Truecaller has announced that it will be launching Truecaller Ads Manager, a self-serving platform for its ads, and soon be enabling advertisers to launch six-second videos on its platform.
Truecaller Ads Manager will open its unique ad inventory to small and medium businesses. The platform will enable small and medium sized businesses to manage their ad campaigns running on Truecaller’s ad platform proactively, enabling scale to reach a larger audience in a personalized manner.
As video consumption drives mobile usage in India, the move will allow marketers and advertisers to achieve top-of-the mind recall and increased brand awareness. The six-second video ads will further help them drive purchase intent and deliver contextually relevant messages to their audiences.
Truecaller Ads has grown as a platform with over 300 per cent the past 12-months, and has recorded 200 million impressions on its ads, in India alone. Following this growth, the move further strengthens Truecaller’s commitment towards inherently engaging their users with their partners.
Commenting on the launch, Ted Nelson, Chief Commercial Officer, Truecaller said
We are excited to launch Truecaller Ads Manager as it will give small & medium sized businesses an easy way to utilize our unique ad platform. With this launch, we aim to fast track programmatic advertising in India. Also, with the consumption of video content across entertainment and media soaring in India, this is a great opportunity for businesses to showcase their brand to their consumers by leveraging video content to reach their audiences.
Having launched many updates earlier this year, Truecaller is expanding its frontiers to add more value to the lives of its customers and partners.
For more than 20 transactions, bulk FIRC fee will be levied at Rs. 2000. The move is in line to reduce the cost incurred in receiving payments from global markets and to encourage merchants to grow their cross-border business and realize the Government’s Make in India vision.
Narsi Subramanian, Director, Small Sellers & Consumers, PayPal India said
The reduction in the FIRC fee is in line with our commitment of becoming a customer champion and enabling merchants to grow their cross-border business in a profitable manner.
FIRC is a document that acts as a testimonial for all the inward remittances entering India. Most of the statutory authorities accept this document as proof that an individual or a business, such as a limited company, partnership firm, sole proprietorship firm and others, has received a payment in foreign currency from outside the country.
The freelancer market in India is growing immensely and PayPal is committed to help Indian freelancers improve profitability and improve the payment experience.
Synechron, Inc, he global financial services consulting and technology services provider, in partnership with Efma, has released a report revealing that C-suite banking executives largely believe that the future of the bank branch is bright, with the proper investment into digital transformation.
The World Branch Report 2017, entitled Digital Branch Transformation – The Evolution of Branch Banking surveyed decision-making bankers from across the globe in order to examine the role bank branches play in the current digital era and in a time of mobile-first thinking, and gather insight into where branch banking is trending. As a leader in digital branch transformation, Synechron sought to focus around four key areas, including the current market perception of the bank branch, where banks are investing in branches, how new technology can enhance the branch model, and what role staff will play in the bank of the future. Some key findings include:
Survey shows 88% believe physical branches add value to customers and will play a role in the future of banking.
Nearly a quarter [24%] intend to increase their branch network and invest in changing the model, yet nearly one in four [39%] said they plan to decrease their branch networks whilst investing in change to the current model.
63% of respondents are planning to change their branch model in line with digital transformation.
Over recent years, the number of bank branches have been in steady decline with significant closures across the US, Europe and the UK. However, this new research suggests that 88% of the bankers surveyed believe that physical branches add value to customers and will continue to play a significant role in the future of banking.
Retail and Consumer Bankers are predominantly looking towards technology to improve the in-branch customer experience and evolve the role of their staff as opposed to motives around reducing cost and reducing FTEs.
The top focus area for branch transformation as identified by those surveyed is to improve customer service/engagement, which 42% identified as a priority, followed closely by the evolution of the role of branch staff [40%]. This, however, is followed closely by introducing digital interactive experiences [38%]and self-service automated technologies [36%].
The bank of the future will continue to have a physical presence, as 97% of bankers agree that only people can bring an emotional connection to the bank, and their role will be focused on bringing the relationship connection with the bank. However, 62% of respondents are planning to reduce overall headcount in bank branches. While the traditional branch model historically was centred around transactions, the branch of the future will evolve to serve as an advisory service hub, complimented by digital experiences and employing bankers with specialized skills that combine sales and service responsibilities.
Bank branches have played a critical role in the development and success of retail banking in modern times and they will continue to play an important role, but our new report with Efma shows that the model must change and adapt to support today’s digital customer. Through digitization, the bank branch can reinvent itself to improve the experience for the customer while maintaining the personal and emotional connection which many customers value so highly.
The coming years will prove significant for retail banks as they look to evolve their value proposition, acquire new customers, and retain existing one’s through a culmination of digital and physical services.
We are at a digital crossroads within the banking industry, and while digital and emerging technologies are taking the lead, our survey with Synechron confirmed that banks still value the physical bank branch, and are looking for ways to merge the two experiences to gain the best outcomes for both banks and their customers. Prioritizing digital is no longer a ‘nice to have’ addition to a bank, but is critical in shaping their future strategic bank initiatives and the future of customer experience in the branch.
PayPalis one of the most successful payment processors today. It is available in 202 countries with 203 Million active users. There are 770,793 websites currently accepting payments with PayPal, and this number is growing day by day.
PayPal has remarkable founders and employees, who have succeeded in different spheres later in life. Chad Hurley, Steve Chen, Jawed Karim, the former employees of PayPal founded YouTube, Reid Hoffman founded LinkedIn, Elon Musk founded Tesla, Yelp was founded by Russell Simmons and Jeremy Stoppelman.
Find more interesting facts about PayPal in the infographic, that experts from Play-N-Pay compiled for you. Today we will cover the most interesting six facts about PayPal, which you should know.
$20, $10, $5 marketing strategy
In its early years, PayPal was charging money from every new user. At first, it was a $20 fee, then $10, $5 and PayPal grew at almost 10% per day. From March 2000 to August 2000, PayPal’s user base jumped from 1 million to 5 million. After this early success, PayPal quickly went public on NASDAQ.
PayPal went public twice
In 2002, PayPal stock grew to 55% on NASDAQ. After this in July, the same year eBay bought PayPal for $1.5 billion. This money gave the opportunity for PayPal’s founders to reshape much of the technological world we know today. In 2015, Ebay spun off PayPal, and the two companies were divided again. Since then PayPal stock grew about 56%, and eBay’s stock is up by 43%.
PayPal supports 26 currencies
Though PayPal supports 26 currencies, there are differences in the accounts for different countries. For example, there are many countries where PayPal users can’t enjoy some of the financial features that Americans do. They can’t cash out money from their online wallets, but they can still make purchases. Also, PayPal’s currency exchange rate is a bit lower for many currencies. But overall, it is a great help to make and receive payments for many people around the world.
PayPal demographics
43.86% of PayPal users are from the USA. The second comes from Germany with 17.61%, followed by the UK with 14.39%. 87% of millennials in the US use PayPal for receiving and sending money. Around 30% of PayPal transactions are made through mobile devices.
PayPal is all over the world
PayPal has 56 offices in 31 countries. It’s centers and offices are located in Arizona, Nebraska, California, Texas, Germany, Singapore, Malaysia, Ireland, China, India, and many others. Meanwhile, PayPal’s operations center is not in fancy Silicon Valley, but in Nebraska! PayPal has 18,000 employees of 119 nationalities. 55% of them are millennials.
It is interesting to know, that there are 13 countries [Belarus, North Korea, Iran, and Iraq included] where PayPal is officially prohibited.
PayPal is a partner with numerous large companies such as Google, Facebook, Visa, Master Card, Telcel, and Vodafone.
Users love PayPal
86% of PayPal users are likely to recommend the service to their friends. Additionally, the US citizens consider PayPal to be the second safest payment system after credit card.
Source – Play N Play PayPal success story
Read the amazing story about PayPal and it’s growth here
Airtel has been selected as the preferred partner for Government of Karnataka’s Start-Up Cell initiative. Shri Priyank Kharge, Minister for IT & BT, Government of Karnataka unveiled Airtel’s ‘Office-In-a-Box’, a suite of connectivity solutions specially designed for start-ups. It will be available to over 1000 start-ups registered with the Karnataka Start-Up Cell.
A power-packed collection of software tools and services tailor-made to cater to the business requirements of young startups, Airtel’s ‘Office-In-a-Box’ is available on a scale-as-you-grow model with easy payment options. The services offered include voice and data solutions, audio and web collaboration, cloud services, payments bank services, go-to-market support across SMS, MMS, Email, Voice, IVR and USSD, as well as GPS & RFID-based tracking of assets.
Startup Karnataka acts like a single-window agency through which start-ups get access to the complete ecosystem needed for their growth – right from the ideation to the enterprise stage. The Start-up Karnataka Booster Kit contains a gamut of services, such as software tools, cloud credits, access to mentors, legal and accounting consultants, as well as access to state-funded and supported incubators, among others.
Speaking at Airtel’s ‘Office-In-a-Box’ launch, Shri Priyank Kharge, Minister for IT & BT, Government of Karnataka, said
The need of the hour is to inspire and encourage young startups to think big. And the Government of Karnataka is committed to provide all the support they need to make it happen. Recently, eight MoUs were signed at the ‘Elevate 100’ conference to cater to the varied needs of startups in the state. We realize that affordable connectivity is a major concern as startups collaborate with companies across geographies. Now, with Airtel’s ‘Office-In-a-Box’ offering, startups registered with the Karnataka Start-Up Cell can easily acquire and retain customers worldwide.
ToneTag, a sound based proximity payment technology provider launched an Audio Pod for merchants. ToneTag Audio Pod is as simple as just tapping a phone on a Pod to complete a transaction. On tapping the phone on the ToneTag Audio Pod, the pod emits a sound wave carrying data that is received by the mobile phone. On confirmation of the same, the payment is complete.
Image Source – ToneTag
From the invention of wheels and flint stone tools to Nano-technology and artificial intelligence, man has always produced technologies and machines that make his life easier. In today’s world, technology is everywhere! Everything we do involves technology. It is completely integrated into our lives and the two have become inseparable. Even the way we make payments has evolved significantly. Today, we have different types of payment technologies available, including cards, mobile payment options such as NFC, QR codes, RFID chips, e-wallets, applications and many more.
But what about a device that can be placed anywhere and can enable payments via sound without any dependency on Wi-fi or internet? Sounds intriguing, right? That is because we do not associate sound with payments, but with more traditional things such as music. But why should the beneficial nature of sound be curtailed or confined to producing just music? Why can’t one utilize sound based technology to make payments? Well, with ToneTag Audio Pod, you can!
ToneTag Audio Pod is a device that can be used by any merchant irrespective of their scale of operations or nature of the business. This device can be that trigger which enables mass acceptance of digital mode of payments amongst merchants. In our push towards a digital economy, a device like the ToneTag Audio Pod can bring in both the merchant and the consumer segment to accelerate the digital drive.
ToneTag Audio Pod is a one stop solution for everything in payments.
Enables quick and faster checkout at stores, with transactions being completed under three seconds and thereby acting as a queue buster
Any issuer, merchant or acquirer can use the ToneTag Audio Pod to receive payments
Payment acceptance from any e-wallet or banking application
Payment experience is better when compared to prevalent methods
No congestion and rush at stores, giving merchants and customers a pleasant retail experience
Works in offline conditions. No data connection required
Robust build quality, combined with state of the art design features
BookMyShow has announced that it has become the first Indian online ticketing brand to participate in the WhatsApp business pilot. As part of this test, BookMyShow has made WhatsApp a default ticket confirmation channel for all its users.
This means that users who book tickets on BookMyShow will now receive a message on WhatsApp with the confirmation text or an M-ticket [Mobile Ticket] QR Code, along with an email.
At BookMyShow, we are constantly taking measures to enhance our users’ experience on our platforms. Keeping up with their changing preferences and habits, we decided to integrate BookMyShow with WhatsApp for its pilot. WhatsApp has definitely become a preferred mode of communication for millions of people in our country and we could identify tremendous value in making it a default ticket confirmation channel. We have already started rolling out this feature and over the course of next few weeks, we aim to scale it to cover our entire user base.
BookMyShow had recently introduced ‘Plan-it’, the in-app messaging feature for friends and families to interact with each other in real time, suggesting movies, show times, venue options and eventually complete the movie tickets booking from within the chat window.
Games have always played an important role in our lives, be it board games like Scrabble, Ludo, etc. or outdoor games like Cricket, Football, Gilli-danda, etc. Along with entertainment, many of these games also acted as a source to improve concentration, math skills, hand-eye co-ordination, general knowledge to name a few.
A couple of weeks back, there was a discussion that I had with my friends about mobile and the pros & cons of handing over mobile to kids [especially teenage kids]. The main point of concern that most of them raised was that mobile is being used as a source of entertainment for kids where they play games, chat with friends on WhatsApp, Facebook or other social media platforms, though there are games that not only provide entertainment but also increase your knowledge co-efficient.
The discussion took another twist where the friends were convinced that kids should ‘wisely’ use their mobile, they should have some games installed on it that nourishes their brain. We started exploring options for such kind of games since they are a rare commodity and came across the TicTok Game. #tictokgames is one such game that is fun to play, it is interactive and offers a lot of goodies for the winners of the game.
In order to check it’s feasibility, we ourselves played TicTok Game on our phones and instantly started to like the game, it provides a good amount of nourishment to your brain!! Since the game is like a multi-player game in the virtual world, it also enhances your competitive spirit 🙂 Since that day onwards, each one of us [including kids] have the TicTok Game installed on our phones and have been hooked on to it !! Oh, we forgot to mention that along with entertainment, knowledge enhancement there are fabulous prizes that can be won on their platform.
Today, we review the TicTok Game that is a fun game that also doubles up as a good source of gaining knowledge.
TicTok Game – Train your Brain
TicTok is an ideal amalgamation of #QuizGames, #KnowledgeGame & #FunGame and along with fun, you can win exciting prizes. TicTok Games is the new age sensation in-app gaming. The game is developed by Delhi-based startup, details about the team can be found here
Some of the salient features of the TicTok game are below
Tease your brain and improve your aptitude skills by participating in multiple aptitude questions, quizzes, puzzles, etc.
Win at each level and redeem the level you have won in exchange for a wide range of products.
Stand a chance to win bumper prizes like Honda City car, bikes, MacBook, etc.
TicTok Game – Detailed Review
For reviewing the TicTok game, we downloaded the TicTok app from the Play Store. The app does not take up too much space on the device since it is around 20+ MB in size. Once the app is installed, it prompts you to sign-up or continue as a guest. However, if you would like to redeem the levels, signing-in is a better option!
TicTok: Game format, Pricing model, Prizes
Format – Similar to the quiz show-Who wants to be a Millionaire [Kaun Banega Crorepati], the timer starts ticking once the question flashes on your screen. Since the graphics of the game are not highly GPU intensive hence, we were able to run the game without any lag even on a low-end Android smartphone. On each correct answer, you collect some points and you move to the next level [if all questions in that section are correctly answered]. We liked the timer concept since it brings a sense of urgency and excitement for the player.
The questions can either be multi-choice, pictorial or puzzle in nature. The game also has a leaderboard section which gives a feel of multi-player format and a feature that pushes the player to perform his best in order to stay ahead in the race 🙂
Game Play – Unlike other games that complicate the major factor in the game i.e. the game- play & engagement, TicTok scores very heavily in that area! The concept has been designed in a simple yet efficient manner so that even a newbie gamer can get hooked on to the game.
The flow of the game is as follows:
Every 15 minutes, a deal will reflect on your screen. A deal can be played only once.
Each deal has 6 questions and each of these must be answered correctly and quickly to win the deal.
The fastest among all the players would eventually win the challenge.
Even if you are not the fastest, but you’ve answered all the questions correctly, you would win a sub-level.
Accumulate approximately 20 sub-levels to get one level. As soon as you win one, Tictok notifies you.
More details about the format of the game, how to claim the prize, etc. can be found here
Pricing – TicTok follows the Freemium Pricing Model where they charge a monthly subscription fee of Rs. 300 or Rs. 500. Once the player has signed-in, he can set the preferences aligning to his interests i.e. Auto, Bollywood, Education, Technology, Business, etc. This level of customization ensures that the player has a better chance of winning if he attempts questions on topics that he is well-versed with.
Let’s have a detailed look at its subscription plan
What happens while you are still playing in your trial period?
You have complete access to the game.
You can not redeem.
You can not gain levels at all.
What happens when your trial period gets over?
You will get access to only 5 games per day with a deal value of less than Rs. 7,000.
Levels won’t be upgraded.
You can not redeem.
You won’t get access to any of the special deals.
As soon as your trial period gets over, you will be asked to subscribe to Tictok games.
For subscription, there are two categories – One would cost you Rs. 300 and second one would cost you Rs. 500.
If you choose to pay Rs. 300, in order to continue the fun –
You can play only once.
You will be allowed to play all the games except the ones with special deals.
You won’t be allowed to redeem.
If you choose to pay Rs. 500, in order to continue the fun –
You can play all games.
You will have access to all the special deals.
You will be allowed to redeem.
Prizes to be won – The UX of the game is simple and it is not heavy on CPU/GPU. As mentioned earlier, the player has the flexibility to redeem levels [something on the lines of air-miles]. TicTok has tied-up with various e-commerce [as well as brick-and-mortar] companies like Flipkart, Geetanjali, Amazon, Myntra, BigBazaar, etc. Player of TicTok can enhance his emotional intelligence and take home truly amazing prizes. Some of the prizes won by TicTokers can be found here.
You can also redeem your levels for each product in the redeem section. Redeeming your levels implies that you can keep checking your progress and get to know the number of levels required to win each different product.
It would have even more compelling if the levels could be converted to equivalent cash and transferred to the user’s Paytm/Freecharge/any semi-closed wallet.
Refer & Earn – You can refer your friends to join the platform and make some easy money out of it. Some of the benefits of Refer & Earn are below:
Get a discount on the amount of subscription by inviting your friends.
The number of friends you share the game with, the same amount of discount you would be offered on the subscription fee.
However, a discount of no more than Rs. 100 would be offered on any subscription.
Moreover, you win one sub level if you manage to invite 20 of your friends. There is a limitation of 5 sub levels per month.
TicTok review: Conclusion
TicTok is an interesting and addictive #KnowledgeGame that is fun to play and at the same time provides mental & material benefits. It has a sticky quotient since every day they have a new challenge e.g. Amazon Kindle e-reader challenge, Asus Zenfone-3 Max Challenge, etc. that keeps the users hooked on to the game. In the case of games, the ‘stickiness’ factor is very important both for the gaming company as well as the gamer and TicTok scores high in that area. Because of TicTok, avid quiz lovers and knowledge seekers would no longer feel the pinch to miss the Derek O’Brien quiz shows 🙂 There are amazing prizes like brand new Honda City Cars, Mac Book Pro, mobile phones, etc. that are up for grabs on their gaming platform.
TicTok has now permanently occupied the home screen of our phones and we would continue to play the game since we are hooked on to it 🙂
#tictokgames is available on Play Store as well iOS Store. If you have played games on TicTok, please share your feedback in the comments section…
