Spice Money: Industry Monitoring 01 February 2019
- Priyanka Kanodia
- Feb 1, 2019
- 3 min read
Spice Money
Industry News
Ombudsman for digital payments is now live
Publication- ET Rise
Edition- Online
Date- 01 February, 2019
The Reserve Bank of India on Thursday launched an ombudsman scheme for digital payments. The Ombudsman Scheme for Digital Transactions (OSDT) will be utilized “for redressal of complaints against system participants as defined in the said scheme”, the banking regulator said in a statement. RBI had first spoken about the scheme in the December 5 monetary policy statement, promising to create a separate ombudsman for digital payments. The scheme will provide free-of-cost redressal mechanism to grievances raised by customers for digital transactions undertaken by them through non-banking channels, like mobile wallets or tech-enabled payment companies using UPI for settlements, the central bank said. Transactions undertaken through the banking channels will continue to be managed by the banking ombudsman.
Laying out the jurisdiction of OSDT’s functioning, RBI said the new ombudsman will start working from the 21 existing offices of the banking ombudsman and work within the existing territorial jurisdictions. ET in its November 8 edition had first reported that RBI could establish a digital payments ombudsman, keeping in mind the massive adoption of digital payments in the country and the magnitude of complaints regarding problems incurred during such transactions. “With the digital mode for financial transactions gaining traction in the country, there is an emerging need for a dedicated, cost-free and expeditious grievance redressal mechanism for strengthening consumer confidence in this channel,” RBI had said in its December monetary policy statement.
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President praises govt’s digital payments initiatives
Publication- Livemint
Edition- Online
Date- 01 February, 2019
In the last four-and-a-half years the government has worked extensively to ramp up the digital banking and payments infrastructure of the country, said President Ram Nath Kovind on Thursday in his address to the joint sitting of two Houses of Parliament. “Jan Dhan Yojana is playing an important role in facilitating cost-effective digital transactions in the country through more than 60 crore Rupay debit cards and BHIM app," he said. Digital payments through the unified payment interface (UPI) received a major stimulus after Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the Bharat Interface for Money (BHIM) app on 30 December 2016.
UPI is a payments system launched by the NPCI, the umbrella organisation for all retail payments in India. It facilitates instant fund transfers between two bank accounts on a mobile platform without requiring any detail of the beneficiary’s bank account.
The payments system has been setting new records over the last one year. In December, 620.17 million UPI transactions worth ₹102,594.82 crore were conducted, a new record. Of the total UPI transactions in December, 17.06 million, amounting to ₹7,589.19 crore, took place through the BHIM platform. “Similarly the government is bringing banking services closer to the people through the India Post Payments Bank," Kovind added.
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Accel leads investment in block chain-based loan facilitator StreamSource
Publication- VC Circle
Edition- Online
Date- 01 February, 2019
StreamSource, a blockchain marketplace that facilitates unsecured loans, has raised $1 million (Rs 7.1 crore) in a seed funding round led by venture capital firm Accel, a company statement said. The startup plans to bring more lenders on board besides expanding its operations to other markets and increasing the team strength, the statement added. StreamSource claims to target $130 billion annual US personal loans market.
Founded by Mayank Tewari and Prerit Srivastava last year, Stream Source enables lenders to work together and collaborate with each other without the dissemination of any confidential information. Borrowers are also able to maintain complete confidentiality while shopping for the right lender. In the final transaction, a borrower may apply for a loan from a single lender, but may receive approval from several vendors with a single click.
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WhatsApp Payment coming to more countries, says Zuckerberg
Publication- Go Android
Edition- Online
Date- 01 February, 2019
WhatsApp Payment, which utilizes the revolutionary UPI in India is still not widely available. Amidst that, the founder of Facebook – Mark Zuckerberg has now revealed that the Payment service will be launched in more countries. The revelation comes as a part of his remarks during Facebook’s Q4 earnings call. Zuckerberg revealed that the company will roll out Payments on WhatsApp in select other markets that too soon. However, He didn’t share the estimated time of arrival of the roll-out.
Nonetheless, we can expect WhatsApp to roll-out it is Payment service where the social-media app has a great hold, just like India. Going by the popularity basis – Mexico, Indonesia, South Africa, Malaysia, and Brazil are the next most eligible nations for the payment service. But, we need to wait and see where all the service actually arise.
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