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It’s been a long standing war between <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Paytm&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">Paytm</a> and <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=FreeCharge&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">FreeCharge</a> in the payments space. Both backed by industry veterans and serious money, while <keyword id="6357120" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="PayTM">Paytm</keyword> is the current market leader, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=FreeCharge&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">FreeCharge</a> isn’t taking things lying down. 
 With India’s merchants waking up to the prospect of accepting new payment methods and the upcoming <keyword id="6358921" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="UPI">UPI</keyword> (United Payments Interface) and <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=payment+bank&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">payment bank</a> rollouts, payment players now have a new battlefield to fight on. 
 In an <keyword id="6370284" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="Exclusive">exclusive</keyword> interview with Business Insider, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=FreeCharge&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">FreeCharge</a> CEO <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Govind+Rajan&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">Govind Rajan</a> said promotions aren’t the way forward anyway.”Our retention is not driven by discounts. The whole objective of our promotions is to draw more consumers to our experience. That’s the best way to spend our money. I don’t think you can promote your way to building a habit. If you’re solving a real consumer need, they’ll stick with you. You can’t always be incentivizing”, he said. When asked how much (promotions) is enough, Rajan said they keep re-calibrating as the landscape changes every 6-10 months. 
 
Rajan believes UPI will offer an added phillip to their business, “We’ll do whatever it takes to drive adoption faster. It’ll be a journey of 6-12 months to drive adoption. The target market segment for UPI is over 65%”, he said. 
 While Paytm has expanded its foothold through its partnership with Uber, <keyword id="6377963" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Freecharge">FreeCharge</keyword> has so far been targeting the unorganized sector. 
 
When asked why it hasn’t considered a FreeCharge-Ola or FreeCharge-Uber partnership yet, especially when cab business is one of the biggest source of transactions for Paytm, Rajan says, “It’s only a matter of time. For a payment mechanism, it’s never the case of A or B, but A and B. We are moving in wherever we see faster traction.” 
 
According to industry experts, the most popular <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=mobile+payment&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">mobile payment</a> apps are the ones that look beyond pure payment. <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=FreeCharge&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">FreeCharge</a> chooses to disagree. Its motto is to ensure you spend as little time on the app as possible. With a tagline that says ‘Lo Do Khatam Karo’ (get it done with, and quick), the company wears its ‘10-second payment time’ as a badge of honor. 
 
<a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=FreeCharge&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">FreeCharge</a> has not applied for a payments bank license but has partnered with FINO, which has one, for last-mile reach and access to new consumers. In the next 6-12 months, the company will tie-up with merchants and retailers to build its network further. 
 
<a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=FreeCharge&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">FreeCharge</a> claims they are doing close to a million transactions a day and growing 10-15% month-on-month. In the first few months of launch, the company crossed $1 billion in annualized GMV. It’s targeting 7 million daily transactions by the end of the year.

FreeCharge has plans to speed ahead of Paytm. CEO says ‘our
retention is not driven by discounts’

India's leading digital payments platform <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/Snapdeal-owned-FreeCharge-sets-Rs-20000-crore-business-target-by-March-2017/articleshow/50667008.cms">Freecharge </a>has appointed <keyword id="3339827" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Fareed-Jawad">Fareed Jawad</keyword> as the Vice President for its Principal Product Architect as well as Payments. For this role, Fareed would be required to to build payments technologies at <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/FreeCharge-wants-to-joinRBIs-bill-payment-system/articleshow/50296635.cms">Freecharge</a>, and lead the efforts on building technologies for solving the unique payments problems that India faces. 
 
Before this, Fareed was serving as Principal Product Architect at Amazon India, building the core payment processing infrastructure as a part of his role. Prior to that, he has worked with Flipkart as Director - Product Management and was also a part of the core team that launched PayZippy. 
 
"Fareed's appointment reaffirms Freecharge's commitment to hiring the industry's best talent. We are on a cusp of a revolution to accelerate the <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/Fintech-sector-attracting-talent/articleshow/51991900.cms">FinTech </a>capabilities in India. We look forward to Fareed's contribution in strengthening our technical expertise and payments capabilities with his in-depth understanding of payments sector. Fareed will be responsible for developing products for customers and merchants both online and offline, in line with our vision to be the digital OS for the <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/Attention-please-PayTM-FreeCharge-files-patent-for-OTP-alternative/articleshow/50120232.cms">payments business</a> in India." said Govind Rajan, COO, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/Freecharge-gets-fund-booster-as-Snapdeal-readies-to-raise-300-million/articleshow/49565011.cms">Freecharge</a>. 
 
Fareed has had a long stint in the payments industry, being associated with it right from the earliest payment gateways with VeriFone in the US. His career path also included stints with large payment processors like Moneris Solutions in Canada and eFunds/FIS.

Fareed Jawad is the new VP for Payments & Principal Product Architect at Freecharge

This could be the first time that new age online companies in India realise the potential that patents carry with them. 
 The digital payments firm <keyword id="6377963" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Freecharge">FreeCharge</keyword>, which is owned by <keyword id="541988" type="COMPANY" weightage="100" keywordseo="SnapDeal">Snapdeal</keyword>, has internally developed an alternative to the <keyword id="510437" type="COMPANY" weightage="100" keywordseo="OTP">OTP</keyword> authentication process, and has already filed for patenting the technology. 
 
The authentication solution is called as 'On The Go Pin', and is aimed at making both online as well as offline transactions faster. This technology replaces the OTP received through text message with a pin that is within the phone and keeps changing every few seconds. From the backend, the servers of the bank and the merchants would be verifying the pin so that the transaction can be processed. 
 <keyword id="259717" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Govind-Rajan">Govind Rajan</keyword>, COO of FreeCharge, told ET that this technology would eliminate the wait time, caused by connectivity issues, for both the retailers as well as customers. 
 
"This system fulfils the Reserve Bank of India's (RBI) mandate for two factor authentication and does not require even a single paisa of additional investment by retailers or customers," said Rajan, who also heads the strategy office of Snapdeal. 
 
A deal with Shopper's Stop has already been stuck, and it would soon begin transactions using the new technology. 
 Filing of this patent can be the welcome sign of the modern-day Indian online industry, which has big players like <keyword id="6354742" type="COMPANY" weightage="100" keywordseo="Flipkart">Flipkart</keyword>, Snapdeal and <keyword id="6357120" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="PayTM">Paytm</keyword>. All these companies are investing huge bucks in R&amp;D to develop various breakthrough technologies, but this is the first time that someone has patented a technology. 
 
Rahul Dev, patent and trademark attorney at Tech Corp Legal, told ET that this trend of patenting new technology is slowly catching up, not only to protect it against theft, but also because a patented technology, even with pending registration, becomes a highly valuable intangible asset for the company during fund raising. 
 
It means that these patents serve as a business tool rather than a legal tool, especially for firms that are global in nature because patents command a high premium in international markets like the US and UK. 
 
As per Sharad Sharma, former CEO of Yahoo's India R&amp;D arm and former chairman of Nasscom's product council, 97% of patents filed in India are done by multinationals, which makes these efforts by new age companies a good sign. 
 
<a href="http://www.windowscentral.com/sites/wpcentral.com/files/styles/larger_wm_brw/public/field/image/2014/08/freecharge_lede.jpg?itok=KQKCPIaB">Image source</a>

Attention please PayTM! FreeCharge files patent for OTP alternative

If there’s anybody who is having a ball right now, it’s a couple of <keyword id="6362513" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="Startups">startups</keyword> operating in the digital payment space in India. 
 
It’s because the government is discouraging cash payments. It has recently removed the surcharge on card/ electronic payments, which means it should not cost more when you are paying digitally. Also, it will soon become a must for people to make online payments in transactions above a certain threshold. 
 
India is amongst the most cash intensive cash economies, and the government realizes there needs to be policy changes which can encourage people to make electronic payments. 
 
The Industry is brimming with happiness after the good news. “This is a masterstroke by the government following last year’s RBI decision to roll put payment banks,” says digital payment portal Paytm’s founder Vijay Shekhar Sharma. 
 
“The current regime in which companies levied charges on digital payments was lopsided – and in favour of cash,” he adds. 
 Govind Rajan, the COO of <keyword id="6377963" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Freecharge">Freecharge</keyword>, seems equally excited. He says, “this decision to bring digital payments at par with cash is a watershed moment in the creation of a truly digital India.” 
 “In combination with <keyword id="144117" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="AADHAAR">Aadhaar</keyword> and Jan Dhan Yojana, this move constitutes the most wide ranging and ambitious program for the digital transformation of the country,” he says. 
 Presently, India's cash to <keyword id="35050" type="CITY" weightage="20" keywordseo="gdp">GDP</keyword> ratio is 12%, which is 3-4 times that of comparable economies like Brazil and South Africa. The cost of managing this high cash dependence is over Rs 20,000 crore in the formal banking system and even more in the entire economy. 
 
“With this strong signal, we are on our way to wean the country off its expensive and inefficient addiction to cash. Going digital will not only save the country crores of rupees, it will also provide consumers and merchants a more secure and frictionless way of transacting,” says Rajan. 
 
“We are confident that the government’s continued support for the digitization of payments will further fuel growth and innovation in the sector, with significant long term socio-economic benefits to the Indian economy,” he adds.

PayTM
and Freecharge are rejoicing 2 days ahead of the budget. Here’s why

Having ruled like a king in the Internet wallet segment , Paytm has some serious competition from Snapdeal-owned Freecharge. Snapdeal-owned online recharge and utility payments platform Freecharge has launched a digital wallet. The combination of Freecharge and Snapdeal will create one of the largest mobile commerce ecosystems," Freecharge Cofounder Kunal Shah told The Economic Times. 
 
The company is planning to provide for nearly Rs 1,000 crore of cashbacks through the wallet as festive shopping picks up during October-December. 
 
The new wallet, which will allow consumers to make payments for transactions on both Freecharge and Snapdeal, is expected to strengthen the ecommerce company's position as it battles two of India's largest ecommerce companies, Paytm and Flipkart. 
 
Freecharge has tied up with YES Bank to launch the wallet. During the launch, new Freecharge Chief Operating Officer Govind Rajan took a jab at Paytm, comparing the two apps on features such as app size and transfer charges to the bank. Freecharge has also partnered with the payment bank licensee FINO to build scale and to reach out the underserved population, it said in a statement. 
 
Alibaba-backed Paytm recently received a payment bank licence from the Reserve Bank of India. Paytm, which owns a prepaid wallet licence already, claims to have more than 100 million wallet users in the country.

See who’s here to take on Paytm and Flipkart

Acquiring financial solutions firm <keyword id="2982350" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="YTS-Solutions">YTS Solutions</keyword> for an undisclosed amount, <keyword id="6354287" type="CITY" weightage="100" keywordseo="Bharti-Airtel">Bharti Airtel</keyword> announced appointment of YTS Solutions’ co-founder <keyword id="250701" type="PERSON" weightage="100" keywordseo="Manish-Khera">Manish Khera</keyword> as CEO of Airtel M Commerce Services, which offers Airtel's flagship semi-closed wallet under the brand name 'Airtel Money'. 

	Both Airtel and YTS Solutions in separate statements said that business of YTS Solutions will be integrated with AMSL. 
 "The acquired business will be integrated with the operations of <keyword id="2982464" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Airtel-Money-Services-Ltd">Airtel Money Services Ltd</keyword>," YTS Solutions said. 

	Based out of Mumbai, YTS has been developing financial products focused on mass market and micro-transactions. 
 

	"This acquisition will expand Airtel's portfolio in the mobile commerce segment and bring in a host of new product capabilities targeted at migrants in urban cities and their families in rural towns and villages," Airtel said in a statement. 
 

	Khera succeeds Govind Rajan who resigned from the firm to join e-commerce company Snapdeal as its Chief Strategy Officer. 
 

	After appointment, Khera will be a part of the Airtel Management Board and report to Bharti Airtel, India and South Asia, MD and CEO Gopal Vittal. 
 

	Prior to founding YTS, Khera was MD and CEO of FINO Pay Tech Ltd, and earlier worked in ICICI Bank. 
 

	"I am delighted to announce that Manish Khera will join AMSL as Chief Executive Officer. A trend-setter in the domain areas of financial inclusion, payments and banking, Manish combines the spirit of entrepreneurship with a passion for technology and commitment to serve millions," Vittal said. 
 

	In 2011, AMSL announced the launch of Airtel Money and in January 2015, it applied for a Payments' Bank Licence. 
 

	Airtel, India's largest mobile operator with a customer base of over 230 million, covers 4,30,000 towns and villages backed by 1.5 million distribution outlets.

	 
	 
	(Image credits: Indiatimes)

Bharti Airtel acquiresYTS Solutions: Deal will boost wallet services

As the price competition in India’s telecom space heats up, a number of smaller players are falling by the wayside. <keyword id="6359475" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="tata-teleservices">Tata Teleservices</keyword>, which comprises the <keyword id="6711152" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="docomo">DoCoMo</keyword> network and T24 mobile service, posted a net <keyword id="6357392" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="loss">loss</keyword> of ₹275 billion ($4 billion) for the financial year 2017-18 - the largest ever loss in a financial year for an Indian company. In addition, another company in the telecom space, Reliance Communications (not to be confused with Reliance <keyword id="2003276" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Jio">Jio</keyword> Infocomm Ltd), posted the second largest annual loss for an Indian company in 2017-18. The company, which is headed by Anil Ambani, reported a loss of ₹239 billion for the year, after ending its wireless operations and offloading its telecom infrastructure to Jio. The free sale to Airtel Tata Teleservices’ net revenue almost halved in 2017-18 to ₹70 billion as it sold off its wireless business. While the company’s operating loss was a relatively paltry ₹6.6 billion, its huge overall loss is mostly due to the fact that it sold its wireless services business to market leader Airtel in October 2017 for <a href="https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/company/corporate-trends/tata-teleservices-to-sell-its-wireless-mobile-business-to-bharti-airtel/articleshow/61051618.cms">absolutely nothing</a>, taking a write-off on the entire unit in the process. The debt-ridden wireless business had been making losses for years on end, which is why Tata was looking to exit the unit completely. The unit was originally a joint venture with NTT Docomo, a Japanese mobile operator, which sold off its 26% stake at a considerable loss in 2014. With the pending sale to Airtel, Tata will be able to offload some of its current spectrum payment obligations. The rest of the business? The future of the remaining parts of Tata Teleservices is not completely certain. In March 2018, the former managing director of Teleservices,Mukund Govind Rajan, mounted a $1 billion bid along with TPG, a private equity firm, for the the parts of the business that were unsold - the enterprise communications and fibre segments. However, Tata Teleservices’ parent, Tata Sons, rejected the bid, saying it would merge the business with Tata Communications, its internet provider subsidiary, instead. This is contingent on the approval of the government, which has a 26% stake in Tata Communications. It will probably not be too keen on forking out a proportional amount (around $260 million) to buy the remaining parts of Teleservices. It is still said to be assessing the merger.

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