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<keyword id="6354512" type="CITY" weightage="100" keywordseo="Infosys">Infosys</keyword> has launched two new financial products - <keyword id="3033079" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="40" keywordseo="Finacle-Payments-Bank">Finacle Payments Bank</keyword> and <keyword id="3033080" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="Finacle-Small-Finance-Bank">Finacle Small Finance Bank</keyword> solutions - for the Indian market. It will help the company to tap the multi-million dollar opportunity in the newly announced payments banks segment. 
 These two products are part of <keyword id="2236235" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="80" keywordseo="Edgeverve-Systems">EdgeVerve Systems</keyword>, the product subsidiary of <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Infosys">Infosys</a>, the country's second largest software services firm. 
 
"These solutions are specifically tailored for organisations seeking payments banks and small finance banks licenses from the RBI. With these solutions, licensees can set up the required technology backbone and become operational quickly," Infosys Finacle Regional Head for Growth Markets Venkatrama Gosavi told PTI. 
 
These solutions will enable the new entrants to focus on their business goals right from the start of their operations, he added. 
 
<a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Reserve+Bank+of+India+%28RBI%29+">The Reserve Bank of India (RBI)</a> granted 'in-principle' approval in August to 11 entities, including <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Reliance+Industries">Reliance Industries</a>, <keyword id="6359480" type="PERSON" weightage="80" keywordseo="Aditya-Birla">Aditya Birla</keyword> Nuvo, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Vodafone+">Vodafone</a> and Airtel, to set up payments banks in the country. 
 
The other entities include Department of Posts, Cholamandalam Distribution Services, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Tech+Mahindra">Tech Mahindra</a>, National Securities Depository Limited (NSDL), Fino PayTech, Sun Pharma's Dilip Shantilal Shanghvi and PayTM's Vijay Shekhar Sharma. 
 
Infosys' solutions provide capabilities to enable various distribution models like traditional banking, agency banking, mobile wallet, and micro ATMs. 
 
Gosavi said: "These solutions are also available in a hosted environment apart from on-premise, which ensures low capital investments. It will enable new license holders to make investments based on consumption and scale-up depending on business demand." 
 
The customers will also have access to integrated analytics to help create customised offerings and address emerging market needs. 
 
A dominant player in the banking solutions space, Finacle has 70% share of the top 40 banks in India. It also powers over 100 cooperative banks in India. 
 
(Image: Indiatimes)

Grabbing the million dollar opportunity, Infosys launches two new financial products

<ul><li><keyword id="6354512" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="100" keywordseo="Infosys">Infosys</keyword> creates, tests blockchain-based document-tracking system.</li><li>Solution named India Trade Connect will help banks track trade documents digitally. </li><li>Seven Indian private banks including Axis Bank, Yes Bank and <keyword id="6653" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="ICICI-bank">ICICI Bank</keyword> are implementing India Trade Connect.</li></ul> Infosys, one of the software giants in the country, has <a href="https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/business/india-business/to-avoid-pnb-like-fraud-infosys-sets-up-blockchain-based-network-with-banks/articleshow/64190646.cms" data-type="tilCustomLink">set up</a> a blockchain-based document-tracking system for trade finance and is currently testing it. The solution named India Trade Connect aims to increase the security and efficiency of the banking sector and now has seven Indian private banks – ICICI Bank, Axis Bank, Yes Bank, IndusInd Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank, RBL Bank and South Indian Bank – on board. At the heart of the Rs 1,400 crore (approximate) <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/how-one-fraudster-drove-punjab-national-bank-to-the-highest-quarterly-loss-in-the-history-of-indian-banking/articleshow/64187005.cms" data-type="tilCustomLink">Nirav Modi-Mehul Choksi scam</a>, where three jewellery firms defrauded India’s second biggest state-run lender <keyword id="62034" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="Punjab-National-Bank">Punjab National Bank</keyword> scam, is lack of transparency and accountability. The blockchain-based trade finance network will make the transactions more transparent for all stakeholders in any undertaking. The solution, earlier called <a href="https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/infosys-finacle-pioneers-blockchain-based-trade-network-in-india-in-consortium-with-seven-leading-banks-682801371.html" data-type="tilCustomLink">Finacle Trade Connect</a>, and now rechristened as India Trade Connect, will allow the document-heavy, process-heavy trade financing to happen digitally. How does a <keyword id="6355684" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Blockchain">blockchain</keyword> network function? India Trade Connect will help digitise the various processes in trade financing, including validation of ownership, certifying documents, making payments, collection of bills, and producing letters of credit and even invoice financing. <keyword id="6357624" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="blockchain-technology">Blockchain technology</keyword> stores details of every transaction securely shared between all the parties involved, say for instance, a buyer, the buyer’s bank, a seller and the seller’s bank. This is more efficient than each bank working on its own. In an interview with the <a href="https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/tech/ites/infosys-creates-blockchain-solutions-for-trade-finance/articleshow/64199469.cms" data-type="tilCustomLink">Economic Times</a>, Sanat Rao, chief business officer at <keyword id="1658904" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="Infosys-Finacle">Infosys Finacle</keyword>, said, “Because of the network effect, where a buyer, the buyer’s bank, the seller and the seller’s bank are all on the platform, it creates a single source of truth. Banking and blockchain Earlier this week, on May 14, HSBC Holdings <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-hsbc-blockchain/hsbc-says-performs-first-trade-finance-transaction-using-blockchain-idUSKCN1IF01X" data-type="tilCustomLink">claimed</a> it had performed the world’s first trade finance transaction on a shared blockchain platform. Prior to this, no trades used a single, shared digital application. This is not the first time that Indian banks have attempted to integrate blockchain into their systems. In June last year, ICICI Bank, DCB Bank, and Deutsche Bank, to name a few stakeholders, <a href="https://www.ethnews.com/indian-banks-partner-with-microsoft-for-blockchain-banking-platform" data-type="tilCustomLink">partnered</a> with <keyword id="10387" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="Microsoft">Microsoft</keyword> to develop blockchain platforms for the Indian banking sector. It was called BankChain. Blockchain <a href="https://www2.deloitte.com/in/en/pages/strategy/articles/blockchain-in-banking.html" data-type="tilCustomLink">started off</a> being a giant, decentralised ledger for bitcoin (digital currency) that records every transaction and stores information about it on a global network. This data is highly secure and cannot be tampered with. Banks and other financial institutions back and invest in blockchain technology because it cuts their costs and makes operations faster, transparent and automated. “The framework of India Connect is said to be ledger agnostic and capable of working with other blockchain platforms like Bitcoin, Hyperledger, Ethereum and Corda,” Rao said.

Indian software giant Infosys sets up a blockchain trade network with 7 banks

Millennials: the first generation of digital natives
 Millennials are those who were born between 1980 and 2000. Analysts say by 2020, Millennials will comprise half the global workforce. Not only are they becoming the biggest consumer demographic, but also the most important in terms of technology adoption. Around 50% of Millennials count on social media when buying online. Millennials’ affinity for technology is reshaping the <keyword id="34494" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="banking-industry">banking industry</keyword> globally, including in India. 

	Banking trends that can engage the Millennial audience
 

	Millennials are banking differently than any preceding generation. Besides the now established practice of using digital technologies, including mobile, social and wearables for everything, we highlight 5 other trends that banks need to embrace to engage this unique customer segment.
 

	1. Combining gamification and customer acquisition
 

	WeChat’s Hongbao, a gamification feature that launched during Chinese New Year in 2014, successfully attracted 8 million mobile payment customers – mostly new subscribers – in one night. Millennials, as a generation, take gaming seriously, and integrate their digital worlds into real life. It makes gamification – the use of game mechanics to digitally engage people – a significant tool for banks to acquire prospects. However, gamification means much more than a loyalty program, gesture control, or augmented reality. To succeed, banks need to incorporate gamification into their acquisition and retention strategy, designing from multiple perspectives including gaming elements, targeted players, motivation and awards.
 

	2. Launching digital wallet to battle against alternative payments
 More than a half of Millennials has either already adopted or would select non-traditional payment companies such as <keyword id="6357940" type="CITY" weightage="100" keywordseo="Paypal">PayPal</keyword>, Alipay, or Paytm in a period of next 12 months. While banks are identifying gaps in their existing payment platforms to achieve simplification and transparency, it is even more important that bank CEOs understand innovations happening in the digital wallet space. The progress of the payment operations of players in the <keyword id="6354241" type="COMPANY" weightage="100" keywordseo="Financial-Services">financial services</keyword>, telco and retail sectors will be decided by the battle for control of digital wallet solutions. A successful digital wallet deployment demands banks’ investment commitment, together with a focus on contextualized, value-added services – for instance, digital identity management, payment advisory services, location intelligence, and even crypto currency integration. 

	3. Automated banking services with robots and artificial intelligence
 

	Banks have been automating human operations since many years with innovations, from ATM to e-banking. But Millennials demand much more than that. For instance, only 14% of Millennials seek advice from financial advisors, preferring to explore new ways of considering investment decisions, which are easy to access and don’t require face-to-face interaction. Banks are now looking at how they can use digitalization to augment human processes, especially by using artificial intelligence and advanced analytics, to offer automated service as a complement to human financial advisors. In the combination of machine learning and self-service, bankers have an innovative digital service that interacts with customers, listens to questions and offers solutions, and takes basic customer services to scale.
 

	4. Frictionless experience in a connected ecosystem 
 Millennials are digital natives. Most of them were exposed to internet, mobile and social from an early age. 80% of Millennials conduct basic banking digitally. Furthermore, 64% would be keen to experience a wearable technology product offered by an <keyword id="4578" type="COMPANY" weightage="100" keywordseo="entertainment">entertainment</keyword> or media company. Bank CEOs should not only start building ecosystems based on internal and external digital touch points to serve Millennials, but also focus on creating seamless experiences across the ecosystem. In the end, what Millennials want is a more connected, frictionless customer journey – for instance, a mortgage advisory app connected with social and location-based services or an <keyword id="35450" type="COMPANY" weightage="100" keywordseo="insurance">insurance</keyword> offering that connects with wearable fitness data. 

	5. Making digital more contextualized, without the loss of simplification
 

	The desire to be treated as an individual is universal, but Millennials’ interaction with digital channels demands more personalized services and contextualized products. Technologies like big data and advanced analytics are accelerating its progress. However, bank CEOs also need to establish a balanced strategy between personalization and simplification. What is valued the most by Millennials is not the number of e-banking preferences or personalized cross-selling by ATMs. At the end of the day, Millennials are still banking customers who seek traditional value: easy-to-use services and low-cost products.
 

	Conclusion
 

	Banking is at the highest risk of disruption by Millennials. Nearly half of them believe innovation will come from outside the industry. Bank CEOs have to act immediately following the trends of digitalization, automation and contextualization, to offer Millennials frictionless experience across multiple digital touch points in a connected ecosystem. Banks that neglect these trends will fail to engage with Millennials in the near future; to quote The Millennial Disruption Index, 1 in 3 Millennials is open to switching banks in the next 90 days.
 (The article is authored by Ethan Wang, Product Strategy, <keyword id="1658904" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Infosys-Finacle">Infosys Finacle</keyword>) 
	 
	Image credits: indiatimes

5 banking trends to engage the millennial audience

With an aim to generate $2 billion annual revenue from its products and services by 2020, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=infosys">Infosys </a>is undergoing a restructuring under the guidance of <keyword id="2484607" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Michael-Reh">Michael Reh</keyword>, <keyword id="6354512" type="CITY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Infosys">Infosys</keyword> Executive Vice President, CEO (designate), EdgeVerve. 
 
As a part of restructuring, the firm will increase investments to strengthen banking software Finacle's footprint in the US, spend more on marketing brands and focus on building new sets of products and solutions. 
 
Currently, the firm has huge hopes from <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=RBI">Reserve Bank of India (RBI)</a> who will be announcing the new licenses for building a new banking product under its (financial institution’s) Finacle umbrella for new-age payments banks. The financial institution had invited applications for this task early this year has received applications from many including Infosys. 
 
Michael Reh, in an interview has said, "The new banking licenses are coming up — it's a massive opportunity, but it requires a completely different product." 
 
At Finacle, Reh and his team is exploring the use of the BlockChain database — the underlying technology platform behind virtual currency BitCoin. 
 Ever since he joined Infosys last year and has been given the responsibility of a complete make-over to the product business by company CEO <keyword id="6369763" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Vishal-Sikka">Vishal Sikka</keyword>, Reh worked on the existing process at Finacle and helped Infosys win key deals through EdgeVerve. In the process, he has also hired key executives to strengthen EdgeVerve, including former SAP colleague Anirban Dey. 
 
Reh, also said that Infosys was moving towards a different payment model for its cloud product offerings, including options such as "pay-per-use" for customers. 
 
"The expectations of the market for a cloud product are completely different," said Reh, who spent nearly 15 years at SAP. "Ideally, you just want to go to the cloud, you Google, and whatever advertisement comes up normally is the one you click. And then it's all about how seamless, how easy is it to register, getting a trial account, getting my payments in and then I convert my trial over 30 days into a production environment — it's something we're building into our products to be ready for the next generation,” he further added. 
 
Reh, a former colleague of Sikka at <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=SAP">SAP</a>, also said that Infosys was aggressively looking to market Finacle in markets such as the US, where large banks like JP Morgan and <keyword id="44473" type="CITY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Citigroup">Citigroup</keyword> spend heavily on deploying banking technology systems and upgrading existing ones. 
 
"The US is the market with the highest spend. We will continue investing in India which is an important market for us, but if we want to grow, we can grow outside of India as well. There are big opportunities out there, especially in the US. And the market is opening up, which is a good thing — they have legacy systems which are 20-25 years old. And that's where we're getting in," said Reh. 
 
On August 1, Infosys started integrating its Finacle unit with EdgeVerve to create one combined entity. Reh said the company was working on taking combined, bundled solutions to clients. He, however, did not rule out the possibility of launching more new products under the EdgeVerve umbrella, but said that the unit's biggest priority was to strengthen its existing line of products. 
 
As per the research firm NelsonHall, Finacle currently is generating about $300 million annual revenue.

Infosys under product revamp, aim $2 billion revenue by 2020

<ul><li>Some of the biggest banks in India are joining hands to create a new company that will leverage the power of <keyword id="6357624" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="blockchain-technology">blockchain technology</keyword> to speed up the processing of Letters of Credit (LCs).</li><li><keyword id="36838" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="indian-banks">Indian Banks</keyword>' Blockchain Infrastructure Company Private Limited (IBBIC) is a coalition of 15 banks, including <keyword id="6653" type="CITY" weightage="20" keywordseo="ICICI-bank">ICICI Bank</keyword>, <keyword id="6357149" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="hdfc-bank">HDFC Bank</keyword>, <keyword id="2179992" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="RBL-Bank">RBL Bank</keyword>, SBI and Canara Bank.</li><li>The system will be based on Infosys’ Finacle Connect, a blockchain-based platform that enables digitisation and automation of trade-related finance processes.</li></ul>Banks in India are coming together to use blockchain technology to solve a central problem in traditional banking — the processing of Letters of Credit (LCs), GST invoices, and e-way bills. India’s largest public sector bank, the State Bank of India (SBI), along with ICICI Bank, Kotak Mahindra, Axis Bank, and 11 others have <a href="https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/industry/banking/finance/banking/15-banks-to-start-new-trade-finance-system-using-blockchain-tech/articleshow/83545043.cms?from=mdr">formed</a> a new company called the Indian Banks’ Blockchain Infrastructure Company Private Limited (IBBIC) that will be at the helm of this transformation. The move is expected to eliminate paperwork, reduce transaction processing time, and offer a secure environment. Moreover, it could be a boon for medium and small-scale enterprises (MSMEs). For those who aren’t familiar with LCs, these are letters from a bank that guarantee that a buyer will pay the seller on time, and for the correct amount. Currently, the process of issuing an LC is relatively slow and requires human intervention to prevent frauds, authenticate transactions, and balance the ledger. Using blockchain to issue LCs would potentially solve these issues. Even elemental fraud like the issuance of two LCs on a single invoice can be easily prevented with the help of this blockchain technology. <div type="ExtQuote" text="“Disbursements on domestic LCs, which used to take four to five days, can be done in four hours.”" auname="Varun Bakshi, head of products and transaction banking at RBL Bank, said in a statement"></div> The new system is expected to go live within a year and each bank has an equal stakeholdership of 6.66%. It’ll be designed to be open, making it seamless for other banks to join anytime in the future. What do MSMEs have to gain from this? The technology is purely based on the concept of tokenisation. This helps turn sensitive data into nonsensitive data that can be leveraged by multiple parties in a series. It also helps preserve the authenticity of data and indirectly enables digitisation. Simply put, a basic invoice can be turned into a token, which can then be used to settle payments, overheads, and other adjustments. For medium and small scale enterprises (MSMEs), this could be a game-changing innovation. Through all of its transactions, assets, liabilities, and more, tokenisation would make approvals quick, disbursements and settlements would be instantaneous, and the chances of fraud are minimised. The incorporation of IBBIC is starkly similar to that of the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), which is an umbrella organization that handles critical real-time products like RuPay, UPI, and FASTag. It was formed in 2008 and initially had just 10 banks as stakeholders. The cooperative model has been widely acclaimed as banks kept aside their individual ambitions and collaborated at an unprecedented scale. With the adoption of <a href="https://wazirx.com/signup?invite=2kpah6gr&amp;utm_source=business-insider&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_campaign=microsite">blockchain</a>, banks are again presenting a unified front. And, as the industry benefits, each bank will have something to gain as well. If they try to undermine each other, nobody wins. <a href="https://wazirx.com/signup?invite=2kpah6gr&amp;utm_source=business-insider&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_campaign=microsite">Cryptocurrencies</a>, which are based on this technology, have grown exponentially in the last year. However, conventional financial intuitions are yet to take advantage of it. While the authorities figure out a way to <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/cryptocurrency/news/infosys-co-founder-nandan-nilekani-wants-crypto-in-india-to-be-treated-as-an-asset-class-but-not-a-currency/articleshow/83311045.cms">regulate cryptocurrencies</a>, banks are taking a step forward and bridging the gap from a technology point of view. Who are the stakeholders? Out of the 15 banks, eleven are privately held by investors while four are public sector units. The private banks include HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Axis Bank, IndusInd Bank, Yes Bank, RBL Bank, IDFC Bank, South Indian Bank, and Federal Bank. And, the public sector units encompass Bank of Baroda, SBI, Canara Bank, and Indian Bank. American lender Standard Chartered is the only international player in the consortium. The system will be based on Infosys’ Finacle Connect, a blockchain-based platform that enables digitisation and automation of trade-related finance processes. The technology has already been deployed or piloted by the likes of SBI and Axis Bank at an individual scale, but an industry-wide alliance is a first. Letters of Credit are only the beginning Domestic LCs are just the tip of the iceberg. The industry has been exploring more complex use-cases such as collateralised loan disbursal, deeper credit rating, and even transaction traceability. Tokenisation of assets like stocks, bonds, registration certificates, and more can make them instantly available as collateral, making deals far safer for lenders. At the same time, smart contracts ensure frauds are minimal. While these case studies are still in a nascent form, the future looks promising as the traditional institutions converge with millennial engineers and the cutting-edge of technology. SEE ALSO: <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/stock-market/news/dodla-dairy-ipo-price-gmp-should-you-subscribe/articleshow/83548332.cms">Dodla Dairy IPO – find out if you should subscribe to this Hyderabad-based dairy company’s stock</a> <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/stock-market/news/kims-ipo-price-gmp-should-you-subscribe/articleshow/83547843.cms">KIMS IPO – most analysts are bullish on the hospital chain’s prospects</a> <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/policy/news/china-will-not-buy-iron-copper-aluminum-zinc-and-some-other-commodities-from-foreign-countries/articleshow/83565216.cms">China has decided to take global commodity bulls by their horns ⁠— to protect the profit margins of its small businesses</a>

SBI, HDFC, ICICI and 12 others banks are joining forces to use blockchain to power Letters of Credit — a move that could be a boon for MSMEs

Some of you might have heard of <keyword id="6355684" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Blockchain">Blockchain</keyword>. You might have read that it could disrupt and change banking, payments and other financial services forever. Perhaps you are wondering how it might affect you, especially if you are employed in the financial services industry. 
 
So let us clear the air to start with. Blockchain is the technology underlying the virtual currency, Bitcoin. But while Bitcoin has received a mixed response, there is widespread interest in Blockchain for a variety of reasons that we will talk about later. Many people believe Blockchain technology could revolutionise banking, payments and a host of allied activities. 
 
Like every revolution preceding it, Blockchain too is giving rise to fears of job loss and redundancy. But actually every revolution in the past – whether it was the development of agriculture or the invention of electricity, radio, railroad or aircraft – has made human lives better than before. It is the same with the digital revolution, which, by giving us the tools of Internet and Mobility, has helped us to become more innovative and efficient, and amplified our potential in countless other ways. 
 
Blockchain is no different. In fact, implemented right, it can deliver a variety of benefits as discussed in the following paragraphs. 
 
Think of Blockchain as a very large, public spreadsheet in which various transactions are noted. A network of people or their representative computers has access to this spreadsheet, and is responsible for validating each transaction by consensus. Once a transaction is certified as genuine and consummated, it cannot be modified, recalled or repudiated. This makes the transaction highly secure. 
 
In this scenario, there is really no need for a central agency, such as a stock exchange or clearing house, for bringing the contracting parties together or facilitating the deal. That means the parties to the transaction can conclude their business safely, securely and largely anonymously, without involving an intermediary. This yields several benefits – the parties have complete visibility into the transaction; there are no commissions or fees; and settlement can happen within seconds. 
 
Blockchain can also be used to secure old-world transactions involving cash and plastic. One only needs to digitize the currency or card and register it on the network. Then, even if someone steals the money or card, they will not be able to transact with it, because the network will reject it as invalid. In India, the Reserve Bank is considering using Blockchain technology to reduce cheque counterfeiting. Digitized cheques can reduce the use of paper as well as the risk of theft and fraud. And if someone who continues to use paper cheques after digitization loses one, they are still protected because no other person will be able to use it. 
 
Property transaction is another very obvious area of application, where everything from land records to sale deeds can be uploaded on to Blockchain for validation and protection both. The same applies to the sale and purchase of financial assets such as securities and insurance. 
 
A very interesting feature of Blockchain is that it allows even very small investors to buy a share in highly valued assets, such as art, for instance. You might know that it is possible to buy a fraction of a Bitcoin, which is currently valued at about US$ 670, and trade it at will. Similarly, every other valuable asset can be digitized and broken into small components using Blockchain and offered to investors who cannot afford the whole. 
 
These are some of the known benefits of Blockchain. As the technology matures and adoption increases, who knows what other possibilities might open up? 
 
About the author: <keyword id="3533500" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Rajashekara-V-Maiya">Rajashekara V. Maiya</keyword> is the Associate Vice President &amp; Head – <keyword id="3533499" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Finacle-Product-Strategy">Finacle Product Strategy</keyword> at <keyword id="2237108" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Edgeverve">EdgeVerve</keyword> (an Infosys Company) 
 
<a href="http://www.coinfox.info/images/blockchain-tech-follow-my-vote.jpg">Image source</a>

Benefit with Blockchain

Mumbai, May 25 () State-owned Bank of Baroda on Monday said it has completed IT integration of 132 branches of erstwhile Vijaya Bank. In a first three-way amalgamation, Vijaya Bank and Dena Bank were merged with Bank of Baroda on April 1, 2019. As part of the process, 2,135 branches of Vijaya Bank and 1,777 branches of Dena Bank merged with BoB. The bank had earlier completed IT integration or migration of 20 branches of Vijaya Bank. "We took an incremental approach for migration. As a test case, we first migrated one branch of Vijaya Bank and then 10 branches. Earlier this month, we migrated another set of 10 branches, and this weekend we migrated 132 branches," the bank's chief technology officer Sharad Saxena said. All these 152 branches of erstwhile Vijaya Bank are now running on Finacle 10, the same IT platform which BoB is using, he said. Before the migration process started, all the payment channels such as ATMs, NEFT, RTGS and IMPS, UPI, of Vijaya Bank and Dena Bank were integrated with BoB. Saxena said once payment systems were integrated, the process of migration began starting with branches of Vijaya Bank. The bank plans to complete IT integration of the balance 1,983 branches of Vijaya Bank by September-October this year. Saxena said IT integration of Dena Bank will start from next month and is likely to be completed by end-December or January 2021. HV BAL BAL

Bank of Baroda completes IT integration with 132 branches of erstwhile Vijaya Bank

Recently, connected <keyword id="18974" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="fitness">fitness</keyword> wearables leader, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Fitbit&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">Fitbit</a> announced that they had acquired Coin, a <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Silicon+Valley&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">Silicon Valley</a>-based consumer electronics and financial technology firm. <keyword id="6486191" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Fitbit">Fitbit</keyword>’s interest in Coin stems not from the latter’s signature technology but from a desire to jumpstart the creation of an <keyword id="2653452" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="nfc-payment">NFC payment</keyword> solution for embedding into their fitness devices of the future. 
 For someone not in the thick of the technology business, this deal might sound like a peculiar alliance. For those in it, however, it’s a marriage made in IoT (<keyword id="970768" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="internet-of-things">Internet of Things</keyword>) heaven. 
 
As more and more devices – an oft-quoted estimate says 50 billion by 2020 – connect with each other in the Internet of Things, the lines between various activities of daily life will start to melt away. Without doubt, the way we buy or pay for things will change even more than it already has, as banking integrates deeper into our routines. 
 
This is exactly what Fitbit hopes to leverage by acquiring Coin. In the words of James Park, CEO, “The inclusion of their payment technology into our offerings will further our strategy of making Fitbit products an indispensable part of people's lives.” 
 
In my view, that is the logical way forward for most businesses. Wearable fitness trackers are facing stiff competition from other devices, such as smartwatches, which are in fact much more versatile. For fitness trackers to hold their own against the likes of an Apple Watch, they need to expand their utility. Integrating financial capability into their device enables firms such as Fitibit do exactly that. For instance, by embedding NFC payment technology into their trackers and smart watch, Fitbit would make life more convenient for early morning joggers who would no longer need to carry their wallet to pay for that orange juice or energy drink. 
 
This is not to suggest that wearables, or any other device for that matter, will displace traditional payment mechanisms anytime soon. However, device manufacturers must seize the opportunity of context – namely situations where consumers would find it more convenient or opportune to use their device, than cash or card – with both hands. 
 
That’s a thought most technologically advanced industries are thinking. When driverless cars become a reality, they will need some automatic mechanism to pay for their energy. So it should come as no surprise if automobile companies were to enhance the capabilities of their already smart dashboards with a payment mechanism sometime soon. Even the humble business of grocery retailing is latching on to the opportunity of context. Two years ago, Amazon introduced Amazon Dash, a service that made it even easier for consumers to order supplies online. One of its components is the Amazon Dash Button, a small electronic device that is linked to a product that is ordered frequently – detergent, for example. Customers can configure the button by specifying product and order quantity, and place it near the point of consumption (washing machine, in case of detergent). When a product is running out, a simple press of the button will send a replenishment order to Amazon. 
 
In the Internet of Things, virtually every device with an iota of smart capability will have an opportunity to insert itself into this new value chain. The key to doing that is to be open enough so that it automatically becomes the primary device of value exchange in its particular context. Ensuring low cost of usage along with high quality of experience is equally important. 
 
And what of security, one might ask. Contrary to their image of vulnerability, wearable devices are actually showing potential for user verification. For instance, Royal Bank of Canada is using a heart rate monitoring wristband to authenticate contactless payments. This is just one of the many examples on how banks are creatively integrating wearables in their omnichannel service delivery strategy. Many banks are leveraging the consumer interest in wearables to create smart marketing campaigns. For instance, Emirates NBD, the largest bank in the UAE, introduced a fitness based savings account for Apple Watch users. Account holders are rewarded with higher interest rates based on the steps one takes during the day. This trend will only pave the way for further integration of financial activities into “non-financial” settings. 
 
In fact, in a large client forum at my organization (Infosys Finacle) earlier this month, we presented couple of our latest innovations around wearable devices. We talked about multiple ways wherein consumers can use their voice to authenticate themselves through a smart watch, while also performing various banking activities through the watch itself. Think of times, when you are cooking, or driving to work and you suddenly remember that your credit-card bill is due today. Worried about forgetting to do so after completing the activity, one may like to trigger the activity immediately through the smart watch. Those are the moments when wearable can complement existing channels to make banking simple, safer and faster. 
 
(Image Credits: Thinkstock) 
 
(About the Author: This article is contributed by Puneet Chhahira, Global Head of Marketing, Infosys Finacle at EdgeVerve)

When Fitness Meets Finance

Technology is transforming banking at an unprecedented pace. It’s impacting every part of the business including customer expectations, products, processes, and people. We believe, in 2017 disruption of the Indian banking industry will be led by five technologies. Following the success of the Jan Dhan program, the Government has asked banks to step it up by enrolling all customers in mobile banking by 31st March. While it may actually take much longer than that, there is little doubt that mobility will continue to be at the forefront of a changing banking landscape. Next, open banking, riding on initiatives such as Unified Payments Interface (<keyword id="6358921" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="UPI">UPI</keyword>), will make it extremely simple for customers to engage with providers of the best, most contextual experience, regardless of where they have their bank accounts. With a number of data centers springing up in the country, including the ones by leading global providers, Indian banks now have more avenues to run their systems from the cloud. If banking is to become a platform business, such as Uber or Airbnb, involving open collaboration with an ecosystem of providers, there is no option but to run it on the cloud. The fourth technology to disrupt banking is clearly Artificial Intelligence. Early signs of AI are visible in <keyword id="6653" type="CITY" weightage="20" keywordseo="ICICI-bank">ICICI Bank</keyword>, which has used Robotic Process Automation on 200 processes or more, and in HDFC Bank, which has deployed a robot in its branch. But this is just the beginning. Banks will follow with AI investments across functions spanning the front, middle and back office. Last but not least is blockchain, where once again, ICICI Bank has taken the lead by setting up a pilot network with Emirates NBD for trade finance and remittance transactions. Blockchain has also attracted the attention of the regulators; <a href="http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/business/india-business/rbi-arm-tests-tech-behind-bitcoin/articleshow/56575335.cms">recently</a> RBI’s research arm, IDRBT, completed an end-to-end test on blockchain in a trade application that had multiple financial institutions, banks, clearing houses, and regulators involved. These technologies will not just change things at the front end; they will transform business models. And that will obviously create an impact on the workforce as well. For instance, just one technology – AI– could automate several processes and help banks achieve scale without adding new resources. <a href="https://www.icicibank.com/aboutus/article.page?identifier=news-icici-bank-introduces-software-robotics-to-power-banking-operations-20160809103646464">ICICI Bank</a> strongly believes that automation will enable their employees to focus on more value-added services while having better work-life balance. Our view is that while new digital technologies will automate a number of routine, repetitive jobs, they will also create a sizeable demand for new skills such as experience design, data scientists, among others. The point to note is that unlike static jobs of the past, these roles will constantly shift and change; some will go away in a few years and others will be added. This will pose a tricky workforce management challenge for Indian banks, who until now have trained people for specialized positions and lifelong careers. Going forward, they will have to nurture a versatile and flexible workforce that can slip in and out of different roles, not once, but several times in a career. An important part of that is to have employees who can work at the intersection of banking, technology, and value – people with reasonable knowledge of both the business and technology domains – given that the lines between various functions within an organization are rapidly blurring. A good example is an initiative by <keyword id="6355975" type="CITY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Axis-Bank">Axis Bank</keyword> called <a href="http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/business-wire/axis-bank-launches-axis-academies-twin-tracking-capabilities-for-the-future/article9461215.ece">Academies</a>, to build the proficiency of its workforce partnering with institutions such as INSEAD, CRISIL, INSOFE. The bank is enabling its employees to become future ready as digital bankers, while selecting an area of specialization. The bank calls it “Twin-Tracking”. Rotation policies will assume great significance in this scenario. Banks must shift personnel around to challenge them to adapt to new roles, acquire new capabilities, and be more creative in whatever they do. ICICI Bank credits its innovativeness to a policy that says any project must go live in 90 days. The Bank says that the only way it can meet such a demanding target is by assigning each project to a specially assembled cross-functional team, which works exclusively on it for that period. The future belongs to banks that are “truly digital”. Among other things, such banks are highly empathetic to customers. If a bank has to be empathetic as a whole, all its people, and not just customer-facing staff, need to walk the talk. For that, all p<a name="_GoBack"></a>ersonnel must be sensitized to customer needs, and trained to think “customer first” regardless of whether they serve in the front or back office. A good example here is DBS Bank, <a href="http://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/digital-mckinsey/our-insights/the-digital-reinvention-of-an-asian-bank">which won the Digital Bank Award</a> from Euromoney recently. The bank has a big focus on getting their company technology literate with a slew of initiatives for enabling their employees, changing the culture of their organization and embracing digital more pervasively. Can our banks turn these changes around overnight? Clearly not. People-related change is the hardest kind; hence banks need to approach it thoughtfully. It will also take them several years to reskill the workforce at so many levels. In the short-term, to make the most of opportunities which will not wait, banks can look at partnering with fintech companies and other startups to partly bridge their skill gaps. In the long-term, however, they would have to do it the hard way by establishing a culture of lifelong learning. (The article is authored by Mahesh Dutt Kolar, Vice President &amp; Head - APAC, Infosys Finacle)

Here’s how technology is driving future of the banking workforce

Infosys has struck three deals with overseas clients. This includes two from financial services and one from managed services. 
 
Croatia's Hrvatska Postanska Banka and Sharjah Islamic Bank have selected Infosys’s Finacle Payment solutions. 
 
"The Finacle solution will also help HPB to comply with Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA) requirements and support Croatia's harmonisation process with European Union regulations and Payment Service Directive," an official statement from Infosys said. 
 
Sharjah Islamic Bank will use Finacle e-banking and mobile banking solutions to serve their customers better. 
 
"With Finacle, SIB will be able to offer its customers a wide range of features for secure account management and aggregation, fund transfer, payment, and financial management," Infosys’s statement said. 
 
The company has also struck a five-year IT services deal from New York-based NBTY. India’s IT major will serve development and support services for NBTY's IT infrastructure. 
 
(Image credit: Indiatimes)

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