|In: Finance|Last Updated: | 0 Comments

The bold step to ban the Rs. 500 & Rs. 1000 notes hogged the entire limelight and the 2016 USA Presidential Elections took a back seat on many news channels! Though there were some short-term problems that every commoner had to face because of this ban but definitely there seemed to be huge long-term benefits associated with this bold decision! Though the historic date of November 8th [when demonetization was announced] is long gone, it still remains a major point of discussion online as well as offline since this decision touched the lives of each & every Indian irrespective of the financial status of the person.

Image Source* – Online Term Plan

Some of the discussions divert towards Financial Planning, Tax Saving Techniques, Term Insurance, etc. Demonetization coupled with other factors like Donald Trump’s appointment as the President of USA did have a tangible impact on our overall economy but it also taught a very important lesson – Life is uncertain & Financial Planning should be followed with proper execution. Every investor is different and their asset allocation strategy primarily depends on factors like age, net worth, financial goals, existing portfolio and most important of them all is Risk Appetite.

There is a very famous saying Don’t put all your eggs in the same basket and hence along with wealth accumulation & wealth enhancement, it becomes imperative to look at a very important factor – Comprehensive protection plan. As it is said that ‘Sometimes you need to solely think about your near & dear ones and forget about profit creation while making an investment‘. Given the rapidly changing lifestyle, eating habits, uncertainty around life, etc. it becomes critical to invest in a Term Insurance plan.

Unlike normal insurance plans, Term Insurance is a type of life insurance that provides pure life cover. It provides insurance for a certain period of years and if the insured dies over the policy tenure, the death benefit is paid out. But in case the insured survives the tenure, no payout is made. There is no profit/savings component with a term plan but it is still one of the most affordable insurance plans compared to the normal insurance endowment plans. It is an ideal investment option for someone who has taken loan [whether it is a home loan, car loan, etc.], someone who has invested in new ventures, someone who is a sole bread-winner or someone who wants to ensure that his/her family stays in comfort even after his/her demise !! We earn for our family 🙂

Since Term insurance plans are directly linked with person’s feelings for the dear one’s, major insurance companies in India offer that product, though there are very few that offer excellent benefits coupled with customization like Edelweiss Tokio Life TotalSecure+

Edelweiss Tokio Life-TotalSecure+ is a comprehensive protection plan that provides the benefits of Life Cover as well as cover against critical illnesses. It provides an overall protection for your family. It is one of the best term plans that is highly customizable where you can customize the premium paying term, mode of payout [for death benefit]. The mode of payout can be lumpsum or a regular income. You can also choose a rider you want to strap on. There are no investment benefits and unlike traditional insurance plans, its T&C are very easy to understand 🙂

It provides life cover with an option to cover up to 35 critical illnesses. The basic plan covers 7 illnesses. Some of the important features of the Total Secure Plus are mentioned below

Image Source – Total Secure Plus

There is a flexible premium paying term where the insurer can do a Single Pay, Limited Pay [5, 10, 15, 20, 25] or Regular Pay for a Basic Life Cover and Regular Pay for Basic & Comprehensive Health Cover. For the Regular death benefit mode, the insurer can choose the period for which the death benefit can be paid [it could be either 36, 60, 120 or 180 months]. Monthly payouts can be customized in equal monthly sum or increasing monthly sums (increase annually @ 5.00% pa compounding). There is also a Combo option which takes care of immediate requirements as well as monthly expense.

Edelweiss Tokio Life-TotalSecure+ provides Tax Benefits where Life Cover is covered under 80C & Life Cover with Basic or Comprehensive Health cover is covered under 80D. As mentioned earlier, the premium is very less compared to traditional policies, so it’s a cost effective option. The lingering question now is whether Edelweiss Tokio Life-TotalSecure+ is cost-effective, so let’s look at the cost effectiveness of the term insurance.

At Rs. 9,180 per annum, the premium amount for a 1 crore cover/ 30-year policy term for a male, 33-year-old non-smoker [no frills] is low. Throw in the health cover options and the premium rises to Rs. 11,685 and Rs. 13,164 for the basic and comprehensive options, respectively. In comparison, the annual premium for other larger player’s e-Term is roughly Rs. 27,500 per annum under the same set of parameters – and this is minus the health cover benefit. The policy is indeed extremely affordable and cost effective.

Given the uncertainty surrounding our lives, the ever changing economic environment, fast forward lifestyle, increasing liabilities like home-loan, car-loan,etc.; it is very important to invest in a well-designed term insurance plan in India like TotalSecure+ by Edelweiss Tokio Life.

If you are an investor in the TotalSecure+ policy,  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 in it.

|In: Review|Last Updated: | 0 Comments

As Indians, 8th November is one date that has been etched in our memories since that was the date when Demonetization was announced by PM Modi. Whether the outcome was achieved or not is still an on-going debate 🙂 However, talking about dates, there is another one that can be considered as a game changer in the gaming industry and the date we are talking about is 14th December.

Image Source – Techcrunch

You might be scratching your head hard to recollect the specialty of it, well it was on that particular day when the addictive game of Pokemon Go was announced in India. Pokemon Go can be easily touted as a game that changed the phase of Augmented Reality [AR] gaming. You would have seen gamers going crazy to catch Pokemon’s at any cost and there was a huge amount of stickiness to the game.

Augmented reality [AR] is a live direct or indirect view of a physical, real-world environment whose elements are augmented [or supplemented] by computer-generated sensory input such as sound, video, graphics or GPS data whereas Virtual reality [VR] typically refers to computer technologies that use virtual reality headsets to generate the realistic images, sounds and other sensations that replicate a real environment or create an imaginary setting [Source-1, Source-2]. There was a time when AR/VR was only limited to Video Gaming but it is now being used in different sectors like real-estate, customer service in banking, e-learning, etc. As a matter of fact, more the adoption of these technologies better it is for the AR/VR industry.

As per an industry report,

Over the past few years, AR & VR market has been growing in India on account of increasing penetration of head-mounted displays in entertainment & gaming industry, rising defense spending coupled with surging demand in the country’s healthcare sector. Over the next five years, anticipated growth in the country’s defense budget, and rising demand for AR & VR enabled products for training purposes are expected to emerge as the major factors driving demand for AR & VR products in the defense industry.

AR & VR market is projected to grow at a CAGR of over 55% during 2016 – 2021. Increasing AR usage for enhancing the gaming experience, growing penetration of head-up displays in the automotive sector, rising use of AR in pico-projectors, etc., are driving the AR & VR market in the country [Source – Techsciresearch]. Though there is a steady increase in the adoption of AR/VR, it is still primarily used by gamers since it completely redefines the gaming experience.

Back home, one company that is carrying the baton for utilizing AR & VR technologies for re-defining the gaming landscape is Smaaash Entertainment. Smaaash Entertainment was co-founded in 2009 by serial entrepreneur Shripal Morakhia and counts Sachin Tendulkar as its investor & Brand Ambassador. It is aimed at providing an exceptional gaming experience by combining sports with Augmented Reality & Virtual Reality. Smaaash Entertainment focuses on providing sports simulation technology based cricket, football etc. and other recreational activities, as well as a host of leisure activities including dining.

We visited Smaaash at 1 MG Road Mall in Bengaluru where Gladston Sequeira, Marketing Executive at Smaaash gave us a brief about the AR/VR games that are developed in-house by their R&D team. Apart from the experience, one thing that we really liked about their business model is that other gaming arenas are free to purchase those games from Smaaash which in turn spreads more curiosity about AR/VR !!

Some of the games that we experienced are listed below

Smaaash Cricket

Brett Lee is looking you in the eye. You got to have that shaken not stirred attitude to face off. The fielders will sledge; the crowd will be on your side. Let your bat do the talking at the 360-degree cricket simulator, where real world class bowlers will test your mettle with their genuine actions. You can find more about the behind Smaaash Cricket here.

Walk The Plank

Experience Virtual Reality as it takes the thrill quotient several notches higher. A dizzying 50 feet fall on either side and villainous monsters in your way. The only thing between you and death is a narrow plank. You will make it to the other side only if you can fight fear and vertigo at the same time. You can find more about the technology behind Walk the Plank here.

Finger Coaster

Wondered how designing a roller coaster by yourself would be? What if you could take a ride in one of those too. Your heart will be in your mouth when you ride on our physics-challenging, Oculus-based simulator. The better you design your ride, the more fun you will have. You can find more about the technology behind Finger Coaster here.

Nitro Wheelie

Get down and dirty on the racing track with Nitro Wheelie, a dirt bike game based on a platform boasting of six-degree freedom. Don racing helmets and get on different racing tracks, to puff up some dust. When it comes to dirt racing, nothing comes close to Nitro Wheelie. More details about Nitro Wheelie here.

Smart Arcade

With vintage favorites like Pac-Man, Air Hockey, Deal or No Deal and Simpson’s Soccer, you will never want to leave our time capsule. And if you enjoy more conventional games, there is Connect 4 and Fruit Ninja. More details about Smart Arcade here.

Super Keeper

Experience the drama, excitement, and emotions of a real penalty shootout, as you go one-on-one against our supersonic goalkeeper. At Super Keeper, it takes a lot more than mere skills to strike the ball to the back of the net. More details about Super Keeper here.

X2 Motor Racing Simulator

Bring out the F1 racer in you. At speeds of 200 mph, you got to hold your nerve as the torqued steering tests your driving mettle. Teamed with realistic racing simulation motions you will twist and turn in the 100% formula one car replica. More details about X2 Motor Racing Simulator here.

Some of the photos clicked during the visit are below:

Out of all the games that we played at Smaaash, Smaaash Cricket and Walk the Plank were cut above the rest !! The major difference between Smaaash Cricket and the Cricket that you can play at other malls using the Bowling machine is that in this case, you can actually feel that the actual bowler is bowling to you. They have collected action and speed samples of close to 20+ international bowlers that makes playing Smaaash cricket much more fun and entertaining. For e.g. If a fast bowler like Lasith Malinga bowls a slower ball, you can observe the change in pace. Live cricket commentary in the context of the game pumps the player up at you get a feeling that you are playing in a stadium 🙂 If you are cricket fan then you should definitely try out Smaaash Cricket !!

Walk the Plank is an amazing game that makes the best use of Virtual Reality. The player needs to cross 100 feet tall building on a six inches plank. That sounds a bit scary and the amazing cinematic graphics makes the overall experience even more thrilling.

More details about the games, dining, etc. at Smaaash can be found here & here. A couple of days back RCB skipper Virat Kohli was at Smaaash, Bengaluru and the atmosphere was electrifying. More details about his visit can be found here

This was our review of Smaaash that is located at 1 MG Lido Mall, Bengaluru. In case you have visited Smaaash, please leave your experience in the comments section…

|In: Technology|Last Updated: | 1 Comment

Yahoo has announced the new Yahoo Homepage, along with updates to Yahoo Finance, Yahoo Cricket and Yahoo Lifestyle for users in India. These changes provide a more unified experience across our homepage and core properties, offering a better way to consume, engage, and discover the quality content our users have come to expect.

With cleaner, more modern designs and a focus on increased personalization, the new sites deliver a continuous stream of articles tailored to each user [including original content] and create a more consistent experience on Yahoo properties across devices.

Yahoo Homepage

The new Yahoo homepage makes it easier to get all your latest news and content, in less time. You no longer need to open individual articles in multiple browser tabs; instead, you can simply scroll through related stories inline.

Up top, Yahoo’s editors pick some of the most important stories readers need to know, alongside content most relevant to them. For a more in-depth understanding of a story, see related stories by clicking the ‘heart’ icon, or clicking through to find additional related stories below each article. Over time, as you click on more content, the Yahoo stream becomes more tailored to your interests. The more you use homepage, the better your experience will be.

Interested in breaking news and real-time events? The new updates let you discover the full story as it’s happening live. Follow the latest news developments and receive instant notifications when a story is updated.

Yahoo Finance

Cleaner and easy to read across devices, the new Yahoo Finance features bolder headlines, striking photos and fewer modules-all while continuing to provide exceptional access to real-time data, editorial insights and analysis, breaking news and video.

Yahoo has combined the watchlist, portfolios and popular market data such as top gainers and losers into a configurable dashboard where you can add, remove and reorder your stocks directly on the homepage. To jump between interactive charts you are viewing, just click a ticker on your watchlist. New data visualizations on stock quotes in the right rail provide a quick company performance summary, while a new ‘View Watchlist’ button allows you to see your stocks on any quote page without navigating away.

Users can use My Portfolio to customize the site and add, remove, or reorder their portfolios. And instead of 15 fixed headlines, Yahoo will now offer an infinite stream of content on the quote page, with related articles grouped into clusters, similar to the homepage.

One of the new features Yahoo is most excited about is the new community-centered ‘Conversations’ section available on each quote page. Message boards are now moved into a more modern social experience where you can discover trending tags and will be able to post charts and images, Gifs to express your ideas. Relevant conversations from articles will also appear to help you discover what is being said about companies anywhere on Yahoo.

Yahoo Cricket

And for the millions of Cricket fans in India and across the world, the new upgraded design of Yahoo Cricket will provide you with a new experience which includes-considerably faster page load, more seamless surfacing of slideshows, videos and original content and a more conformed platform.  The new design of Yahoo Lifestyle will provide users a modern and fully immersive content experience consisting of News, Finance and Homepage.

Have you checked out the Yahoo Homepage, share your views in the comments section…

|In: Technology|Last Updated: | 0 Comments

Digitisation has been instrumental in determining the growth of any business and the last bottleneck of the digital economy is the point of sale. ToneTag’s sound wave technology has reduced this by enabling contactless on any phone and provide easy, friction-less, and secure proximity payments and communications using sound. This has resulted in a 4.2x jump in their sale.

Image Source – ToneTag

ToneTag technology is provided as an Interaction as a service solution. Post demonetisation, Tonetag has garnered more experience and popularity among merchants and is proving to be a vital game changer in the payment industry.

ToneTag has partnered with Banks, Issuers and Acquirers, Toll plaza, Parking operators for payment solutions and Retailers for payment solutions and locating and engaging the customers. Some of the ToneTag partners are Freecharge, ICICI pockets, YES Bank, Airtel, Shoppers Stop etc.

ToneTag is the ?rst company on this planet to enable contactless payment acceptance on EDC machine using Sound. So far 100,000 plus Ingenico and Verifone EDC machines made contactless with ToneTag and 4000 computer POS made contactless with TT SDK push.

Kumar Abhishek, Founder of ToneTag said

In a short span of time, ToneTag has reached 32 million plus consumers through its technology, giving them a whole new payment experience. We have with us 110,000 plus merchants, who use our technology to receive payments. We have a total of 18 clients so far. Our partners have reported a 4.2 times improvement on overall transactions compared to prevailing methods of transacting using OTP or QR codes, keeping the spend on consumer adoption same.

Digital India is the way forward, with the ‘Smart City’ projects underway and government’s push for a cashless economy is evident as UPI based payments and Aadhar Pay are government initiatives. All banks and financial institutions have started to embrace digitization; this simplifies our role even further. Since India is home to the second largest mobile phone user base in the world with around 1 billion subscribers and 80% penetration, it’s the one technology that has truly captured the urban as well as rural areas.

ToneTag is in talks with other major players in the retail, banking and fin-tech companies, trying to make the payment front more secure and safe.

About ToneTag

ToneTag is a sound based proximity communication provider that enables contactless proximity communication, location based services and customer engagement services among a multitude of other solutions. Backed by Reliance VC among a host of investors, ToneTag has enabled contactless, offline, proximity communication on any device through sound and their team continues to innovate and transform the way devices will communicate with each other in the near future. For more information, please visit ToneTag

|In: Fintech|Last Updated: | 0 Comments

Synechron, a global financial services consulting and technology services provider have announced the launch of two new, state-of-the-art digital innovation labs in Pune and Bengaluru to advance global, digital transformation initiatives for the financial services industry.

Synechron’s Financial Innovation Labs [FinLabs] act as an innovation hub that enables businesses to experience first-hand the latest digital technologies from blockchain and artificial intelligence, to voice recognition, drones and others to look at, touch and ‘feel’ real-world business solutions and advance fintech initiatives.

With Pune and Bengaluru FinLabs open to the industry and another new facility coming up in Hyderabad shortly, Synechron now has 8 FinLabs globally, with other labs located in London, Amsterdam, Dubai, Charlotte and Fort Lauderdale. Synechron also plans to roll out a flagship FinLab in its New York HQ, in the coming months.

The India FinLabs in Pune and Bengaluru are fully operational as of now and are open to Synechron clients to experience the latest digital technologies and be energized and inspired to develop transformative solutions.

Visitors can do everything, from role playing the customer journey through a typical digital engagement scenario to  prototyping around new technologies, applications and accelerators including:

  • Artificial intelligence, robotics, machine learning and data science
  • Blockchain applications using Ethereum, Hyperledger and Ripple
  • Data analytics and visualizations
  • Drones
  • Gamification models
  • Tablets, beacons, biometrics and mobile applications
  • Virtual reality and augmented reality
  • Voice recognition and natural language processing via Amazon Echo and Siri

Additionally, Synechron’s India FinLabs have introduced an interactive video wall for data visualization, recognizing that user experience [UX] is the key to customer engagement and a centerpiece for the bank branch of the future.

Faisal Husain, Co-founder and CEO, Synechron, said

Our vision for FinLabs was to create more than just a trendy collaboration space. Synechron has taken the innovation lab model to the next level by creating a truly immersive technology experience that fosters development of real business applications like our blockchain accelerators while supporting FinTech innovation. Pune, Bengaluru and Hyderabad are leading technology markets, and as we look to cultivate top tech talent and serve our clients, we are delighted to deliver this unique value.

David Horton, Managing Director and Head of Innovation at Synechron added

The financial services industry wants to embrace cutting-edge technology to advance business strategies. Each of the technologies we are featuring in FinLabs can help address key issues like regulation, cost pressure, efficiency, customer experience and engagement to deliver digital banking and achieve fintech’s promise of disruptive innovation that simplifies our world, and makes banking better.

More details can be found here

About Synechron

Synechron, one of the fastest-growing digital, business consulting & technology services providers, is a USD 400 million firm based in New York. Since inception in 2001, Synechron has been on a steep growth trajectory. For more information, please visit Synechron

|In: IOT|Last Updated: | 0 Comments

With the rise of the Internet of Things [IoT] companies are inundated with opportunities to improve their business. Every field, from hospitality to healthcare, can streamline services and offerings with new devices arriving on the market daily. But with a constant rotation of new devices being connected to the internet, there are some serious risks to consider as IoT advances and grows.

Image Source – GoToTags

From the lack of a unified platform to lackluster security standards, there are many things to consider as more devices are created and implemented. In fact, a study on IoT was done by The Internet Society that highlights some of the critical issues. As the technology expands, keeping these concerns in the back of your mind can save you from some major disasters down the line.

Here are some of the greatest challenges IoT faces as it grows

Infrastructure Concerns

What is IoT ? It’s a complex interconnection of hardware, usually comprised of sensors and actuators, and software that works at the assembly level. It’s the basis of what IoT is that presents a complicated problem. There’s no dedicated platform for IoT. We have companies like Apple and Google creating their own infrastructure, designing things that works specifically for their own products, rather than developing an open source platform that can unify the experience. Having an open source platform would help to aid collaboration & inspire creativity, but at the moment, everything exists in its own ecosystem.

Privacy Issues

There are devices for everything, gathering personal information and medical history, sometimes without even asking for permission to do so. This makes the ever present concern about privacy and security a big topic in the space. There are a number of things to consider here – Potential surveillance by government and private agencies, Credit card and bank information, and Access to personal emails.

At the moment, there’s not a clear cut regulation in place that prevents businesses from utilizing the data they receive from the devices they sell. Which means they can do whatever they want with the data they collect.

Without a concrete law that encompasses the various layers of IoT, the plethora of devices connected raise serious security concerns. Devices are being connected to the internet 24/7/365 and it is unclear if the current liability laws can, or will, extend to cover them. Being aware of where your data is going and what can be done with it, is critical before you implement any device.

Battery Powered Devices

Think about the number of devices that are already connected to IoT. Now, think about how many of those use batteries. Chances are, almost all of them do. With an estimated twenty-four billion devices expected to be connected to the internet by 2020, it is imperative that we think of a new way to power them. Battery life is short, and doesn’t last forever, making the need for consistent replacements a very real possibility. In industries that shell out a fortune for devices, this presents a major problem.

In fact, Kansas State University is already researching possible solutions for this. They’ve been developing energy-harvesting radios that draw power from boards made of solar cells.

Over-saturation of Data

IoT has the potential to amass a huge amount of data. From devices that are collecting information on the changes in weather to the ones we wear on our wrists to track our health, at any given time one of these devices could be collecting more data than it knows what to do with. Of course, at some point all this data gets sent to the end user, and they determine what they need and what they don’t.

The ability to aggregate this data, weed out the relevant information from what is unnecessary, and compile it into useful documentation, would make these devices even more useful for any industry. Organizing the information into common data models and making it accessible for reporting, monitoring, maintenance, and policy settings would streamline these devices even further.

False Readings

Technology is not foolproof, therefore, it’s safe to assume the same goes for your IoT device. One of the downsides to these devices is when they become psychotic devices, which is a term for when the sensor goes bad and begins sending false readings. This can happen for any number of reasons – low battery, a software bug, or a complete device failure.

Depending on what the device is used for, this kind of failure can be catastrophic. Implementing techniques that compare anomalous readings to the output of neighboring sensors, is one way to prevent a problem, but these are not techniques that are currently built in.  It’s one of the aspects of IoT that has yet to be fully addressed with potential preventative measures. But with more companies relying heavily on IoT devices, this is one of the biggest problems facing the industry.

For many companies and individuals, IoT saves time, streamlines processes, and improves business operations in a big way. But being aware of these concerns, the possible failure points, and what can be done to address them is just as important as implementing the devices themselves. Needless to say, always proceed with caution and research any device that will be supplied with sensitive information, that your company relies on, or that has the potential to drain your power and resources.

About the author

Autumn Haile has over the span of her 12 year career as a freelance writer and content curator, Autumn has worked in a variety of fields including telecommunications, entertainment, culinary, and literature. Through her work with companies like Universal Music Group, Lonely Planet, and Transbeam she’s taken part in large scale social media campaigns, copywriting, and the curation of marketing content. She’s written for a variety of different mediums including NKD Magazine, Rare Country, and Word of Mouth Conversations.

Transbeam offers one bill to manage all network needs for multi-site enterprises via our nationwide reach and strategic carrier interconnections. For more information visit Transbeam

|In: IOT|Last Updated: | 0 Comments

Indian Institute of Information Technology and Management-Kerala [IIITM-K] and IBM have announced the development of a real-time water quality management system – ‘Swatchpaani‘. The system, powered by IBM’s Watson Internet of Things [IoT] technologies, will continuously monitor water quality and measure temperature, pH and the presence of various metal/non-metal substances in the water, to ensure standard levels are not exceeded as prescribed by agencies.

Image Source – IBM Watson

The proposed solution will compose of Libelium, signal conditioning boards and sensors and Raspberry Pi for connecting these to IBM Bluemix Cloud services and Watson IoT platform for device and sensor data management, analysis and visualization. The system will support data analysis in real-time and trigger alerts if there are anomalies in the water samples. The project will also incorporate a pre-screening mechanism to test the water quality of mobile water distribution systems.

Dr. Ashraf, Principal Investigator, Swatchpaani Project, Indian Institute of Information Technology and Management – Kerala [IIITM-K] said

The conventional method of testing water quality is often inaccessible and time consuming. In this context, Swatchpaani offers a convenient, mobile, quick and cost effective solution for the pre-screening of water samples. The extensive lab tests may be mandated only when the pre-screening signals a potential threat.

Devkant Aggarwal, Manager, University Relations, IBM India said

The IBM Watson IoT platform is an easy-to-use, secure and scalable solution which provides seamless integration with various IoT devices to build specialized, integrated solutions to solve industry and business challenges. The Swachpaani project is one such result on Watson IoT that demonstrates the impact technology can bring to the life of an individual. IBM India continues to work with academia to create useful and meaningful innovation based on Watson technologies.

About IIITM-K

IIITM-K is an autonomous institute set up by Government of Kerala to promote higher education and research in the field of Information Technology and allied areas. IIITM-K’s Mission is to be an institution of excellence in education, research, development, and training in basic and applied Information Technology and Management and to be a leader in educational networking and services provider for higher education and professions. For more information on IIITM-K HomePage

|In: Fintech|Last Updated: | 1 Comment

Jeet Suri does not own a credit card. He does, however own an apartment in Bangalore. It is almost bare, save for his furnished bedroom and modular kitchen. Considering the hefty furniture costs, he knows that he will need to avail of a personal loan to get his apartment fully furnished. But this is easier said than done! As a 24-year-old IT professional in a medium-sized IT firm, he has been denied personal loans twice in the past for not having the requisite Credit [or CIBIL] Score.

Image Source – Alternate Lending

Jeet has now made the decision to apply for a loan from one of the new Fintech startups that specialize in giving quick personal loans to salaried people. He applies, gets his approval within 2 hours and funds reach his account in 48 hours! Jeet himself is surprised at the smooth and quick process. And this is exactly what attracted numerous alternative lenders in the country to start online lending platforms, albeit at somewhat higher interest rates.

The Indian Banking Sector has quite a history of bad loans and non-performing properties that has made lenders [particularly public sector ones] more cautious and conventional. There are more than 1.5 million companies in the country, but banks tend to focus on lending to only to those salaried applicants working for less than 50,000 companies which are listed in their target databases. So where do the rest go for loans? This explains the rise of close to 100 alternate lenders in India in the last two years alone [India has the 3rd largest number of personal lending startups in the world, after China and the USA!].

This new breed of lenders can be broadly categorized as follows

Aggregators or Lead-Generators

Aggregators are solely responsible for generating a lead and passing it on to one, or more, banks. This is a commission-based task and they earn a fee per lead, regardless of whether the loan is approved [and eventually funded] or not. The decision to lend lies with the bank or the non-bank lender, who makes the final credit decision on the case. BankBazaar and PaisaBazaar are two notable names in this niche.

Direct Selling Agents [or DSAs]

DSAs do everything the aggregators do and some more. Aside from lead generation, they take care of the entire documentation process too, hereby assisting you in ensuring that your loan is approved. Here, too, the credit decision lies with the ultimate lender [a bank or a non-bank lender]. DSAs charge a fee to the lender, which typically ranges from ranging from 1.5 to 3 percent of the loan amount.  Finance Buddha and Finwizz are two notable names.

Infographic Courtesy – Qbera

Consumer Durable Financing Marketplaces

Increased income, soaring consumer aspirations and easy cash access have prompted a sturdy growth in big-ticket purchases like electronics goods and furniture. Of the numerous schemes that have developed to fund these acquisitions, zero-interest EMIs and cardless EMIs are the most common. Astonishingly, in India, more than half of such purchases are made possible using small ticket loans from non-bank lenders! Here too, the lenders make the ultimate decision on the customer, and the platforms typically earn a commission or some sort of revenue share.

Business Correspondents

Business Correspondents take ownership of the entire life-cycle of the loan, from acquiring the customer, underwriting the loan, documentation, verification and ensuring the final loan is disbursed. The loans are funded by one of more lending partners and, uniquely, the platform plays a role in making the credit decision. They are not middleman, as they usually share risk [as well as revenues] with the bank or non-bank lending partner. Qbera is one such startup that is operating on this model

Summing it up

The online lending landscape in India is evolving rapidly. New-age online lenders are giving the incumbents a run for their money, as they partner with a variety of capital providers to test segments which have previously been untapped.  Added to this, they provide a superior customer experience, which includes more transparency, a better approval rate, a convenient process and lower turn-around times. However, time will tell how many of these new-age lenders will be able to target new, profitable segments, whilst scaling their businesses with low(er)-cost capital, and do all this while maintaining the quality of their portfolio.

About the author

Nidaa Chakkittammal is a Proud feminist, former journalist, certified mountaineer and currently Content Manager at Qbera. She believes self-discovery is an eternal journey. When she isn’t drafting finance articles and blogs by the dozen for Qbera & other similar platforms, she is busy reading romantic poetry and fiction, rollerskating, participating in marathons, cycling, chilling with friends and trekking. You can find more about her on her LinkedIn profile page.