual payment address’ as a payment identifier for sending and collecting money and works on single click 2 factor authentication. It also provides an option for scheduling push and pull transactions for various purposes like sharing bills among peers. One can use UPI app instead of paying cash on delivery on receipt of product from online shopping websites and can pay for miscellaneous expenses like paying utility bills, over the counter payments, barcode (scan and pay) based payments, donations, school fees and other such unique and innovative use cases. For more information, please visit http://www.npci.org.in/UPI_Documents.aspx

About NPCI

National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) was set up in 2009 as the central infrastructure for various retail payment systems in India and was envisaged by the Reserve Bank of India as the payment utility for all banks in the country. During the last six years, the organisation has grown multi-fold from 2 million transactions a day to 25 million transactions now. For more information, please visit http://www.npci.org.in/

|In: Incubators|Last Updated: | 0 Comments

Lot of innovations are coming up in the Fintech space and the launch of the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) just makes the space even more competitive. One of the critical driving factors of the innovation in the ‘Financial Tech Space’ is due to the increasing penetration of mobile phones, affordability of internet (2G/3G) and sky-rocketing use of Digital Currency (Closed and Semi-Closed Wallets).

Gone are the days when you had to stand in long queues to get your bank’s pass book updated or withdraw/deposit money. In fact, all these activities including opening a new account are now possible with the click of a button !!! Though Payment Services (Paytm, Freecharge etc.), P2P Lending (EasySalary, LendBox etc.), Personal Finance Services (BankBazaar, Capital Float etc.) are some of the sectors that have seen major growth and investor interest; there is still lot of room for startups to innovate in the ‘Fintech Sector’.

A startup incubator from well known Financial Brand like Axis Bank, India’s third largest Private Sector bank could just bring a huge delight for entrepreneurs in the Fintech Space.

Thought Factory : Startup Accelerator from Axis Bank

Axis Bank has partnered with Amazon Internet Services, Payments product company VISA and Singapore based Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation to set up startup accelerator Thought Factory in Diamond District in Bengaluru. The major focus of Thought Factory would be Financial Technology Space and it would on-board it’s second batch of startups next month.

The incubated startups would be focusing on ideas built on emerging technologies like AI, Big data analytics, Block Chain, Robotics and much more. These ideas could take the consumer banking experience to the whole new level. The KPMG Fintech Report – 2016 also points that the next wave of Indian Fintech Startups would be from these areas !! First batch of startups are already live in Mumbai and the second batch will begin this month & they might be based out of Bengaluru.

The launch was attended by Axis Bank executives – Rajiv Anand, Executive Director (Retail Banking), Amit Sethi, President & CIO amongst others. Serial tech-entrepreneur Vishal Gondal, Founder & CEO of GoQii, Sanjay Swamy, Entrepreneur & prominent Angel-investor, Senior executives from VISA and Amazon Internet Services were also present at the event.

Commenting on the launch, Rajiv Anand, Executive Director (Retail Banking), Axis Bank said

We are excited about the way financial industry is evolving and how millennials are re-imagining the industry. ‘Thought Factory’, our innovation lab is an endeavor to build on the ideas of innovators that can radically change consumers’ life in Banking and beyond. With this initiative, we are creating a vibrant ecosystem of Global Banks, startups & tech innovators.

The Keynote Speaker of the event was Tenith Adithyaa, 18-year old inventor & innovator from Tamil Nadu who spoke about his inventions.

Thought Factory : Industry Partnerships

For the accelerator programme, Axis Bank has partnered with Zone Startups. At the end of 3-month long incubation programme, Axis Bank in association with Zone Startups would organize Investor Day to facilitate funding for the short-listed startups.

Thought Factory would also have external mentors on-board that would support the startups in their journey. It is also working with NASSCOM 10K, VC partners, Global Banks etc. in order to create a healthy and vibrant tech eco-system and to create a culture of ‘Co-Creation‘.

Additionally, Axis Bank has also launched ‘Hack for Hire‘ programme for identifying talent from across the country through Hackathons for the in-house innovation team at Thought Factory

Thought Factory : How to apply

In order to be a part of the Thought Factory, your startup needs to be a registered Indian entity trying to create it’s mark in the fin-tech sector. There is no cost & no equity (taken by Axis Bank) if your startup is selected for the Axis Bank’s Thought Factory.

To know more about Thought Factory Program, it’s structure etc., drop a mail to to thoughtfactory@axisbank.com or visit bit.ly/thoughtfactoryapply

Thought Factory : Fin-tech meets Health-tech

Though Digital Wallets have been widely adopted by the Indian consumers, contact-less payment via Wearables could see an up-trend with the #AxisActive. Axis Bank in collaboration with GoQii launched #AxisActive, a fitness band with which you can make Payments at PoS of retail outlets.

For every 70,000 steps you walk, you earn 500 Axis eDGE reward points. So go ahead, turn anytime into fitness time. #AxisActive is a perfect marriage of Fin-Tech and Health-Tech 🙂 Now, earn reward points for burning calories with this innovation from GoQii and Axis Bank. More information about #AxisActive is available here

Thought Factory : Closing Thoughts

Given the deep-rooted expertise of Axis Bank in the Financial & Banking sector, Thought Factory looks the right step taken by them to be a part of the vibrant tech-startup eco-system.

To know more about the Thought Factory Program, it’s structure etc., drop a mail to to thoughtfactory@axisbank.com or visit bit.ly/thoughtfactoryapply

|In: Technology|Last Updated: | 0 Comments

It’s that time of the year again when the sparkling Ganpati brings the city alive. Zuver has rolled out a special package so that the customers make the most of the festivities and immerse oneself in the history of the festival.

Your Driver on Demand has come with an offer where you can book a driver to take the idols for emersion from your doorstep. Our professional drivers will reach you at the pickup time and drive you around in the comfort of your own car. The prices for the first 5 hours are Rs. 499 and Rs 70 over 5 hours.

There is an additional package which ensures its customers a safe and hassle-free drive to city’s famous Ganpati pandals. Your comfortable rides with a self-driven car by trained and skilled Zuver drivers are just a click away. This five hour package is priced for Rs. 1200

Furthermore, the drivers [or Captain as Zuver calls them] are presentable and amiable with soft skills; customers can rely upon throughout their journey. They ensure customers with basic car checks like battery, petrol, PUC etc., before starting every journey. Zuver recognises the need of customers and meet them with efficiency.

Ushering the spirit of Ganesh Chaturthi in Mumbai is always Splendid! This Ganpati enjoy the festive fervor with Zuver rides.

Zuver for Android and iOS is available here & here respectively.

About Zuver – Driver on Demand
Zuver is a start-up with a unique selling proposition –a service that promises reliable, skilled, well-trained ‘driver on demand’ at your doorstep. They aim to make their drivers the gold standard for industry drivers and create a new benchmark. This mobile-first company that offers the best in class service is on its course to expand its presence in other metros. Zuver, Your driver on demand is available on Android and iOS or at 022-43686868. For more information, please refer Zuver

|In: Finance|Last Updated: | 0 Comments

It is the season of filing taxes and at least during this period of time, Tax and Savings momentarily become buzz words. One of the main reasons why it is momentary is because just like ‘New Year Resolutions’ that sometimes get fulfilled, our investment plans rarely take shape as per the plan. Investment plans many times change based on investment priorities, assets & liabilities, risk-taking appetite (which is based on your current stage of life, your current savings, dependents etc.).

Investments could take either form – Investments in Stock Markets [market dependent, volatile & investor needs to be updated with the market scenario’s] or Investments in Mutual Funds, ULIP (Unit Linked Insurance Plan), Life Insurance etc. In the latter case, investment situation is very different since in case of Mutual Funds/ULIP’s, you as an investor need to keep a Check on Market Up’s/Down’s but in most cases, there would be a flexibility to switch between your fund options in order to maximize returns. Such investment options are best suited when you have a bird’s eye view of the capital market (not in-depth knowledge) and do not have risk-taking appetite !!

Image Source* – Online Term Plan

We had also mentioned about one very important investment – Life Insurance that can be termed as Life Assurance. It is an assurance that if some un-toward incident occurs in your life than your dependents do not have to take the brunt on it (from financial aspects). We insure our cars, house, bike and even mobile phones these days. In today’s fast paced world, life has become uncertain, so each one of us would definitely have a Life Insurance. With rising inflation, change in our life-style patterns, shift to nuclear families, Life Insurance is a must-have in your financial planning book !!!

Most of the Life Insurance policies in the market offer only ‘Life Cover’ i.e. the opportunity for wealth-creation is negligible. If you are an average Financial Maverick (i.e. you keep a check on market scenario on regular-basis) & require a Life Insurance that also creates Wealth than ULIP (Unit Linked Insurance Plan) provides you that option (Life Cover + Wealth Creation). There are many financial companies offering the same and Canara HSBC & OBC is set to launch a ‘Part Protection‘ and ‘Part investment plan‘. The plan provides protection features through different benefit options to suit your needs.

Canara, HSBC and OBC : Overview

Canara HSBC and OBC is a joint collaboration of Canara, HSBC, Oriental Bank of Commerce and it caters to the Life Insurance sector. It uses industry-accepted best security practices, controls and have a robust information security framework and underlying infrastructure that works round the clock towards protecting customer’s sensitive information.

Canara, HSBC and OBC : ULIP Plans

As mentioned earlier, ULIP is a good product that offers you the benefit of investment in capital markets along with insurance. One of the major advantages of ULIP is that you can expect higher returns based on your scheme. With GST Bill passed by Rajya Sabha and overall reactions being ‘Positive’, I invested in a ULIP plan from this company based on consultation with my financial advisor.

Source – CanaraHSBCLife

Canara HSBC Oriental Bank of Commerce Life Insurance has some interesting ULIP Plans which an investor can look into based on his/her current investment portfolio. Some of the plans are below:

  1. Grow Smart Plan
  2. Dream Smart Plan
  3. Future Smart Plan
  4. Smart Goals Plans

You can more information about these plans & many other plans in the ULIP section of CanaraHSBCOBC The company has come up with new ULIP Plans – iNVESTSHIELD Plan and Assured Nivesh Plan.

Canara, HSBC and OBC : iNVESTSHIELD Plan

In line with the philosophy of ULIP Plans, #InvestShield Plan is a Value for Money Investment combined with Protection for your Family. The most promising aspect of the plan is that it is Highly customizable and you have the flexibility to do Partial Withdrawals.

In order to apply for the #InvestShield Plan, you need to follow these steps:

  1. Decide on your Premium and Choose your options
  2. Complete the Proposal
  3. Make Payment
  4. Submit the Documents

The entire process looks hassle-free and less cumbersome !!! Based on your risk-taking appetite, you can opt for a plan that suits your current & planned future requirements.

Image Source* – InvestShield Plan

In order to Apply for the #InvestShield Plan, please visit InvestShield Plan Application Page

Canara, HSBC and OBC : Assured Nivesh Plan

Assured Nivesh Plan is a plan with fixed Policy Term of 15 and 20 years. Depending on the Policy Term, you need to pay premium for 7 or 10 years. At the end of every year, the company would declare bonus throughout the policy term and that would be added to the sum assured.

CanaraHSBCOBC-AssuredNiveshPlan-1

On survival of the Life Assured to the end of the policy term the below defined maturity benefit is payable to the Policyholder provided the policy is in-force: Guaranteed Sum Assured at Maturity + Accrued Annual Bonus (If Any) + Final Bonus (If Any) where Guaranteed Sum Assured at Maturity is equal to Sum Assured. Please refer to BENEFITS section of Assured Nivesh Plan to get details about Life-Cover Benefits and Death Benefits.

We are sure that there would be lingering doubts about the returns, benefits to family members in case of un-timely demise of the policy holder etc. The HOW IT WORKS section provides an answer to all your questions :

CanaraHSBCOBC-AssuredNiveshPlan-3

The Insurance Calculator section can definitely be a useful tool in case you have the initial doubt of “How much insurance you need ?” With an upswing in the market, increase in FDI, Passage of the GST Bill coupled with positive reactions from industry experts; this might be the right time to invest in a ULIP Plan 🙂

If you an investor in any policy from Canara HSBC OBC, please leave your review in the comments section…

Disclaimer : Information provided in the article is based on my research and I do not have any holding. Investment in stocks/ULIP/Mutual Funds involves risk, so consult your financial adviser or do your own analysis before making any investment.

|In: Technology|Last Updated: | 0 Comments

Intex Technologies expands its wearable range with the launch of a kids-only smart watch, iRist Junior. The kids smart watch is more like a tracking device with parental guidance features to keep tap on child’s security round the clock. iRist Junior connects with parents’ smart phone through IoT platform secured server powered by mobile internet. The brilliant watch for the smart generation is available at appealing price of Rs 3,999.

iRist Junior comes with an appealing design, to make sure that toddlers and children are willing to have it on their wrists. The kids smart watch has 2G network and is Location-based Service (LBS) enabled, making the smart watch a tracking device. With this, comes the primary parental feature of iRist Junior-Geo Fencing. This feature tags the child’s movement to limited places, so whenever the child steps beyond pre-defined places, the watch notifies parents about the child’s whereabouts. Being GPS enabled, parents can keep track of child’s movement anytime and anywhere.

Apart from location, parents can also pre-install contact list to whom the child can talk to. iRist Junior comes with Auto Call and Voice Chat features. Auto Call enables parents to reach out to the child by listening to their surroundings without child answering the call.

Image Source - Intex iRist
Image Source – Intex iRist

Voice Chat feature on the other hand enables the child to talk to parents (watch to smart phone) and friends who have iRist Junior (watch to watch), thereby having a two-way calling. To ensure the child is completely focused in the class, parents can turn ON the Forbidden in Class feature, after which the little one can only see the main screen of the watch.

Keshav Bansal, Director, Intex Technologies said

Intex has always aimed at improving lives and empowering consumers through technological innovations. With iRist Junior, we have with the power of technology brought an innovative device that will address parental concerns with respect to child’s security and at the same time make them connected to their child. The kids smart watch by Intex is an example of innovative devices catering to social concerns that will resonate with everyone one across the world.

IRist Junior has a special safety feature, the SOS button on the top right side of the watch. By simply pressing the button, the kid can send an alert message to a pre-defined list of people who can be reached out for help.

The sturdy IRist Junior comes with a TFT display (128*64) and is very lightweight at 48.5gms. The smart watch is powered with a 580mAh battery, Bluetooth connectivity and a 2G single micro-SIM slot. The kids smart watch is water resistant – IP65 certified.

IRist Junior comes in four popular kids colors – Green, Yellow, Pink and Blue.

|In: Android|Last Updated: | 0 Comments

Intex Technologies has announced the launch of its latest offering in the Aqua Series – Aqua Power HD 4G with a 1.4 GHz Octa-Core processor. The smartphone will be available at a competitive price of Rs. 8,363

Aqua Power HD 4G

The smartphone, which supports 4G, comes with a 5-inch HD IPS display which is supported by 2GB RAM and an 16GB ROM. Aqua Power HD 4G gives an supreme experience to play high end games and also allows multitasking. Its powerful 3900 mAh battery gives more than 300 hours of standby time and 7 hours of talk time.

Keshav Bansal Director, Intex Technologies said

With the launch of new Aqua Power HD 4G, we are looking at offering a unified and connected smartphone experience, which makes consumers’ lives simpler and at the same time more amazing with benefits that come with the smartphone.

Aqua Power HD 4G offers a powerful 8MP rear camera with LED Flash and 5MP front camera to capture bright images. The device also comes with other features like smile detection and emergency rescue.

The device comes pre-loaded with Matrabhasha service that enables communication in 21 regional languages. Several other value added services are embedded in this device for a complete experience such as iData Saver, Clean Master, Saavn, MOBIKWIK, and Intex services. The smartphone is available in champagne, blue and grey colors with premium painting finish.

Aqua Power 4G

Intex Technologies also announced the launch of its latest smartphone in the Aqua Series – Aqua Power 4G running on Android 6.0. The smartphone will be available at an appealing price of Rs. 6,399.

The smartphone supports turbo download which facilitates in downloading large files quickly through a 4G network. It comes with a 5-inch HD display which is supported by 1GB RAM and an 8GB ROM. Aqua Power 4G gives an unmatched experience to play high end games and also enables multitasking. Its powerful 3800 mAh battery gives 200 hours of standby time and 18 hours of talk time.

Aqua Power 4G offers a powerful 8MP rear camera with LED Flash and 2MP front camera to capture vivid images. The camera is backed with a special feature of gestures control to capture images. The device comes with face detection, anti shake, do not disturb and emergency rescue features. The smartphone also enables you to make HD voice calls with the help of its fast paced VoLTE feature.

Similar to Intex Power HD 4G, this device also comes pre-loaded with Matrabhasha service that enables communication in 21 regional languages. Several other value added services are embedded in this device for a complete experience such as Clean Master, Saavan, Opera Mini, and Intex services. The smartphone is available in sophisticated champ golden and deep blue colors.

|In: Technology|Last Updated: | 0 Comments

Kingston, the independent world leader in memory products have announced its tie-up with Saavn, India’s leading audio entertainment streaming service, for its limited edition microSD Cards. With this exclusive partnership, Kingston offers its customers a two week Saavn Pro subscription for free. This offer is valid on Kingston’s three new Limited Edition microSD Cards- 8GB Class 4 [SDC4], 16GB Class 10 UHS-I [SDC10G2) & 32GB Class 10 UHS-I [SDC10G2] – which will soon be available in the leading retail as well as e-tail outlets in India.

To avail this exclusive offer, one needs to purchase any of the mentioned Saavn Limited Edition microSD cards. There is a unique code in each of these packs which can be redeemed either on the Saavn app or here . The offer is valid for a year and the two weeks start from the time the customer activates the given unique code.

Speaking on the partnership, Vishal Parekh, Marketing Director, Kingston India said

We at Kingston believe in doing things differently and are excited about this partnership with Saavn. This alliance is a positive step from both brands to add value to the end user which would lead to customer delight. This is a good opportunity for those who always wanted to try out the Saavn’s Pro feature.

Mahesh Narayanan, Managing Director, Saavn said

We are delighted to work with Kingston and provide their customers access to well curated, high quality music and audio entertainment content. With this partnership, Kingston customers can enjoy streaming music and Saavn Original shows offline without any ad interruption

|In: Android|Last Updated: | 0 Comments

Google have announced the roll of Android 7.0 Nougat to Nexus devices. Over the next several weeks, Nexus 6, Nexus 5X, Nexus 6P, Nexus 9, Nexus Player, Pixel C and General Mobile 4G [Android One] will get an over the air software update [FOTA] to Android 7.0 Nougat. Any devices enrolled in the Android Beta Program will also receive this final version.

Sameer Samat, VP of Product Management, Android & Google Play said

Android 7.0 Nougat is by far the sweetest release yet. Google has taken a different approach to build and launch Nougat which was announced earlier this year. For starters, we invited developers to take a sneak peek at Android N back in March, so they could bring their apps to the new platform earlier. Android Nougat reflects input from thousands of fans and developers all over the world. There are over 250 major features in Android Nougat.

More Personal

Providing more ways to customize your phone to fit your personality is kind of a big deal, and Android has been leading the way since day one. With Android Nougat, Android users will  have more ways to personalize their smartphones including :

Expanded emoji : There are now over 1,500 different emoji built into Android, including 72 new ones, so go ahead and  express yourself.

Quick Settings controls : Quick Settings gives you easy access to things like bluetooth, WiFi and the all-important flashlight. With Android Nougat, you can actually control what tiles go where, and move ‘em around to fit ones needs.

Multi-locale support

Apps can tailor their content based on local settings. For instance if someone speaks multiple languages, then search engines can show results in each of those languages.

More Productive

Whether you’re responding to work emails or making plans with friends, Android 7.0 Nougat helps you multitask with ease with new features like Multi-window, Direct reply, and Quick switch.

Multi-window : Run two apps side-by-side. The windows are re-sizable, too, by simply dragging the divider.

Direct Reply : Reply directly to notifications without having to open any app.

Quick Switch : Switch between your two most recently used apps by simply double tapping the Overview button.

More Secure

As always, Android 7.0 Nougat is built with powerful layers of security and encryption to keep data private and secure. For new devices coming this fall, Google has also added new features like Seamless updates, File-based encryption and and Direct Boot.

Seamless updates : New Android devices with Nougat can install software updates in the background which means you won’t have to wait while your device installs the update and optimizes all your apps for the new version. And for current Nexus users, software updates now install much faster, so you won’t have to wait for minutes while your device reboots.

File-based encryption : Android Nougat can better isolate and protect files for individual users on your device.

Direct Boot : Direct Boot helps your device startup faster, and apps run securely even before you unlock your device when your device reboots.

More smart battery

Starting with the release of Android Marshmallow last year, Google has been making the battery smarter. With Android 7.0 Nougat the Doze feature has been made even more dozier. Android  devices can now drop into lower power usage when it’s getting jostled around in your pocket or bag while on the move.

More immersive

Android 7.0 Nougat is designed with immersive experiences in mind -including support for VulkanTM [an advanced 3D rendering API] and Daydream [Google’s platform for mobile virtual reality].

VulkanTM : Games will now leap to life thanks to high-speed, next-generation graphics — all powered by your device’s multi-core processor.

Daydream : Android 7.0 Nougat is ready to transport users to virtual worlds with Daydream-ready phones, headsets and controllers – all coming later this year.

And for those of you who also want to use your Android device at work, there are also new security features for using Android in enterprise, which you can learn more about on the Android for Work website.

Learn more about Android Nougat here. You can also refer to the Blog Post here

[Image Credit* – Google Blog]