Axis Bank Becomes Third Lender to Offer Block Chain Service

Axis Bank today became the third lender in the country to announce usage of block chain solutions for its operations, after its peers ICICI Bank and Yes Bank. Axis Bank will be using the upcoming technology for cross-border remittances. Deputy managing director V Srinivasan said “We are committed to using innovation in technology to make banking simple and convenient for our customers”.  Read More

Indian Banks are Waking Up to a New Kind of Cyber Attack

Hackers recently infiltrated the systems of three government-owned banks (two headquartered in Mumbai and one in Kolkata), to create fake trade documents that may have been used to raise finance abroad or facilitate dealings in banned items. The banks in question discovered that their SWIFT systems — the global financial messaging service banks use to move millions of dollars and documents across borders every day, have been compromised to create fake documents. The banks are still unsure about the origin of the attack and the intention of the hackers.  Read More

Big Banks Plan Interbank Blockchain Platform

India’s largest banks are building a consortium to test an interbank blockchain platform. The move comes after the central bank’s technology arm the Institute for Development and Research in Banking Technology (IDRBT) released a white paper earlier this month saying its pilot, for a blockchain platform to settle trade finance transactions, had been successful. The banks involved in the larger pilot, including State Bank of IndiaBSE -0.07 %, are working with New York-based startup MonetaGo, which will provide the platform. Read More

HDFC Bank to Deploy 20 Humanoids in its Branches in Next 2 Years

India’s second largest private sector lender HDFC bank will deploy atleast 20 humanoids in its branches in the next two years.  The bank is deploying humanoid IRA (Intelligent Robotic Assistant) to help its branch staff in servicing customers. IRA will be positioned near the Welcome Desk, where it will greet customers and guide them to the relevant counter in the branch such as Cash Deposit, Foreign Exchange, Loans, among others in the first phase. In the next phase, IRA’s capabilities will be enhanced further by introducing features such as Voice and Face recognition for customer identification, Voice-guided navigation, Balance enquiry, and Cheque deposit among others. Read More

Airtel Payments Bank Offers Highest Savings Deposit Rate

Bharti Enterprises chairman Sunil Bharti Mittal launched India’s first payments bank – Airtel Payments Bank – giving a 7.25% interest on savings accounts, which makes it the highest interest rate on offer. Besides the lucrative interest rate, the bank also offers personal accidental insurance of Rs1 lakh with every savings account and free talktime equaling the amount deposited in the payments bank-saving account. Read More

India Post Payments Bank Starts Pilot Services

India Post Payments Bank (IPPB) today kicked off its operations by rolling out pilot services in Raipur and Ranchi. The bank will offer an interest rate of 4.5 per cent on deposits up to Rs 25,000; 5 per cent on deposits of Rs 25,000-50,000 and 5.5 per cent on Rs 50,000-1,00,000, its Chief Executive Officer A P Singh informed. Read More

Payments Bank of Paytm gets Rs 218 Crore Infusion

Paytm Payments Bank has received Rs 218 crore in fresh capital as it prepares to start operations this month from Uttar Pradesh. Paytm, which is run by One97 Communications, created two separate entities -Paytm E-commerce and Paytm Payments Bank. The wallet business of has also been transferred to the newly created payments bank entity to meet RBI’s guidelines. Read More

6 Ways the Internet of Things is Transforming the Education Sector

Students can now interact with peers, mentors and educators worldwide using connected devices such as digital highlighters and interactive boards, while sitting in the comfort of their home or classroom. The following are a few examples of how the Internet of Things is changing the education sector:

1. Global networking among students and educators
2. Enhancement of textbooks
3. Easier data collection and analysis
4. Higher collaboration in group projects
5. Greater safety in campuses
6. More efficient school management

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Analysing the Hospitality Sector in the Heart of India

Indore is the logistic hub of India, taking into consideration its strategic location. Indore is easily accessible, thus the potential for enhancement is enormous. It is believed that 1,000 rooms will be added to the hotel inventory of Madhya Pradesh by 2017-18 in the four-star and five-star categories. There are many conventions being organised in Indore across industry verticals. And the city is also becoming a major hub for corporate travel and MICE events. This will drive the demand scenario in the state. Read More

South Africa Sees Growth in Wedding Tourism Thanks to Big Fat Indian Weddings

South Africa is witnessing a rise in wedding tourism involving overseas Indian families. It recorded a 27% increase in the number of Indian tourists last year thanks to weddings. Nearly 81,500 Indian nationals visited South Africa till October 2016, of which around 5,000 were from Chennai. Read More

Tourism Sector Records 10% Growth

President Pranab Mukherjee informed that with over 88 lakh foreign tourists visiting India last year, the tourism sector saw a growth of over 10%. Additionally, he also revealed that the government has approved a new e-VISA policy and expanded its scope by including purposes such as short- term medical treatment and business trips. Read More

Japan Eyes 500 Farm Homestay Areas to Boost Foreign Tourism

The Japanese government aims to establish 500 areas for homestays on farms and fishing communities across the country to help attain its goal of boosting the annual number of foreign visitors to 40 million by 2020. Under such homestay programs, visitors will experience agriculture, craft-making and other aspects of local cultures. The government believes the plan could also help increase farmers’ income, according to sources familiar with the matter. Read More

Andhra Pradesh Launches Rs 100 Cr Fund of Funds to Prop FinTech Startups

Having identified fintech as a promising space to generate jobs, Andhra Pradesh today announced Rs 100 crore fund of funds to invest in startups in this area. The state will put in Rs 100 crore initially for a fund of funds which will be managed professionally by a venture capital firm. It will help enhance FinTech startups. Apart from the fund of funds, the state has also created a fintech tower which already houses startups like Paytm and others. Read More

Uber-Competitor ‘Grab’ Plans $700 Million Fintech Investment in Indonesia

‘Grab’ is planning to invest $700 million over the next four years to push Fintech-powered services to an Indonesian population that is largely unbanked. New regulations enforced by the country’s financial regulator, the OJK, is making it easier for Fintech startups and companies to establish themselves in the market as the government embraces a pro-Fintech agenda. Read More

Singapore-Based The FinLab to Support FinTech Startups in India (Feb 06, 2017)

Singapore based, The FinLab Launchpad is a meetup being held on February 16 in Bengaluru. This event will see discussions about the FinTech scene in India, and offer startups in this space an opportunity for collaboration in a bustling startup ecosystem like Singapore. FinLab consider India as good market, as over 47 deals amounting to $954 million were made in the FinTech space in India in 2015. The first half of 2016 alone saw the culmination of 46 deals amounting to $285 million. Read More

Mobile Payments Outgrow Smartphones (Feb 06, 2017)

With the government push for cashless transactions the electronic payments data released by the Reserve Bank of India presents an encouraging shift towards digital payments. The adoption of non-tradition digital payment mechanisms, i.e., payments made using Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD) for mobile communications, Unified Payment Interface (UPI) and e-wallets is evident from the growth in volume of transactions and their value. While the overall value of electronic transactions in Dec 2016 over Nov 2016, saw a growth of only 10.7%, the volume of transactions has swelled about 40%, indicating a jump in low-value transactions. Read More