SAKTHI BOOKS CURRENT EVENTS

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Govt notifies Electoral Bond Scheme 2018

Govt has recently notified Electoral Bonds, which may be purchased by a person, who is a citizen of India or incorporated or established in India. Political Parties registered under Section 29A of Representation of People Act, 1951 shall be eligible to receive Electoral Bonds. Electoral Bonds shall be valid for 15 days from the date of issue & no payment shall be made after the expiry date.

PhonePe ties up with Ola

Flipkart-owned digital payments firm PhonePe has tied up with homegrown cab aggregator Ola. Now, users will be able to book a cab or an auto using a micro-app built on its payments platform. The company has gone live with three such micro-apps, including that of redBus and Metro services, and plans to go live with 5 to 10 more in the ongoing quarter.

Platform to facilitate repo in corporate debt

NSE launched ‘Tri-Party Repo Market’ platform in its debt segment to facilitate repurchase of corporate debt securities. The platform is a kind of repo contract where a third entity, apart from the borrower & lender, called tri-party agent acts as an intermediary. It facilitates services like collateral selection, payment and settlement, custody & management during the life of transaction.

India gives Rs 99 mn to Nepal

India extended a financial aid of Rs 99 mn to Nepal for the construction of 2,700 shallow tube well irrigation systems in 12 districts of the country. The assistance has been extended as part of the final payment for the Nepal-Bharat Maitri Irrigation Project, which was launched to boost growth to the Himalayan nation’s agricultural sector. Manjeev Singh Puri is India’s Ambassador to Nepal.

RBI seeks update on payments data storage

The RBI have asked payment services firms to provide an update, on action taken by them to store transaction data in India, every fortnight. RBI wants payment system operators to store payment-related data in the country by October 2018. RBI had said that at present “only certain” payment system operators store the payment system data either partly or completely in the country.

PM Modi’s three Nations visit concluded – II

Singapore: Modi launched three Indian digital payment systems – RuPay, BHIM app and UPI by SBI at the ‘Business, Innovation and Community Event’ in Singapore. PM Modi held wide-ranging talks with his Singaporean counterpart Lee Hsien Loong and delivered a keynote address at the Shangri-La Dialogue. He is the first Indian Prime Minister to address the Shangri-La Dialogue.

Power Minister R K Singh launched PRAAPTI

Power Minister R K Singh has launched web portal and App called PRAAPTI. ‘Praapti’ stands for ‘Payment ratification and analysis in power procurement for bringing transparency in involving of generators’. It aims to bring transparency in power purchase transactions between Generators and power distribution company- Discoms.

Anubrata Biswas appointed as MD & CEO

Airtel Payments Bank has announced the appointment of Anubrata Biswas as its Managing Director & CEO. Anubrata will be responsible for driving Airtel Payments Bank’s mission of taking convenient and innovative digital banking services to the doorstep of every Indian. Airtel Payments Bank was the first payments bank to start operations in India.

Listed companies to disclose payment delays

SEBI proposed that listed companies have to disclose any delay or expected delay in payment related to their debt securities within 24 hours. The proposal comes against the backdrop of various instances regarding non-compliance with listing norms by issuers of non-convertible debt securities.The regulator has sought public comments till June 11 on the proposals.

Paytm introduced automatic recurring payments

Paytm has introduced automatic recurring payments, a new feature that lets users configure the payments app to pay for periodic recurring expenses automatically. Similar to standing instructions for bank accounts, the ‘My Payments’ feature can be used for high-value payments for a variety of cases.Company expects the feature to significantly boost bank-to-bank transactions on the Paytm app.

Fino Payments Bank to offer net banking

Fino Payments Bank launched a suite of digital products that can be accessed online and through mobile phones. Fino had launched its mobile banking app BPay in 2017. The latest initiatives include Unified Payments Interface (UPI), BHIM app- using which customers can access UPI and make P2P payments.

I&B ministry to set up web portal

The information and broadcasting ministry will set up a dedicated web portal to disseminate information on filming facilities available in the country. The portal will also provide an overview of such locations. Applications for shooting permission will be accepted through the site. The portal will allow online payments and issuing permissions.

Budgam shortlisted for Modi’s excellence award

Jammu and Kashmir’s Budgam district has been shortlisted for PM Modi’s excellence award for promoting digital payments and cashless economy.Digital payments facility has been installed at 670 places across the district so far. In order to ensure successful implementation of the digital payments, the district administration has trained hundreds of local residents at Common Services Centers.

Paytm introduced ‘Tap Card’

Paytm has announced the launch of its offline payments solution – the Paytm Tap Card.The card uses Near Field Communication (NFC) technology to enable safe and convenient digital payments, completely offline at Paytm-issued, NFC PoS terminals. Tap Card has been launched to provide seamless payments solutions for non-internet customers.

AP, Mastercard to host cyber security summit

The Andhra Pradesh Government and Mastercard are together holding AP Cyber Security Summit. The summit is being conducted here as a part of the MoU signed between the State Government and Mastercard to implement best practices in cyber security. The partnership would help the state government to enable more robust digital payments solutions for the government’s Fintech Valley initiative.

India’s first cashless island

Manipur’s Karang has become the first cashless island of the country.Karang, a remote region was cut-off from the (Bishnupur) district due to insurgency for a long time. Incentives were provided for training towards digital payments and five POS machines were installed on the island. An online channel was launched to create awareness about the digital payments.

Paytm Payments Bank registers 100M KYC wallets

Paytm Payments Bank claims that it now has over 100 million KYC -registered wallets which includes both complete & minimum KYC.This development comes even as there have been indications in digital payments industry of a sharp fall in mobile-wallet users as customer authentication did not take off. Paytm Payments Bank is owned 51% by Paytm founder Vijay Sharma & 49% by One97 Communications.

Iraq resumes payments of Gulf War reparations

Iraq has resumed paying Kuwait compensation for the destruction of Kuwaiti oil fields and facilities during the 1990-91 Gulf War with the disbursal of $90 million.The payment had been suspended since October 2014 because of security and budgetary problems that the Iraqi government faced in its fight against Islamic State. Iraq still has to pay a remaining amount of nearly $4.5 billion.

Madras HC introduces e-court fee payment

The Madras High Court has become the first court in south India and eighth in the country to introduce e-court fee payment facility.People would now be able to pay the court fees from anywhere, including from home using this application through the Internet. The facility introduced at the Madras High Court would be extended to all the district courts too in a phased manner.

Standard Chartered ties up with Zoho

Standard Chartered Bank has announced an alliance with Zoho to offer solutions to enhance corporate banking experience. Bank’s business account holders can now pay their suppliers & automate reconciliation right from Zoho Books. The collaboration with Zoho offers clients a revolutionary experience, enabling them to interact seamlessly, resulting in simpler reconciliation & faster payments.

Nation Celebrates 127th Ambedkar Jayanti

14 : Nation remembers Dr Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar on his 127th birth anniversary. Floral tributes were paid at Babasaheb’s Statue in the Parliament House Complex, New Delhi. Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar, the chief architect of the Constitution of India, was born on 14th April 1891 at Mhow in Madhya Pradesh, which is now known as Dr Ambedkar Nagar. He was also the first law minister of India. Unified Payment Interface (UPI) based app BHIM that was launched by PM Modi has been named after Bhim Rao Ambedkar.

Govt approved linking of savings A/c & IPPB

The Government of India has approved the linking of Post Office savings accounts with that of India Post Payments Bank (IPPB).This will enable Post Office account holders to transfer money from their savings account to any bank accounts. IPPB is governed by Reserve Bank of India and banking service of post offices comes under the Ministry of Finance.

ICICI Bank gets Swift’s new payment service

ICICI Bank has become first Indian bank to go live on SWIFT’s Global Payment Innovation, an improved cross-border payments service.The service enables real-time payments tracking across correspondent banks & has a facility to track payments instructions across correspondent banks globally. The announcement of the service comes weeks after the discovery Rs 12,900-crore Nirav Modi scam at PNB

FIEO, PayPal sign MoU to empower SMEs

Digital payments platform, PayPal, and the Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO), an apex international trade promotion organisation, announced a partnership to promote exports.PayPal will work with FIEO to educate small and medium enterprises (SMEs) on how to leverage global opportunities.The MoU will focus on training Indian SMEs in various aspects of exports.

RBI bars banks from crypto services

RBI directed all regulated entities including banks not to provide services to businesses dealing in virtual currencies like bitcoins, so as to protect consumers and check money laundering.The RBI asked entities, which are already into such services to stop providing this kind of services within three months. The RBI has directed all payment system operators to store all data within India.

CBDT facilitates seamless tax payment

The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) released a one-page simplified Income Tax Returns Form-1 ‘Sahaj’ for the assessment year 2018-19.It can be filed by an individual having income up to Rs.50 lakh and who is receiving income from salary, one house property/other income such as interest. This initiative benefited around 3 crore taxpayers, who filed their return in this simplified Form.

Jio Payments Bank began operations

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said that Jio Payments Bank has commenced its banking services.Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) was one of the 11 applicants which were issued the in-principle approval for setting up a payments bank in August 2015. Telecom major Bharti Airtel was the first to begin payment bank services in November 2016.

Microsoft enabled Digital Payments Support

Microsoft enabled digital payments services on its enterprise social network app “Kaizala” in India.Microsoft has integrated payment services of YES BANK and MobiKwik.Payment integration with Microsoft Kaizala will enable users to quickly send or receive money without having to leave the Kaizala application.

Fino Payments to set up Android-based mPOS\

Fino Payments Bank plans to set up multi-utility Android-based mPOS devices across 10,000 banking points throughout the country in a phased manner. The move is aimed at eliminating the inconvenience of carrying multiple devices by the representatives leading to improved services to customers. Fino which was a remittance service provider received authorization from RBI to operate as a bank.

HDFC signed MoU with Government e-Marketplace

HDFC Bank has signed an agreement with Government e-Marketplace under which the bank will facilitate a host of services for the portal. GeM provides an end-to-end online marketplace for central & state govt ministries for procurement of common use goods /services. MoU is significant as it will bring transparency & efficiency in procurement process with assured & timely payment to sellers.

Payment of Gratuity Amendment bill passed

22 :The Rajya Sabha passed the Payment of Gratuity (Amendment) bill. The bill would enhance the ceiling of tax-free gratuity to Rs 20 lakh from existing Rs 10 lakh for employers under the Payment of Gratuity Act. It is applicable to employees, who have completed at least five years of continuous service in an establishment that has 10 or more persons.

‘Digital Export Import’ payments by Yes Bank

Yes Bank has launched a robotics-based ‘Digital export Import’ payments solution as a part of its Yes Transact Smart Trade product suite. It aims to bring over 1 lakh trade transactions going entirely digital, across major geographies including China, US. The product uses robotics process automation & helps in eliminating the requirement of documents submission for import & export payments.

IndusInd Bank And Ripple Tie-Up

IndusInd Bank announced its partnership with Ripple to facilitate payments into and out of India. With this affiliation, RippleNet can now provide instant access in emerging markets such as India, Brazil and China. In 2017, India saw a total of $65 billion move into the country.

Birla’s Idea Payments Bank begins operations

Aditya Birla Idea Payments Bank Ltd commenced operations as a payments bank with effect from February 22, 2018.In November 2016, Airtel Payments Bank Ltd became the first entity to start operations as Payments Bank. Paytm and Fino Payments Bank are the other two entities that have already launched their operations. India Post Payments Bank is expected to start operations from April 2018.

Centre reboots eNAM to draw more farmers

In a bid to engage more farmers on the eNAM platform, the government unveiled mobile payment facility BHIM, and other features in regional languages as well.The eNAM website is now available in Gujarati, Marathi, Tamil, Telugu, Bengali and Odia besides Hindi and English, while the eNAM trading facility is available in six languages. It is strengthened with features like MIS dashboard, BHIM.

New rules for Telco-run payments banks

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has said that KYC (Know Your Customer) verification of payments bank customers done by telecom companies is not permissible.It has instructed payments banks to complete the KYC process independently through third parties. This comes after Airtel was penalised by UIDAI for allegedly opening payments bank accounts without ‘informed consent’ of the users.

Google Launches Google Pay

21 : Google has combined its two payment services, Google Wallet and Android Pay, into a new app called Google Pay.Google Pay combines features from both, including the ability to pay at checkout counters with a smartphone, and even the option to scan into transit systems. With Google Pay, one can digitally store their credit and debit cards, as well as gift cards and rewards cards.

WhatsApp to launch inter-bank money transfer

18 : WhatsApp will launch a “full feature” inter-bank money transfer service in India, its biggest market, after a test involving a million users.This uses customers’ phone numbers linked to bank accounts to facilitate payments. 4 banks will join United Payments Interface which powers the payments service for WhatsApp. At present ICICI Bank processes the fund transfers on WhatsApp.

NITI bats for separate debt office in India

NITI Aayog Vice-Chairman Rajiv Kumar made a strong case for setting up an independent debt management office, saying better servicing of loans could lead to substantial reduction in India’s interest payments.At present, the government debt is managed by the RBI. The interest payment on the public debt is estimated to rise from Rs 5.3 lakh crore in 2017-18 to Rs 5.75 lakh in 2018-19.

IPPB to enable Digital Payments

India Post Payments Bank will enable Digital Payments in Post Offices by April this year.Once expansion is completed, IPPB will provide largest financial inclusion network in the country. IPPB will be the 3rd payments bank to have full fledged operations after Airtel Payments Bank & Paytm. It will provide digital payment services at the doorstep with the help of Postmen & Gramin Dak Sewaks

WhatsApp rolls out Payments feature in India

Facebook-owned messaging service WhatsApp has started rolling its Payments feature on both Android and iOS operating systems in India, according to reports.The feature will allow users to instantly transfer money via the Unified Payments Interface (UPI).Earlier reports said that WhatsApp was working with banks including HDFC and ICICI to integrate its UPI-based payments platform.

Small Fin & Payments Banks to offer APY

According to the Central govt “Payments Banks & Small Finance Banks” will offer social security scheme Atal Pension Yojana (APY) to their subscribers.The move is aimed at expanding the outreach of Atal Pension Yojana. Payment and Small finance banks are a new model of banking conceptualised by the RBI. As on Jan 23, 2018, there are more than 84 lakh subscribers registered under APY scheme.

Grab acquires payments start-up iKaaz

Grab, Uber’s biggest competitor in Southeast Asian markets has acquired Bengaluru-based software start-up iKaaz.iKaaz’ technology spans across areas like NFC, QR-code, audio-based payments as well as bill payments, online payments & peer-to-peer. Flexibility & Scalability offered by iKaaz make it ideally suited for Southeast Asia’s diverse payments landscape & large unbanked population.

NPCI names Asbe as CEO

National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) on Monday appointed Dilip Asbe as its MD & CEO with immediate effect.Mr. Asbe, who was the Chief Operating Officer of NPCI, was also the acting CEO of NPCI since August after A.P. Hota retired. NPCI was set up by the Reserve Bank of India in 2009 as the central infrastructure for various retail payment systems in India.

PhonePe inks pact with FreeCharge

10 : Flipkart’s payments arm PhonePe said it has partnered mobile wallet company FreeCharge.PhonePe has now enabled its over 45 million users to link their existing FreeCharge wallets to the PhonePe app. Once linked, PhonePe customers will be able to spend their FreeCharge wallet balance at all online and offline merchant outlets that accept payments via PhonePe.

Paytm, IndusInd to provide FD facility

Paytm Payments Bank has partnered Induslnd Bank to introduce a facility to create a fixed deposit when the customer balance exceeds Rs 1 lakh at the end of the day.Paytm Payments Bank customers can redeem their deposits instantly, anytime without paying any pre-closure or miscellaneous charges. Customers can also earn up to 6.85 percent annual interest.

K.M. Birla to infuse ` 3,200 cr into Idea

Kumar Mangalam Birla-led promoter firms have agreed to infuse ` 3,200 crore into Idea Cellular.The issue, subject to shareholders and other regulatory approvals, is expected to be completed by early February 2018.After this, the shareholding of the promoter group in Idea will increase to 47.2% from the existing 42.4%.

IICA, IPPB Sign MoU

The Indian Institute of Corporate Affairs and India Post Payments Bank signed an agreement for the training of employees of the latter in the area of payment banking.Under the agreement, IICA has been entrusted with the key responsibility of capacity building of IPPB.Employees will be provided research support by instituting Research Chairs in the emerging area of payment banking.

Debit card trans. up to ` 2,000: Free

Customers will not have to pay any transaction charges for payments through debit card, BHIM app and other payment made for up to Rs 2,000.The move will have an impact of Rs 2,512 crore on the exchequer. BHIM is a mobile app developed by National Payments Corporation of India, based on the Unified Payment Interface.

India’s first bitcoin trading app

29 : Cryptocurrency dealer Pluto Exchange announced the launch of India’s first mobile application for transacting in virtual currencies.The Pluto Exchange mobile app offers a solution to the coordination problem between payment processors, financial gateways, and banks.By using a four-digit personal identification number, users can now buy, sell, store and spend bitcoins via a mobile number.

Paytm To Cross 100 mn Downloads

India’s largest mobile-first financial services platform, Paytm announced that its app has crossed the 100 million milestone on Google Play Store in the second week of December 2017.This makes Paytm the country’s first payments app to cross the 100 million downloads mark.The platform allows users to do online recharges and bill payments, book movie tickets, do travel bookings among others.

Samsung, Axis Bank tie-up

Samsung has launched its ‘Bill Payments’ on its flagship payments service, Samsung Pay in partnership with Axis Bank. The new feature will enable users to pay their utility bills seamlessly via Samsung Pay’s secure and convenient platform. Currently, users can pay their mobile, landline phone, electricity, gas, water and DTH bills using ‘Bill Payments’ on Samsung Pay.

Airtel Payments Bank CEO resigns

Airtel Payments Bank Managing Director and CEO Shashi Arora has resigned from his position.His resignation comes after Bharti Airtel’s eKYC licence suspension by Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI).The “Aadhaar linked e-KYC” service of UIDAI provides an instant, electronic, non-repudiable proof of identity.

Sodexo partners with Swiggy

Sodexo, an employee benefit provider has announced its partnership with food ordering & delivery platform, Swiggy.With this in place, 3 million daily users of Sodexo can now use their Meal Cards to order food via Swiggy app, thus enabling seamless food delivery and payment.Through this, Sodexo aims at leveraging their technological expertise in their transformation to a digitized entity.

Paytm QR announces direct payment

Paytm has announced that its QR now allows offline merchants to accept unlimited payments directly into their bank accounts at 0 charge.Now the Paytm merchant partners can accept payments through multiple payment instruments including UPI & cards.Paytm QR has eliminated the need for additional spends on POS machines for merchants & it has been supporting them in their day-to-day business

UIDAI suspends Airtel eKYC licence

UIDAI has temporarily barred Airtel & Airtel Payment Bank from conducting Aadhaar-based SIM verification of mobile customers using eKYC process.The action follows allegations of Airtel using Aadhaar-eKYC to open payments bank accounts of its subscribers without their informed consent.UIDAI also objected to allegations about such accounts being linked to receive LPG subsidies.

No MDR charges on debit card payments

Union cabinet has decided to bear the merchant discount rate (MDR) applicable on digital payments via debit cards, etc, up to Rs2,000.The MDR applicable on digital transactions will be borne by the govt for a period of 2 years with effect from 1 Jan.MDR is the charge paid by a merchant to a bank for accepting payment from customers via credit or debit cards.

FundsIndia partners with Yes Bank

FundsIndia.com, a leading investment platform for mutual funds & equities, has partnered with Yes Bank to launch UPI on their Android app for MF payments. Powered by YES BANK, FundsIndia becomes the first online mutual fund distributor to support UPI for client payments. UPI offers the benefit of instant processing of payments & is currently the fastest way to complete mutual fund transactions

OBOPAY gets a Prepaid Instrument License

OBOPAY, global mobile payment solutions company has secured a license for Prepaid Payment Instrument from RBI to operate a semi-closed loop wallet in India. Company will be using the license in propelling the business in its B2B operations by co-branding the prepaid instrument with a partner brand.Using the licence, OBOPAY will solve various payment related problems for their partner clients

Fino becomes business correspondent

Fino Payments Bank has signed up Rajasthan govt’s Rajcomp as its corporate business correspondent to give banking services to people in the state.Under the agreement, all 55,000 e-Mitra points of Rajcomp will act as banking points of Fino Payments Bank.Company expects increase in customer engagement at e-Mitra points & transactions at these points will grow by over 400% from existing level

Govt fixes sovereign Gold bond rate

Govt has fixed Rs 2,890 per gram as the price of new series of sovereign gold bonds opening.Govt, in consultation with RB, has decided to offer a discount of Rs 50 per gram to investors applying online & making payments digitally.Under the scheme, bonds are denominated in units of 1 gram of gold & multiples.Min investment in bonds is 1 gram while Max limit is 500 grams per person.

ICICI Bank to enable cashless payments

Government has engaged ICICI Bank to enable online payments at 470 mandis integrated with the national portal of electronic National Agriculture Market (e-NAM).At present, e-NAM participants are doing payments through traditional ways via bank branches, debit cards and net banking.ICICI Bank will enable BHIM and Unified Payments Interface on the e-NAM portal for making cashless payments

RBI to rationalise MDR

RBI has decided to rationalise charges on debit card transactions based on the category of merchants with a view to giving “further fillip” to digital payments.It is aimed at the twin objectives of increased usage of debit cards and ensuring sustainability of the business for the entities involved.MDR is the rate charged to a merchant by a bank for providing debit and credit card services.

Corp Bank launches RuPay Credit Cards

Corporation Bank has launched its RuPay Select and RuPay Platinum credit cards.Jai Kumar Garg, Managing Director and CEO of Corporation Bank, unveiled the cards in Mangaluru. Gopal Murli Bhagat, Executive Director of the bank, was present during the launch.Quoting Garg, the release said that these cards will boost digital payment and will be beneficial in creating a ‘less cash society’.

Jaitley launches Paytm Payments Bank

A new Payments Bank ‘Paytm Payments Bank’ was formally launched at the hands of the Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley. Currently, India has four Payments Bank including Paytm Payments Bank. The other three operational ones are Airtel Payments Bank, India Post Payments Bank and Fino Payments Bank. A customer can open a savings bank account in them and have deposits of upto Rs. 1 lakh.

Axis Bank launches int. payment service

Private sector bank, Axis Bank has launched an instant international payment services using RippleNet (Ripple’s enterprise blockchain technology solution). This facility is currently available for Axis Bank’s retail customers in India to receive payments from the UAE-based Rak Bank. RippleNet is referred to as world’s only enterprise blockchain solution for global payments.

Paytm, ICICI tie-up for digital credit

Paytm has entered into a tie-up with ICICI Bank to jointly launch ‘Paytm-ICICI Bank Postpaid’, that offers short-term credit to their common customers. ‘Paytm-ICICI Bank Postpaid’ offers instant digital credit for various transactions. It includes payment for movie tickets, bill payments, flights, as well as physical goods without any documentation or transaction fees.

PoS for elect. bill payments: Nagaland

Nagaland became the first among the North Eastern states to launch Point of Sale (PoS) for electricity bill payment. Through the PoS, a consumer can make cashless payment of the electricity bills, which is in line with India’s digitisation. The PoS facility was formally launched by State Chief Secretary, Pankaj Kumar, at Kohima Electrical Sub-division-1 in Kohima on 16th November 2017.

PayPal launches domestic ops in India

American digital payments company PayPal launched domestic operations in India. At launch, Indian consumers will be able to make transactions at select online merchants. Merchants offering PayPal will be able to process both local and global payments through the platform, getting access to PayPal’s more than 200 million customers around the world and in India through a single integration.

IPPB to have operations by April

India Posts Payments Bank will have nationwide presence by April 2018. It’s branches will be opened in 650 districts and will be linked to rural post offices. Currently IPPB’s Raipur & Ranchi branches are operational. It can accept deposits of up to Rs 1 lakh per account from individuals & small businesses. Besides IPPB, Airtel and Paytm have started payments bank operations this year.

Paytm unveils ‘Inbox’ messaging platform

Digital payments provider Paytm unveiled its own messaging platform with an option of making in-chat payments. The service will allow users to chat with friends and family, and send and request money at the same time. The platform is encrypted end-to-end, and users can initiate private conversations and create group chats. They can also send photos and videos instantly, share live location.

Yes Bank Unveils Bhim Yes Pay

Yes Bank unveiled BHIM YES PAY, an upgraded version of the existing payment wallet service. The new version will support a comprehensive set of applications provided by the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI). The wallet not only gives Unified Payments Interface (UPI) as a service but also allows for easy and quick peer-to-peer (P2P) payments through money loaded in wallets.

Sudhanshu as CFO of Paytm Payments Bank

Paytm Payments Bank has appointed former ICICI Bank executive, Sudhanshu Jain as its Chief Financial Officer. He will be in charge of all financial and regulatory management functions for the Payments Bank and play a key role in overseeing its finances and expansion plans. Jain comes with around 14 years of experience across internal audit, finance and borrowings roles.

MSME Samadhaan

2 : Shri Giriraj Singh launched MSME Delayed Payment Portal – MSME Samadhaan (http://msefc.msme.gov.in). It will empower micro and small entrepreneurs across the country to directly register their cases relating to delayed payments. The Portal will give information about the pending payment of MSEs with individual CPSEs / Central Ministries, State Governments, etc.

Transcorp launches pre-paid card

Foreign Exchange and inward remittance service provider company Transcorp International has launched a platinum pre-paid card in association with Yes Bank. This card can be used for transactions in stores and ATMs across the country. Transcorp-Yes Bank pre-paid card has been launched in association with RUPAY, powered by National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI).

SBI Slashed IMPS Service Charges

The State Bank of India has slashed Immediate Payment Service (IMPS) charges up to 80 percent. If the users are doing an online transaction of money after selecting IMPS option, then they will have to pay 80% less charge than what they used to pay earlier. After the revision, no IMPS service charge will be imposed on online transactions under Rs. 1000.

IPPB Appoints Suresh Sethi as its MD

India Post Payments Bank (IPPB) has appointed Mr. Suresh Sethi as its Managing Director & Chief Executive Officer. Mr Sethi was the former MD of Vodafone M-Pesa Ltd. Mr. Sethi takes over from the dynamic leadership of Mr. A.P. Singh who had been the interim MD & CEO of IPPB since January 2017. IPPB is Headquartered in New Delhi.

Kotak Bank ties up with Samsung Pay

Kotak Bank has tied up with Samsung, under which its credit and debit cardholders will be able to tap and pay using Samsung smart phones at merchant establishments. It uses the MST technology which enables consumers to make in-store payments without the need for a physical card. This tie-up will strengthen Kotak’s digital savings account product as the customer will get a virtual debit card.

Odisha government signs MOU with SBI

Odisha government signed a MoU with SBI, for integration of SBI e-Pay with the cyber treasury. This MoU is an initiative by the Odisha government to facilitate revenue collection from citizens through digital banking platform. The SBI e-Pay is the payment aggregator service wing of SBI. It facilitates online payment of government dues by the customers of any public or private sector banks.

Rukaiya appointed as head of MobiKwik

MobiKwik has announced the appointment of Rukaiya Rangwala as the Business Head of ‘MobiKwik Payment Gateway’ to drive the growth of the entity. Rukaiya has 15 years of experience in the technology and e-commerce industry. The company had recently relaunched its Payment Gateway and aims to have over $5 billion worth of transactions processed on the platform by the end of 2017-18.

Mastercard’s Innovation Centre in India

14 : US-based fintech company Mastercard has announced the launch of its global research and development arm Mastercard Labs in Pune, India. After Singapore, this will be the second Mastercard Labs in Asia-Pacific, and ninth in the world. The initiative aims to bring and harness new commerce, payment and technology ideas at a fast pace in the country. Ajay Banga is the CEO of Mastercard.

Digital Payments to Grow at 26%: report

World Payment Report stated that the initiatives of the government and the National Payments Council of India will help non-cash transactions grow at a compound annual growth rate of 26.2 % during 2016 to 2020. The World Payment Report 2017 was jointly commissioned by Capgemini and BNP Paribas. The report is about digital payments and transactions all around the world and their progress.

Vijaya Bank Inks MoU with HPCL

Vijaya Bank has entered into an MoU with Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd (HPCL) for enabling all HPCL retail outlets with BHIM/UPI merchant solutions. This rollout will empower all petrol pump attendants and LPG delivery personnel to accept digital payments. Customers can make payments by scanning a payment QR code, using BHIM Vijaya or any BHIM app that supports payments via UPI.

Rs. 28,263 crore for Punjab

The Centre sanctioned a Cash Credit Limit of Rs. 28,262.84 crore for procurement of paddy for Punjab in the Kharif marketing season 2017-18. The amount has been sanctioned for procurement of paddy in the current marketing season, which will last until the end of October. CM has directed all the concerned agencies to take immediate steps to ensure timely payment to the farmers for their produce

Mudra Promotion campaigns

To accelerate self-employment opportunities, Finance Ministry has decided to organise Mudra promotion camps across the country beginning Sep 27 from PM’s constituency Varanasi. The campaign will help promote not only Mudra loans but also spread awareness about digital payment method, financial inclusion and social security schemes. 50 camps, including 1 each in state capitals, will be organised.

Sound-based payment solution

Infosys has announced the partnership with ToneTag to offer sound-based payment solution to bank customers using its financial product Finacle. It will enable banks to allow their customers to authenticate transactions at their branches, ATMs & retail outlets. The sound-based technology will enable an exchange of information for payment processing between PoS machines & consumers’ phone.

Google to launch mobile payment service

Joining the digital payment bandwagon in India, Google is reportedly launching a UPI based digital payment service called “Tez” as early as next week. Tez will offer payment options beyond the existing ones like Google Wallet or Android Pay. Tez will include support for the government-backed Unified Payments Interface and other consumer payment services including Paytm and MobiKwik.

Bill to increase tax-free gratuity

Centre has approved an amendment Bill that increases limit of tax-free gratuity up to Rs 20 lakh for employees belonging to public as well as private sector. The current upper ceiling on gratuity under the Payment of Gratuity Act, 1972, is Rs 10 lakh. Gratuity is a sum of money an employee receives from his or her employee in exchange of services rendered to the organisation.

Bharat QR launched by Visa

Digital payments network Visa has partnered with payment gateway entity Bill Desk, to enable around 59 service providers to start accepting Bharat QR payments. This partnership would enable a major shift towards pushing of bill payments into digital mode especially through QR codes. Some of the merchants include the likes of Tata AIG, Reliance Energy, Gujarat Gas, MTNL, Aircel, Tata Power.

ItzCash partners with HDFC Ergo

HDFC ERGO has entered into a strategic agreement with payments solutions company ItzCash to offer general insurance products on its platform. The partnership inked will offer a wide range of general insurance policies including health, motor, fire, and auto. The partnership will allow customers to pay their premium at the nearest ItzCash outlet.

CHOICE launches ‘PoS’ product

Canara HSBC Oriental Bank of Commerce Life Insurance Company (CHOICE) has come up with a ‘Point-of-Sale’ product targeted at the mass-market segment. The product ‘PoS – Easy Bima Plan’ is the first PoS product for the company and is a pure term insurance plan. It not only gives life cover but also returns all premiums paid during the payment term on survival till maturity.

Spice Digital gets RBI licence

26 : Spice Digital Limited has received the final licence from the RBI, allowing the company to process bill payments as a Bharat Bill Payment Operating Unit. It may be recalled that SDL’s Spice Money had in May last year received an in-principle approval to set up a BBPOU under the Payment and Settlement Systems Act 2007. BBPS is a RBI conceptualized system driven by NPCI.

All-in-one DigiPoS machines

HDFC Bank has launched an all-in-one offering DigiPoS Machine, that offers a complete suite of digital payment solutions. With DigiPoS, a merchant can use as many as 12 digital payment options like UPI, in addition, to pay through debit/credit card swiping. It will integrate popular digital payment methods in merchant payment machines offering greater convenience to both customers & merchants

Instamojo raises funds

On-demand payments platform for small & medium businesses Instamojo has raised an undisclosed amount in pre-series B funding from AnyPay. The funding marks AnyPay’s foray into the Indian investment market. Instamojo aims to extend its wallet share to 70% by 2019 & grow its merchant base by 400% in 2018. Instamojo enables over 3,00,000 SMEs to build, manage & grow their business online.

Asbe appointed as the chief executive

National Payments Corporation of India has appointed Dilip Asbe, its chief operating officer, to act as its chief executive officer. This comes in wake of retirement of A. P. Hota, its founding managing director. Asbe joined NPCI as its first employee in 2010 as its CTO & was elevated to position of COO in 2013. Asbe is well known to be one of the driving forces behind UPI, BHIM, IMPS.

Canara Bank unveils two digital services

11 : Canara Bank has unveiled 2 new digital services for online payments – Bharat QR and Bharat Bill Payment System. Bharat QR is for payment settlement at merchant locations while Bharat Bill Payment System is an integrated bill payment system for net banking customers. Bharat QR will enable a merchant to accept payments as settlement for sale of goods or services.

IDFC Bank partners with Zeta

IDFC Bank has partnered with Zeta to launch IDFC Bank Benefits – Payment solution for corporates that digitises employee spends & claims. IDFC Benefits Card & Zeta app will integrate full suite of allowances & reimbursements offered by an employer into 1 preloaded card. Employees can access Benefits Card via Zeta app which will enable them to track spends, limits & submit claims digitally.

Mastercard, PayPal expand partnership

Mastercard & PayPal have extended their partnership into Asia Pacific to enhance consumer experience & make Mastercard a payment option with PayPal. It will expand PayPal’s presence at point of sale & enable Masterpass for Braintree merchants. PayPal will give consumers & small businesses across Asia Pacific ability to cash out funds held in their PayPal accounts to a Mastercard debit card.

Indian philanthropist honoured

Indian businessman & philanthropist in UAE, Firoz Merchant was honoured with UAE’s prestigious Community Service Medal. He has spent over $4mn to free prisoners languishing in jails due to non-payment of debts. This is the first time any expatriate community member has been given this award. Award was given to him in recognition of his efforts to serve the community in the country & beyond

Disclose bank defaults within one day

SEBI has made it mandatory for companies to disclose any instance of default on payment of interest or repayment of principal to banks within a day of default. Companies have been directed to provide information pertaining to defaults to concerned credit rating agencies in a timely manner. The move comes against the backdrop of Rs10 trillion of stressed assets piling up in the banking system

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