The document discusses opportunities in the new marketplace for distribution of financial services in India. Key trends include new banks leading to shifts in inclusion and trust building by serving new customer segments. Agents will need to reorient and work with complementary technology. New technology will drastically reduce costs of delivery infrastructure by allowing flexible scaling and reducing overhead. These changes are being driven by factors like technology advances, regulations, demographics and new market entrants.
Why Banks Must Become Smart Aggregators in the Financial Services Digital Eco...Cognizant
Financial institutions must embrace a partnership-driven approach to remain relevant amid fintech digital disruption, while evolving their capabilities to deliver against tomorrow’s market needs.
Why Banks Must Become Smart Aggregators in the Financial Services Digital Eco...Cognizant
Financial institutions must embrace a partnership-driven approach to remain relevant amid fintech digital disruption, while evolving their capabilities to deliver against tomorrow’s market needs.
Digitizing Merchant Payments: What Will It Take?CGAP
A staggering amount of cash is paid to retail merchants worldwide -- around $19 trillion out of a total of $34 trillion in payments. What will it take for digital payments to beat cash?
Banking in the Digital Era - Microsoft India PerspectiveMicrosoft India
Authored by Basudev Banerjee, Industry Marketing Lead, Microsoft & Vishnu Bhavaraju, Enterprise Strategy Architect, Microsoft, this document outlines Microsoft’s understanding of the digital and service delivery framework, target operating models and suggested business solution architecture and footprint within the BFSI vertical.
Digital intervention is a reality in today’s banking business and banks need to adapt and respond to this change to stay ahead of competition. The digital foreground has presented banks with a huge opportunity to attract new customers, lower costs, develop new propositions and business models, as also explore customer value to its maximum. To create a digital environment is now a priority for all banks and they need to undergo considerable investment for complete transformation.
The CII-PwC report titled, Banks taking a quantum leap through digital, released at CII National BANKing TECH Summit by Mr H R Khan Dy Governor RBI, Mr A P Hota MD& CEO National Payments Corporation of India and M S RaghavanChairman & MD, IDBI Bank.
Digital india: Emerging Challenges & Opportunities for the Banking SectorArun Prabhudesai
The presentation given by RBI's Harun R Khan outlines the following:
Digital Revolution: migration from cash to electronic
payments
• New Thrust Areas: mobile banking – BBPS - TReDS
• Security vs Convenience
• Challenges & Opportunities for banks
• Concluding Thoughts
This presentation explores what future of commerce may look like given the current trends in mobile devices, digital payments, social commerce and security including tokenization and new forms of identity verification
A new study on development organizations’ use of Mobile Money Bulk Payment Products carried out by NetHope. The report, based on qualitative and quantitative research, highlights a desire to move away from cash; usage of mobile money bulk payments; preferences and recommendations for design features of the products; and the estimated volume and value of this market segment.
This report was commissioned by NetHope with a charitable contribution from Visa's Financial Inclusion Unit. Research for this study, both primary and secondary, was conducted by Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu India LLP.
Pacific Microfinance Week, is an event hosted by Microfinance Pacifika Network (MFPN) and the Foundation for Development Corporation (FDC) and provides a platform for stakeholders to discuss and share achievements, visions and priorities in fostering the growth of microfinance and financial inclusion throughout the Pacific. Manoj Sharma, Director, MicroSave actively participated in the program where he moderated a session on Global and Asia Region Trends and Initiatives. In this presentation he draws upon the global best practices and focuses on business model alternatives, and builds a case for making a thought through selection of the business model including the front end technology while always keeping the clients’ need at the centre of the business.
Notes in Psychology: The Digital MarketplaceAhmad Hamdan
Social interactions and the sociological dynamics of social networks have many contributions that lead to many developments to our daily lives, it shaped the ways we interact, share and achieve.
Kim Garretson's presentation from the Feb. 27, 2015 dmaDetroit Educational Seminar and Luncheon. Kim's presentation, The Digital Marketplace, provides insight into: rising technology and how it’s changing the marketing landscape, he conversion of physical locations into engagement platforms (retail stores, stadiums, etc.), trend leading venture capital firms to watch and what they’re after and more.
Digitizing Merchant Payments: What Will It Take?CGAP
A staggering amount of cash is paid to retail merchants worldwide -- around $19 trillion out of a total of $34 trillion in payments. What will it take for digital payments to beat cash?
Banking in the Digital Era - Microsoft India PerspectiveMicrosoft India
Authored by Basudev Banerjee, Industry Marketing Lead, Microsoft & Vishnu Bhavaraju, Enterprise Strategy Architect, Microsoft, this document outlines Microsoft’s understanding of the digital and service delivery framework, target operating models and suggested business solution architecture and footprint within the BFSI vertical.
Digital intervention is a reality in today’s banking business and banks need to adapt and respond to this change to stay ahead of competition. The digital foreground has presented banks with a huge opportunity to attract new customers, lower costs, develop new propositions and business models, as also explore customer value to its maximum. To create a digital environment is now a priority for all banks and they need to undergo considerable investment for complete transformation.
The CII-PwC report titled, Banks taking a quantum leap through digital, released at CII National BANKing TECH Summit by Mr H R Khan Dy Governor RBI, Mr A P Hota MD& CEO National Payments Corporation of India and M S RaghavanChairman & MD, IDBI Bank.
Digital india: Emerging Challenges & Opportunities for the Banking SectorArun Prabhudesai
The presentation given by RBI's Harun R Khan outlines the following:
Digital Revolution: migration from cash to electronic
payments
• New Thrust Areas: mobile banking – BBPS - TReDS
• Security vs Convenience
• Challenges & Opportunities for banks
• Concluding Thoughts
This presentation explores what future of commerce may look like given the current trends in mobile devices, digital payments, social commerce and security including tokenization and new forms of identity verification
A new study on development organizations’ use of Mobile Money Bulk Payment Products carried out by NetHope. The report, based on qualitative and quantitative research, highlights a desire to move away from cash; usage of mobile money bulk payments; preferences and recommendations for design features of the products; and the estimated volume and value of this market segment.
This report was commissioned by NetHope with a charitable contribution from Visa's Financial Inclusion Unit. Research for this study, both primary and secondary, was conducted by Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu India LLP.
Pacific Microfinance Week, is an event hosted by Microfinance Pacifika Network (MFPN) and the Foundation for Development Corporation (FDC) and provides a platform for stakeholders to discuss and share achievements, visions and priorities in fostering the growth of microfinance and financial inclusion throughout the Pacific. Manoj Sharma, Director, MicroSave actively participated in the program where he moderated a session on Global and Asia Region Trends and Initiatives. In this presentation he draws upon the global best practices and focuses on business model alternatives, and builds a case for making a thought through selection of the business model including the front end technology while always keeping the clients’ need at the centre of the business.
Notes in Psychology: The Digital MarketplaceAhmad Hamdan
Social interactions and the sociological dynamics of social networks have many contributions that lead to many developments to our daily lives, it shaped the ways we interact, share and achieve.
Kim Garretson's presentation from the Feb. 27, 2015 dmaDetroit Educational Seminar and Luncheon. Kim's presentation, The Digital Marketplace, provides insight into: rising technology and how it’s changing the marketing landscape, he conversion of physical locations into engagement platforms (retail stores, stadiums, etc.), trend leading venture capital firms to watch and what they’re after and more.
We are living in an age where physical and digital worlds collide and blend into a new ground of unique experience, where information is readily accessible anywhere and anytime. In this age, enterprises the world over are touting large-scale digital
transformation as the foundation for business transformation, to make enterprises scalable, agile and
future-ready
27 Facts on the Future of Business in a Digital MarketplaceApp Consultants
Understand how the forces of technology and innovation brought on by the digital, social and mobile web are disrupting existing business models.
In this presentation we have gathered 27 facts that represent the changes taking place today, with your customers, in the digital marketplace. Each fact represents an important insight and suggests where to focus to ensure business success in the digital world.
Talk to App Consultants about implementing digital solutions that deliver a positive return on investment for your business:
Visit our website at http://AppConsultants.com.au
The Number One Digital Challenge Facing B2B TodayImran Choudhary
IBM recently hosted an open round table in London to discuss the temperament and disruptors in UK B2B Commerce with a number of key industry influencers and subject matter experts.
We explored the challenges faced, but equally the opportunities
and notable success stories.
Our discussion centred on what the #1 Digital Challenge Facing B2B is today, and what opportunities this may present to the new digital seller.
We also explored the importance of the user experience and the supporting infrastructure, as well as managing organisational and cultural change in the implementation of a new digital B2B strategy.
It comes as no surprise that the dialogue of the session very quickly expanded into the role of multi–Channel campaigns, technology, people, culture, and business change.
These facets where explored in great detail and we have summarised the highlights and key insights in this report.
Enabling the Digital Services Marketplace with Onboarding AutomationJenny Huang
This is the second phase of the TM Forum onboarding catalyst project, featuring metamodel for 3-dimenstional VNF package modeling; leveraging ETSI VNF descriptors, TOSCA template extensions, and Forum dynamic APIs to enable the Digital Service Marketplace.
IBM Softlayer Bluemix Marketplace
API Economy
Infrastructure as a Service
Platform as a Service
Software as a Service
IaaS PaaS SaaS
Register for Bluemix at http://ibm.biz/BluemixSBSS
See Softlayer at http://ibm.biz/SBSlideShareSL
Join the Marketplace at http://ibm.biz/SBSlideShareMP
Nick Meyne Enterprise Architect - Capgemini
At Global Architecture Week 2015, we covered ‘Digital Currencies and Cash’ and their relevance to Tax and Welfare Authorities, concluding with the message: “It’s not about Bitcoin, it’s about the Blockchain”. Blockchain technology has the potential to enable a new mutually trusted, transparent way of sharing and transacting. In the UK Public Sector, Sir Mark Walport’s report Distributed Ledger Technology: beyond blockchain encouraged Government to assess its early use and potential. Meanwhile in the private sector, Blockchain FinTech excitement among start-ups and venture capitalists remained strong for a technology promised to be “like a whole new internet for value exchange”. But where are the real world use cases today? What is it that makes a use case more likely to succeed? In this talk, we will share and discuss a number of Capgemini examples.
How IBM Scaled DevOps: The IBM Marketplace and Continuous ImprovementDev_Events
Presentation by Software Engineering Manager and DevOps Coach IBM Marketplace Engineering, Ann Marie Fred.
Adopting a new culture and a new way of working isn't easy; if it was, we'd all be working in Shangri-la by now. Adopting a new culture within a company with roughly 400,000 employees is even more difficult. From its humble beginnings with the first two-pizza DevOps team, IBM's DevOps community has grown to thousands of practitioners. I'll talk about balancing interdependencies with independence, and management with freedom. I'll also outline several practical steps you can take to drive change within your own organization, especially when you encounter resistance to change or misguided processes.
Capgemini Digital Reference Architecture with HPECapgemini
Digital Readiness Assessment Services delivers digital business initiatives by creating an actionable transformation roadmap. Through our joint partnership, Capgemini and HP have developed a Digital Reference Framework for IT solutions for the New Style of Business. Learn the strength of Capgemini-HP joint Digital Reference Architecture as it addresses client digital transformation business needs and helps you gain market share in Cloud, Big Data, Security and Mobility.
9 ноября 2014 г. в Сахаровском центре прошел вечер памяти трагической депортации месхетинских турок в 1944 г. из Грузии в Среднюю Азию.
Собравшиеся почтили память жертв преступной депортации и обсудили актуальные проблемы, в частности усилившиеся трудности при реализации своих прав в России и Грузии.
Мероприятие было организовано Международным обществом месхетинских турок «Ватан», Американским комитетом по защите прав турок-месхетинцев (ахыска) при поддержке Московской Хельсинкской группы и Новороссийского комитета по правам человека.
Видео доступно по ссылке http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5hVtHuAmdAA
Banking and Financial services are undergoing rapid changes and it could lead to redefining the concept of baking. Banking as a Platform is a new emerging concept which would require bank/financial institutes redefining their business model to embrace invocation from outside their close environment.
Investments in Customer Centricity Are Seeing Dividends for Financial Service...1to1 Media
A look at how Retail Banks and Insurance Companies are evolving their product-focused missions into customer-centric strategies for financial gains. www.1to1media.com
Informe Capital Markets 2020, elaborado por PwC, a partir de una encuesta realizadas a 250 directivos del sector financiero -bancos, banca privada, brokers, hedge funds, fondos de pensiones, entre otros- en todo el mundo.
Impact of Digital Banks on Incumbents in SingaporeVarun Mittal
Incumbents have to act now in order to be prepared for the digital bank launch in Singapore by 2021. The New Digital Banks (NDBs) aim to launch customer-centric, differentiated products to meet
their lifestyle goals along with simple and superior user experience.
The new age customers expect transparency and frictionless
experience from their banks.
The incumbent banks should leverage the trust and relationship
built with their customers over the years. They should re-evaluate
their strategy, invest in understanding customers’ needs and enable a digital experience that is at par with leading technology players in the market. Incumbents should take timely action by choosing a viable option to position their business ahead of competition and disruption!
Open Finance is a new phenomenon around data and service sharing amongst financial institutions and other entities to enable of distribution of banking services. In this article below, penned by Ajith Thadhani (AVP-Global Sales & Business Development, Estel Technologies), we look at how Open Finance is the next step on the Open Banking agenda. Link to the article: https://bit.ly/3rJSzA1
Global payments community consulting firm and the world’s leading advisor on business strategy. We partner with clients from the private, public, and not-for- profit sectors in all regions to identify their highest-value opportunities, address their most critical challenges, and transform their enterprises. Our customized approach combines deep insight into the dynamics of companies and markets with close collaboration at all levels of the client organization. This ensures that our clients achieve sustainable competitive advantage, build more capable organizations, and secure lasting results.
Debriefing of the Initio's Breakfast club session of June 2019 dedicated to open banking.
3 topics addressed:
Disintermediation: Should Banks Still Be Afraid?
How Customer Centricity Killed your Innovation
The Marketplace: An Unexpected Journe
Eyes wide shut: Global insights and actions for banks in the digital ageIgnasi Martín Morales
We know what banks want to achieve.
We know how they can achieve it. What we
want to explore further is how close banks
are to achieving their digital goals, both
now and over the next few years. So we
asked 157 senior IT executives, CIOs, CTOs
and other heads of technology spanning
14 primary markets for their thoughts on
digital banking’s potential for today – and
tomorrow. This paper presents the findings
of our study and examines the implications
of our findings for banking technology
executives.
Etude PwC : "Digital Banking Survey" (2014)PwC France
http://pwc.to/1jQNy0n
Le secteur bancaire ne doit cesser d'innover pour continuer de satisfaire les besoins de leurs clients au temps de la digitalisation. Retrouvez toutes les conclusions PwC sur ce sujet.
Going Digital: What Banking Leaders Need to KnowCognizant
To compete in the digital era, banks need to embrace data, put customers first and manage organizational change -- three concepts, one payoff. Here's how your bank can put it all together.
Microfinance and financial inclusion conference @ ucspLuis Garate
Peru constitutes a paradigm in microfinance at world level. The Peruvian experience is being replicated in several countries; this process constitutes a successful experience in the development area.
The objective of this presentation is convey the knowledge about the role of the microfinance and understand the progress and challenges that this sector is facing.
The presentation includes:
1. Importance
2. What Financial Inclusion means?
3. How is going on in Peru?
• Financial System
• Microfinance Institutions
4. What else to do?
5. Opportunities
6. Final notes: Thoughts
Similar to Rethinking distribution: Smart solutions for smart customers (20)
The May edition of the Multilateral Newsletter highlights the key deliberations from the Forum and provides the key recommendations made by the OECD stakeholders. In addition, the edition covers major happenings at the World Bank, Asian Development Bank (ADB), B20 and International Labour Organisation (ILO).
Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) sector is the backbone of the national economic structure and has acted as the bulwark for the Indian economy, providing it resilience to fend off global economic shocks and adversities. The development of the sector is extremely critical to meet the national imperatives of financial inclusion and generation of significant levels of employment across urban, rurban and rural areas and to catalyse socio-economic transformation.
Easy access to credit and finance remains one of the many challenges faced by the sector. Hence, in view of the sector's importance in the overall economic landscape, it is critical the MSME sector develops through the concerted efforts of various stakeholders, including banks and financial institutions, equity funds, industry majors and MNCs, regulators across various ministries at the Center and in the States, and trade associations, together, to create a forward-looking framework and ecosystem. The competitiveness of the MSME sector is critical for sustaining economic growth.
It’s a matter of concern that 600 million people in India face high to extreme water stress in the country. About three-fourths of the households in the country do not have drinking water at their premise. With nearly 70% of water being contaminated, India is placed at 120th amongst 122 countries in the water quality index. It’s a fact that water is a State subject and its optimal utilization and management lies predominantly within the domain of the States. This index is an attempt to budge States and UTs towards
efficient and optimal utilization of water and recycling thereof with a sense of urgency.
GST, the single taxation regime, was implemented a year back and though there were some initial implementation issues, as is the case with any system for the first time, it is safe to say that the GST has been the biggest tax reform of Independent India.
Cyberspace is rapidly transforming our lives – how we live, interact, govern and create value. With the JAM (Jan Dhan, Aadhaar and Mobile) trinity, India is at the forefront of global digital transformation. “Digital India” is being hailed as the world's largest technology led programme of its kind.
While internet, smartphones and modern information and
communication devices have been great force multipliers, endless connectivity and proliferation of IoT devices is giving rise to vulnerabilities, risks and concerns. Cyber security is today ranked among top threats by governments and corporates. Heightened concerns about data security and privacy have resulted in a spate of regulations in India and across the world. India is in the process of discussing and enacting its own comprehensive data security and privacy regulation, as well as vertical specific ones. Cyber security is an ecosystem where laws, organisations, skills, cooperation and
technical implementation would need to be in harmony to be
effective.
Overall, a robust regulatory framework based on global and
country-specific regulations, development of a holistic cyber
security eco-system (academia and industry as well as
entrepreneurial) and a coordinated global approach through
proactive cyber diplomacy would help to secure cyber space and promote confidence and trust of key stakeholders including
citizens, businesses, political and security leaders.
CII has been actively working in the cyber security space. The CII Task Force on Public Private Partnership for Security of the Cyber Space has been set up to bring about improvements in the legal framework to strengthen and maintain a safe cyberspace ecosystem by capacity building through education and training programmes. We would facilitate collaboration and cooperation between Government and Industry in the area of cyber security in general and protection of critical information infrastructure in particular, covering cyber threats, vulnerabilities, breaches, potential protective measures, and adoption of best practices.
Delhi, the capital of India, has emerged as a major commercial capital and industrial hub of India. It is home to a wide range of industries including textiles, electrical and electronics, IT &ITeS services, hotel and tourism, which have contributed immensely to the economic and industrial growth of the country. Nearly 88% of the SMEs in Delhi revealed that this cluster is as an attractive destination for conducting business. Delhi has become an attractive business and tourist destination. This is driven by its improved infrastructure, good connectivity with other Asian and western regions, ease of access to market and availability of skilled labor among others. Consequently, it has emerged as
one of the most preferred investment and business destinations.
The state government of Maharashtra has been at the forefront in creating a conducive business environment that fosters globally competitive firms. Business reforms introduced both by the Central as well as the state government have played a critical role in India’s 30 spots improvement in the Doing Business ranking for 2018.
The State, under the Business Reforms Action Plan (BRAP) 2016, has implemented over 90 per cent reforms in 7 out of 10 parameters, including labour registration, utility connections, single window system, environment registration, among others. These policy reforms have significantly helped in the reduction in time and cost of doing business for the industry, thereby
establishing Maharashtra as one of the top investment destinations in the country.
This report provides the key highlights of the select initiatives on ease of doing reforms in Maharashtra. With a view to provide on-ground impact of these initiatives, the Report also captures industry views on various aspects of business reforms.
The March-April edition of the Multilateral Newsletter gives insights on the key happenings at the various multilateral institutions and highlights the key discussions and deliberations at the informal WTO Ministerial Meeting held in New Delhi.
WTO plays a vital role by bringing stability and predictability to the multilateral trading system. It is a collective responsibility of WTO members to address the challenges faced by the system and putting the economies back on steady and meaningful way forward.
Several proposals and initiatives on investment facilitation were tabled at the WTO in the run-up to the 11th Ministerial Conference. The proponents advocated discussions on Investment Facilitation within the WTO framework. However, there was no consensus on initiating negotiations, or even establishing a Work Programme, on Investment Facilitation. A clear need of more work to look at all aspects of a potential multilateral rules on Investment, particularly on its impact on domestic policy space was stated.
In order to deepen the understanding between the member it is important that an open, transparent and inclusive approach of decision making for the various interventions. The informal WTO Ministerial gathering in New Delhi saw convergence of around 53 members representing a broad spectrum of the WTO membership.
CII, as an Industry Institution is cognizant of the need for India to engage constructively in some of the new issues being discussed under the WTO framework.
Businesses are gradually recognizing that ethics means good business. It is believed that well-run and trustworthy
companies are more likely to attract greater investment opportunities, which enables them to innovate and expand, and
generate wealth and jobs. Good corporate governance practices are regarded as providing an 'extra' edge to companies
to enhance their image and stay ahead in an intensely competitive business environment. This would help them imbibe
universally accepted values of ethics and good governance—accountability, transparency, responsibility and
responsiveness to stake holders. Besides, it would also mean looking beyond achieving mere economic sustainability to
include social and environmental sustainability as well. Many corporates are adhering to sustainable business practices
and many more are likely to follow suit in the time to come.
On the domestic front, CII expects economic growth to bounce back to 7.3-7.7 per cent in FY19 from the estimated 6.6
per cent in FY18. The prognosis of improved rural consumption and a recovery in private investment will support
growth, even as the debilitating effects of demonetisation and GSTimplementation will fade away
The Commuique May 2018 edition discusses the cover story
on 'Resolving Insolvency in India'
The Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC) 2016, is one of
the biggest regulatory reforms corporate India has witnessed
in recent times.
It also features 'UK-India CEO Forum Meeting ', 'CII CEOs Delegation to 11th Commonwealth Business Forum 2018', 'Four Transformations of the Global Energy Market', Economy pieces on 'The Innovation Paradox' & 'Can the Lion Conquer the Forest?' along with a piece on 'India-Africa Economic Partnership'.
The government of India has, in the past few years, accorded an utmost priority to the Ease of Doing Business (EoDB). The accent is on simplification of regulations and use of technology to make the compliance more efficient for businesses. Apart from the Centre, the States are also being encouraged to implement business reforms in the spirit of competitive federalism, to foster reforms at the sub-national level. The measures are aimed at creating a conducive business environment, which is a key to facilitating growth and creating jobs. Thanks to these measures, India’s EoDB ranking, captured by the World Bank, has improved by 42 spots since 2014 to touch the 100th position now. The Prime Minister envisions India among the top 50 nations in the next couple of years.
While business reforms are being undertaken at a rapid pace and large scale, cutting across Central as well as state levels, it is imperative that awareness about these developments is created among stakeholders and regular feedback is generated to address the gaps in the implementation of reforms. Identification of pending issues and suggesting possible solutions are equally vital. It is also important to identify the best practices within and outside the country, which are considered for implementation by the needy states.
The report reflects on the role of broadband connectivity and the multiplier effect it has on the larger ecosystem. India is ripe for a Digital rethink, with both government and industry aligning their efforts toward a broadband powered Digital India. Broadband has the power to enable the gigabit society that is always connected. Broadband connectivity has changed the way people
communicate, socialise, create, sell, shop and work. India’s digital consumption patterns highlights the evolution. On an average Indians spend 200 minutes on mobile every day, with the second highest app downloads globally. Almost 79% of the web traffic in India is on mobile.
To realise the Digital India dream, there is a need to strengthen the broadband backbone, which forms a key pillar of this transformation. This report highlights the need for future ready and robust broadband infrastructure and the requisite efforts for expediting its reach.
South Africa and India share a rich past and bright future. India has transitioned from being South Africa’s political ally to being a vibrant economic partner. Despite challenges, the opportunity for increasing the value of bilateral trade between the two countries is growing exponentially each year.
South Africa and India have nurtured a bilateral relationship since the 1860s, when the first Indians arrived in South Africa. India was one of the first countries that rallied at the United Nations in support of the anti apartheid movement in South Africa. The strong bond established between the two countries during the struggle for democracy in South Africa became further entrenched in post-apartheid South Africa.
Most global businesses recognise South Africa as the most favourable destination in Africa for making long-term investments. The country offers a stable political and economic environment with established institutions. Policies and procedures are well articulated and consistent, and it offers a free and competitive environment with open-minded consumers. South Africa provides the most stable and technologically viable environment for Indian companies wishing to establish a base from which to expand across the continent. As a gateway to Africa, it is renowned for its infrastructure, skills pool and expertise.
Our world is changing at an unprecedented pace, driven by a new digital economy. Companies across sectors are keen to become more efficient, disruptive, and differentiated, by using new technologies and supported by an ecosystem of customers, partners, and technology leaders. New-age technologies such as Artificial Intelligence (AI), Augmented Reality (AR), Blockchain, Machine Learning, 3D printing, and IoT are gaining more and more importance and acceptance.
India has all the ingredients in place to leverage this innovation and technological advantage in the long run, including university graduates, public institutes and corporates. However, India’s gross expenditure on R&D as a proportion of GDP (GERD) is less than 0.7% as of 2014-15 and within this, the share of industry is just 30%. Further, the vast SME sector needs to scale up technology infusion for higher productivity.
This is the fifth edition of the Grant Thornton India meets Britain Tracker, developed in collaboration with the Confederation of Indian Industry. The India Tracker identifies the fastest-growing Indian companies in the UK, as well as the top Indian employers. It provides insight into the evolving scale, business activities, locations and performance of the Indian-owned companies who are making the biggest impact in the UK.
This year, our research identified approximately 800 Indian companies operating in the UK, with combined revenues of £46.4 billion (£47.5 billion in 2017). Together, they paid £360 million in corporation tax (£275.7 million in 2017) and employed 104,932 people (105,268 in 2017). This shows the continued importance of the contribution that Indian companies make to the UK economy.
The Make in India initiative of the government which lays emphasis on domestic manufacturing, indigenization and import substitution, is expected to pave the way for making the Indian defence sector self-sufficient.Encouragingly, the Indian industry is now actively engagedand is partnering with the government in building a modern and best-in-class defence systems, equipment and components which should strengthen our forces and make the country more self-reliant. The formation of the Society of Indian Defence Manufacturers (SIDM) as an apex body of the Indian defence industry is critical in this regard. SIDM is expected to play a proactive role as an advocate, catalyst and facilitator for building the growth and capability of the defence industry in India. Given the rising importance of buttressing the Make in India programme for expanding the capacity of the Indian defence sector, in this issue of Economy Matters, a few SIDM office bearers and defence experts present their insights into this crucial topic.
As India integrates deeper into the global economy, it is becoming increasingly clear that the country needs to focus both on meeting international competition and its own developmental challenges.
The Government launched several initiatives last year, such as Make in India, Skill India, and Digital India, among others, towards make the vision of integrated inclusive development a reality.
For industry, grappling with the challenges of disruptive technologies, restrictive trade laws, environmental responsibilities and more demanding and discerning customers, the imperative is for sharper focus on producing excellent goods and services, along with building skills, generating jobs, and mainstreaming the marginalized.
Personal and freight mobility are important aspects of economic development and therefore create a significant footprint on the natural environment, especially on the ambient air quality. Vehicular emissions have been identified as one of the sources of air pollutants, specially PM 2.5, as per source apportionment study of IIT-Kanpur commissioned by Government of NCT of Delhi in the year 2015 (Sharma and Dikshit, 2016). Although there are other contributors to air pollution but the vehicular pollution remains a major non-point source. Efforts are needed for reducing the overall impact of the same. Another distinguishing feature of Delhi’s transportation system is the medium and heavy commercial vehicles (MHCVs) which are 2.5% of the total vehicular population but are responsible for over 65% of the total vehicular pollution as well as fuel consumption.
Under CII-NITI Aayog 'Cleaner Air Better Life Initiative', the task force on clean transportation has undertaken a consultative process to identify seven areas of action towards mitigation of air pollution in Delhi and National Capital Region (NCR). To begin with, it proposes mobility reforms to induce a more fundamental change from private vehicle towards sustainable means of transportation such as public and shared transportation. Further, limiting high-mileage polluting vehicles, strengthening Pollution-Under-Control (PUC) regime, allowing retailing of bio-fuels, promoting electric-mobility, decongesting traffic hotspots and retrofitting solutions are recommended by the task force, as elaborated.
Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) takes immense pleasure in presenting the third edition of Annual CSR Tracker 2017. Similar to the last two editions, this is the most comprehensive analysis of CSR disclosures of Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE-listed) companies obligated to practice CSR as per the Companies Act, 2013.
The Annual CSR Tracker 2017 is based on disclosures of 1,522 companies as compared to 1,270 companies in 2016 and 1,181 in 2015. Disclosures are broken into approximately, 41 indicators spread across six aspects of CSR legislation: governance, policy, financials, spends as per Schedule VII, spend channels, and spend locations. Also included is beneficiary data that companies voluntarily disclose in their annual reports.
At CII Indian Women Network, we are driven by the imperative that Indian women become a core critical mass of the workforce to bring about the transformational change in attitude and behavior. We have also recognized the importance of some amazing women role models who can inspire the future generation into believing that there are no limits to what a woman can achieve. One critical aspect is our own self-belief and innermost conviction that will ultimately help us triumph in our relentless struggle for gender equality. It is a pleasure to share this comprehensive report with you that captures the universe of several variables that will impact our future progress.
Seminar: Gender Board Diversity through Ownership NetworksGRAPE
Seminar on gender diversity spillovers through ownership networks at FAME|GRAPE. Presenting novel research. Studies in economics and management using econometrics methods.
how to swap pi coins to foreign currency withdrawable.DOT TECH
As of my last update, Pi is still in the testing phase and is not tradable on any exchanges.
However, Pi Network has announced plans to launch its Testnet and Mainnet in the future, which may include listing Pi on exchanges.
The current method for selling pi coins involves exchanging them with a pi vendor who purchases pi coins for investment reasons.
If you want to sell your pi coins, reach out to a pi vendor and sell them to anyone looking to sell pi coins from any country around the globe.
Below is the contact information for my personal pi vendor.
Telegram: @Pi_vendor_247
BYD SWOT Analysis and In-Depth Insights 2024.pptxmikemetalprod
Indepth analysis of the BYD 2024
BYD (Build Your Dreams) is a Chinese automaker and battery manufacturer that has snowballed over the past two decades to become a significant player in electric vehicles and global clean energy technology.
This SWOT analysis examines BYD's strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats as it competes in the fast-changing automotive and energy storage industries.
Founded in 1995 and headquartered in Shenzhen, BYD started as a battery company before expanding into automobiles in the early 2000s.
Initially manufacturing gasoline-powered vehicles, BYD focused on plug-in hybrid and fully electric vehicles, leveraging its expertise in battery technology.
Today, BYD is the world’s largest electric vehicle manufacturer, delivering over 1.2 million electric cars globally. The company also produces electric buses, trucks, forklifts, and rail transit.
On the energy side, BYD is a major supplier of rechargeable batteries for cell phones, laptops, electric vehicles, and energy storage systems.
how to sell pi coins at high rate quickly.DOT TECH
Where can I sell my pi coins at a high rate.
Pi is not launched yet on any exchange. But one can easily sell his or her pi coins to investors who want to hold pi till mainnet launch.
This means crypto whales want to hold pi. And you can get a good rate for selling pi to them. I will leave the telegram contact of my personal pi vendor below.
A vendor is someone who buys from a miner and resell it to a holder or crypto whale.
Here is the telegram contact of my vendor:
@Pi_vendor_247
how to sell pi coins in all Africa Countries.DOT TECH
Yes. You can sell your pi network for other cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, usdt , Ethereum and other currencies And this is done easily with the help from a pi merchant.
What is a pi merchant ?
Since pi is not launched yet in any exchange. The only way you can sell right now is through merchants.
A verified Pi merchant is someone who buys pi network coins from miners and resell them to investors looking forward to hold massive quantities of pi coins before mainnet launch in 2026.
I will leave the telegram contact of my personal pi merchant to trade with.
@Pi_vendor_247
how to sell pi coins in South Korea profitably.DOT TECH
Yes. You can sell your pi network coins in South Korea or any other country, by finding a verified pi merchant
What is a verified pi merchant?
Since pi network is not launched yet on any exchange, the only way you can sell pi coins is by selling to a verified pi merchant, and this is because pi network is not launched yet on any exchange and no pre-sale or ico offerings Is done on pi.
Since there is no pre-sale, the only way exchanges can get pi is by buying from miners. So a pi merchant facilitates these transactions by acting as a bridge for both transactions.
How can i find a pi vendor/merchant?
Well for those who haven't traded with a pi merchant or who don't already have one. I will leave the telegram id of my personal pi merchant who i trade pi with.
Tele gram: @Pi_vendor_247
#pi #sell #nigeria #pinetwork #picoins #sellpi #Nigerian #tradepi #pinetworkcoins #sellmypi
What price will pi network be listed on exchangesDOT TECH
The rate at which pi will be listed is practically unknown. But due to speculations surrounding it the predicted rate is tends to be from 30$ — 50$.
So if you are interested in selling your pi network coins at a high rate tho. Or you can't wait till the mainnet launch in 2026. You can easily trade your pi coins with a merchant.
A merchant is someone who buys pi coins from miners and resell them to Investors looking forward to hold massive quantities till mainnet launch.
I will leave the telegram contact of my personal pi vendor to trade with.
@Pi_vendor_247
US Economic Outlook - Being Decided - M Capital Group August 2021.pdfpchutichetpong
The U.S. economy is continuing its impressive recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic and not slowing down despite re-occurring bumps. The U.S. savings rate reached its highest ever recorded level at 34% in April 2020 and Americans seem ready to spend. The sectors that had been hurt the most by the pandemic specifically reduced consumer spending, like retail, leisure, hospitality, and travel, are now experiencing massive growth in revenue and job openings.
Could this growth lead to a “Roaring Twenties”? As quickly as the U.S. economy contracted, experiencing a 9.1% drop in economic output relative to the business cycle in Q2 2020, the largest in recorded history, it has rebounded beyond expectations. This surprising growth seems to be fueled by the U.S. government’s aggressive fiscal and monetary policies, and an increase in consumer spending as mobility restrictions are lifted. Unemployment rates between June 2020 and June 2021 decreased by 5.2%, while the demand for labor is increasing, coupled with increasing wages to incentivize Americans to rejoin the labor force. Schools and businesses are expected to fully reopen soon. In parallel, vaccination rates across the country and the world continue to rise, with full vaccination rates of 50% and 14.8% respectively.
However, it is not completely smooth sailing from here. According to M Capital Group, the main risks that threaten the continued growth of the U.S. economy are inflation, unsettled trade relations, and another wave of Covid-19 mutations that could shut down the world again. Have we learned from the past year of COVID-19 and adapted our economy accordingly?
“In order for the U.S. economy to continue growing, whether there is another wave or not, the U.S. needs to focus on diversifying supply chains, supporting business investment, and maintaining consumer spending,” says Grace Feeley, a research analyst at M Capital Group.
While the economic indicators are positive, the risks are coming closer to manifesting and threatening such growth. The new variants spreading throughout the world, Delta, Lambda, and Gamma, are vaccine-resistant and muddy the predictions made about the economy and health of the country. These variants bring back the feeling of uncertainty that has wreaked havoc not only on the stock market but the mindset of people around the world. MCG provides unique insight on how to mitigate these risks to possibly ensure a bright economic future.
how can i use my minded pi coins I need some funds.DOT TECH
If you are interested in selling your pi coins, i have a verified pi merchant, who buys pi coins and resell them to exchanges looking forward to hold till mainnet launch.
Because the core team has announced that pi network will not be doing any pre-sale. The only way exchanges like huobi, bitmart and hotbit can get pi is by buying from miners.
Now a merchant stands in between these exchanges and the miners. As a link to make transactions smooth. Because right now in the enclosed mainnet you can't sell pi coins your self. You need the help of a merchant,
i will leave the telegram contact of my personal pi merchant below. 👇 I and my friends has traded more than 3000pi coins with him successfully.
@Pi_vendor_247
when will pi network coin be available on crypto exchange.DOT TECH
There is no set date for when Pi coins will enter the market.
However, the developers are working hard to get them released as soon as possible.
Once they are available, users will be able to exchange other cryptocurrencies for Pi coins on designated exchanges.
But for now the only way to sell your pi coins is through verified pi vendor.
Here is the telegram contact of my personal pi vendor
@Pi_vendor_247
Abhay Bhutada Leads Poonawalla Fincorp To Record Low NPA And Unprecedented Gr...Vighnesh Shashtri
Under the leadership of Abhay Bhutada, Poonawalla Fincorp has achieved record-low Non-Performing Assets (NPA) and witnessed unprecedented growth. Bhutada's strategic vision and effective management have significantly enhanced the company's financial health, showcasing a robust performance in the financial sector. This achievement underscores the company's resilience and ability to thrive in a competitive market, setting a new benchmark for operational excellence in the industry.
The Evolution of Non-Banking Financial Companies (NBFCs) in India: Challenges...beulahfernandes8
Role in Financial System
NBFCs are critical in bridging the financial inclusion gap.
They provide specialized financial services that cater to segments often neglected by traditional banks.
Economic Impact
NBFCs contribute significantly to India's GDP.
They support sectors like micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs), housing finance, and personal loans.
Rethinking distribution: Smart solutions for smart customers
1. Rethinking distribution:
Contents
Chairman’s message p2
/ Foreword p3
/ Opportunities in the new marketplace p5
/ Snapshot of
distribution of financial services in India p13
/ Addressing operating challenges and paving the
way forward p20
/ Abbreviations p28
/ Endnotes p29
/ About CII p30
/ About PwC p31
Smart solutions for smart customers
November 2015
2. 2 PwC
Throughout the previous summits on Financial Distribution, we have been focusing on under-penetrated and rural markets and
have emphasized the need to reach out to the people who are still not part of the organized financial services sector. But I believe
very strongly, basis research and prudent analysis of statistics that even in the urban markets and in the metros, there is a lot of
headroom for financial services players to tap into new customers and there is still a sizeable segment of the population with
disposable income which has not been channelized into the capital market.
The 4th edition of the Financial Distribution Summit actually tries to discern and address those pertinent roadblocks which are
acting as a deterrent to increasing the footprint of the various market players. In an eco-system which is changing rapidly, where
technology is defining and shaping the way we do business with our customers, financial service players are investing in new age
technology to create differentiation and provide the customer with superlative experience so that customer stickiness continues.
New players entering the market like Fintech players and the small banks and payment banks are disrupting the business
environment and setting the bar high for customers by providing them with choices and convenience that traditional players had
never experimented with. Further, the use of digital platform via social media, mobile apps, etc. the urgency to gratify the customer
and remain constantly engaged with the customer has taken precedence.
The CII-PwC report captures the nuances of the changing distribution landscape and what it may look like in the near future.
Providing relevant case studies and global examples, we have tried to draw some semblance to the India distribution story and mine
interesting learnings from them.
We hope you enjoy the report and find this report insightful.
Regards,
V Ganesh
Chairman’s message
V Ganesh
Chairman – CII Financial Distribution Summit 2015 &
Chief Executive Officer
Karvy Computershare Pvt. Ltd..
3. Rethinking distribution: Smart solutions for smart customers 3
It gives us great pleasure to partner with CII for the Financial Distribution Summit 2015. We have shared our thoughts and
perspectives on financial distribution, at a time when the world is changing and, with it, the rules of engagement. Providers of
financial services and distributors need to understand what the future holds for them and reimagine their roles by embracing
change.
In a financial services industry dominated by branches and agents, can new-age technology innovators steal a sizeable share of
the market? Can service providers expect to broaden their market if they use a multi-channel approach to reach their customers?
Is social media of any real importance to distributors? What difference will small finance banks and payments banks make to this
ecosystem?
In ‘Rethinking distribution: Smart solutions for smart customers’, we have attempted to answer these questions. We have identified
how the future will be different from what it is today and how financial institutions, distribution channels and agents can respond
to this change to capture new opportunities. We have included case studies outlining the impact of new distribution solutions.
Changing customer preferences, shifting structures of trust, technological breakthroughs, regulations and the entry of new nimble
players are all-powerful forces changing our world. A snapshot of the financial services industry and its challenges has been
provided.
We hope you will find the report useful and relevant. We welcome your thoughts and views and look forward to the discussions at
the summit.
Foreword
Shinjini Kumar
Leader, Banking and Capital Markets
PwC India
Jamuna Rao Verghese
Senior Advisor, Financial Services
PwC India
4. 4 PwC
Rapid disruption in the distribution of financial services
in India
Types of market player Channels and outlets
Banking
56 RRBs
27
Nationalised
banks
46 Foreign
banks
22
Differentiated
banks
21
Private
sector
170k branches 357k BCs
180k ATMs 1.1 million PoS
Insurance
29
Non-life
insurance
24 Life
insurance
11,032 branches
2.2 million agents
689 corporate
agents
Life
insurance
Non- Life
insurance
9,872 branches
384 corporate
agents
Mutual
funds
42%
National
distributors
44 Funds 28%
Independent
financial
advisors
30% Banks
1600 branches 85-105k agents
519 corporate
distributors
Others
~12,029 NBFCs
29 PPIs
65 NBFC MFI Branches Agents PPI
Mobile apps
and wallets
5. Rethinking distribution: Smart solutions for smart customers 5
Rethinking distribution smartly:
Opportunities in the new marketplace
6. 6 PwC
1. Rethinking distribution smartly:
Opportunities in the new marketplace
The world of financial services is changing in ways
that are more dramatic than we would have imagined
even five years ago. Inspired by Apple stores and other
similar outlets, banks are using smart technology to
remodel their branches into smarter retail-like outlets.
On the other hand, small retail shops are increasingly
equipping themselves to provide a wide range of
financial services from opening bank accounts to issuing
insurance policies using high-tech handheld devices.
The enhanced communication landscape completely
rewrites the ground rules for the distribution of
banking, insurance and mutual funds products from the
point of view of both the customer—who has increased
choice and is empowered by the availability of instant
options—and the conduit—in this case, the ‘human’
channel or the agent. Clearly, this necessitates a relook
at the way financial institutions, employees and agents
operate in the new financial ecosystem. It is as much an
issue of survival as it is of eventual success.
Winning in this new market will require players,
particularly the existing ones, to unlearn and relearn the
ground rules. The entry of new players, many of who
will be challengers and disruptors, will push the market
to higher levels of competition. Simultaneously, market
participants will be forced to focus on specialisation
and differentiation in order to respond to an extremely
diverse market. Ensuring a seamless experience to a
range of consumers while building lean, cost-efficient
structures will necessitate greater collaboration among
market participants, including banks, insurance and
asset managers, commodity and pension solution
providers, authorised non-banks of different categories,
and technology disruptors.
Banks dominate the formal financial system in India,
with 70.5%1
of the total assets of the financial system.
This, as well as other factors related to the development
of markets and trust structures in the economy, has
meant that universal banks are the dominant providers
of financial services to consumers with access to the
formal system. Retail banks, serving as customer-facing
ends of the delivery channels for their own products
as well as partner products like insurance and mutual
funds, have stitched together distribution models to suit
the needs of their primary consumers, while insurance
and asset managers have aggressively grown their
presence through physical as well as digital channels.
With greater clarity on regulations and policy push,
asset classes such as equities, commodities, forex
derivatives and pension products have also found
traction. Even as the markets are becoming better
regulated and closing on arbitrage and uncertainty,
consumers are becoming more empowered through
information and execution, particularly on their
mobiles. Thus, while technology start-ups or fintech
companies will ‘unbundle’ traditional banking, it is
expected that new opportunities will be created through
improved trust, transparency and better consumer
experience, moving consumers away from their sticky
preference for gold and real estate, or just plain cash
under their pillows.
Four overarching growth drivers are providing an
impetus to change in the delivery and consumption of
financial services: demographic factors, technology
changes, regulation and the entry of a substantial
number of new, differentiated banks. As non-banking
digital companies and new banks, premised on low
cost–high tech models to deal with low value–high
volume customers, make their mark in the banking
universe, the delivery of financial services must be
reimagined by the supply side. Easy adoption of tech
solutions by a young population of digital natives and
adopters provides insights into changing customer
expectations and consumption behaviour, which will be
an equally important part of the solution.
7. Rethinking distribution: Smart solutions for smart customers 7
We foresee the following trends playing out in the distribution of financial services:
Growth
drivers
Technology
Supply-side
trends
• New banks will lead to major shifts in inclusion
and trust building
• Serving new customer segments will require financial
institutions to tailor distribution strategies to customer type
• Agents will need to reorient, retrain and work with
complementary technology solutions
• New and future technology will drastically reduce the cost
of delivery infrastructure
Demand-side
trends
• Mobile as a channel of delivery breaks barriers of geography
and physical presence
• The app-happy consumer is used to simple design and direct
communication and can learn as they transact
• E-commerce and use of social media are rewriting the rules
of engagement for consumers
• 117 million+ Indians
use smartphones
• 160 million+ Indians
use Internet regularly
• 20% of rural areas will be
covered by 3G/4G networks
Demographics
New entrants in the
banking system
Policy and regulatory changes
• 926 million+ Aadhaar
enrolments completed
• Digital India initiatives including
NOFN, digital lockers, e-signatures
• Signing of protocols such as FATCA &
CRS that will lead to greater transparency
• Indian Financial Code that aims to
create common framework for retail
consumer protection
• 233 million+ Unbanked population
• 182 million+ Jan Dhan
accounts opened
• 21 new payments and small banks
• 233 million+
Unbanked population
• 182 million+
Jan Dhan accounts opened
• 21 new payments and
small banks
Growth drivers and resulting trends impacting the distribution of financial services
8. 8 PwC
Supply-side trends: Increasing
outreach through digital
1. New banks will lead to major shifts in inclusion
and trust building.
Marking a significant departure from their usual
practice of granting bank licenses once in a decade,
the RBI announced 21 differentiated banks and
2 private universal bank licenses in the last two
years. As these licensees roll out plans to go to
market, competition between themselves and with
the existing universal, cooperative/regional banks
and non-banking companies will ensure that these
new players venture into unchartered geographies
and untouched customer segments. By awarding
licenses to telecom giants, business correspondents
and microfinance companies, the regulator has
ensured that inclusion at the last mile is entrusted
to those who have built successful business models
in the space. The new banks are expected to create
a robust infrastructure for the last mile, such as
agent networks and education, cash collection
services, and technology investments for non-
metros and rural areas. But, more importantly, they
will lead to some major shifts in the traditional
relations between financial services and consumers.
For example, payments banks, forced to work on
thin margins, will need to provide customers with
a portfolio of services to drive profitability. This
is a very interesting subversion of a fundamental
reality. While banks accessed high-quality data on
their consumers, being primary account owners,
they also offered saving products like demand
and time deposits that provided the banks their
operating base of liabilities. Despite several efforts
at enhancing the efficiency of the payments
system, float at banks is the other common reality,
emanating from, as well as leading to, rigidities and
friction in settlement. On the other hand, payments
banks, by their very construct, have little incentive
to keep float or target idle money for their balance
sheets (deposit cap of 1,00,000 INR and no term
deposits). To generate income, they have to look at
providing more comprehensive solutions to their
clientele as well as improving the efficiency of
payments.
The most significant change that can be hoped
for with increased competition is improvement
in transparency and trust. While regulation of
financial services has always been based on
these tenets and the Indian markets are already
ahead in terms of regulatory activism for retail
consumers, for new banks, this should become
business sense. Because they are digital and
start with the assumption of low returns, these
players will have the opportunity to reinvent their
customer covenants, basing their differentiation
on transparency of charges and fair treatment
of customers. Any loss of trust leads to major
disruptions, not only for the player concerned
but also for the markets as a whole. Therefore,
regulators are expected to keep a hawkish eye on
consumer protection in these new segments, in
order to grow and sustain the market.
For banks, insurance companies and mutual funds
that aim to go beyond metropolitan areas and large
towns, collaborating with payments banks, small
finance banks and PPI providers will be critical to
reaching the last mile. The new players will benefit
from the trust already enjoyed by these formal
institutions, even as they revitalise the last mile
and use the potential of digital for more sustainable
inclusion.
2. Serving new customer segments will require
financial institutions to tailor distribution
strategies to customer type.
The distribution networks of tomorrow will vary
depending on the customer segment they cater to.
The lifestyle, priorities and needs of each customer
segment are different and hence they will need to
be catered to in different ways.
For instance, the ability to harness transaction
data on new customer segments possessed by
payments and small banks, will allow cross-selling
of comprehensive financial services to lower
income customer segments through intelligent
combinations of mobile and physical delivery
channels. The upwardly mobile middle class, which
has traditionally been the favoured customer of
financial institutions, will see ‘choice’ expand, both
in terms of products and service providers.
9. Rethinking distribution: Smart solutions for smart customers 9
Acquiring and servicing such customers will need
specialised digital channels, as customers begin
making decisions based on convenience and not
just affordability. Servicing HNIs will continue to
require a very personal and specialised approach,
increasingly taking into account the global reality
of multi-jurisdiction wealth creation as well as
the regulatory complexity of global co-operation
agreements such as FATCA or CRS.
3. Agents will need to reorient, retrain and work
with complementary technology solutions.
As technology starts disrupting traditional models
of delivery, agents will see an overhaul of their
roles and responsibilities. Tech-based solutions
provide consumers with the option to research
and make well-informed purchasing and investing
decisions at their own time and convenience. Easy
modification and customisation of browsers and
websites help with product illustrations and recall
of information and policy details. These features
also help the millennials to use various services,
access different mediums and research either
immediately or in short bursts over a period of time.
As customers take greater ownership of decisions
regarding consumption of financial services, agents,
who have traditionally been at the forefront of
customer acquisition, may evolve into facilitators
and augmenters of digital and direct sales. They can
provide a human outlet for verification, customer
servicing and grievance redressal.
Both banking and insurance have witnessed
uptake of the digital medium as a partial substitute
for physical sales and distribution channels.
Comparison websites for loans, credit cards and
insurance products are replacing middlemen for
digital adopters and the young demographic.
This presents interesting possibilities for using
technology to supplement the human channel,
as well as to train agents on a real-time basis and
keep an eye on them from a risk management
perspective. Hopefully, this area will see fast
innovation in technologies, including the use of
artificial intelligence or multilingual apps that
can empower organisations to deal with a large
number of agents/brokers/correspondents, thereby
providing a consistent experience to consumers
and minimising the risks of mis-selling and
misrepresentation.
4. New and future technology will drastically
reduce the cost of delivery infrastructure.
Increasing complexity of customer needs, financial
products and customer protection regulations is
adding significant cost overheads to distribution
networks as people need to be upskilled,
technologies need to be upgraded and business
models, refined. Innovations like open API, SaaS,
open source code, cloud computing, distributed
ledgers, crowdsourced identity systems, and
hardware like mobile PoS and tablets all hold great
promise for reducing costs and infusing greater
flexibility into operating models to scale efficiently
and rapidly. The ‘pay as you go’ business model
innovation in SaaS, for example, allows providers
smaller initial investments, with flexible scaling as
needs evolve. Further, it is less demanding on IT
resources, easier to administer and easier to access
from a wider range of devices and locations. Open
APIs allow providers to grow volumes from existing
customers and attract new customers without
friction, thus permitting customers to adapt and
utilise banking services in the manner they prefer.
High net worth
individuals
(>8,50,000 INR p.a.)
Middle class
(3,00,000-8,50,000 INR p.a.)
Emerging middle class
(1,50,000-3,00,000 INR p.a.)
The ‘excluded’—low income, rural,
financially less literate, etc.
(1,50,000 p.a. INR)
Upwardly mobile
middle class
Personaland
specialrelationship
managers
Agentassistedwith
digitisedprocesses
Multi-channel:
Agentsales
withonlinesupport
Multi-channel:
Primarilyonlinewithagentsuppot
Different channels for efficiently catering to
various income segments2
10. 10 PwC
Crowdsourced and open source technologies
can drastically cut the costs of development,
modification and upgradation. Internet businesses
like search engines and browsers have already
seen their share of open source solutions with
a large market share. Global examples of open
source developers in financial services include
Allevo, a Romanian company that has launched an
open source core banking transaction processing
software, and OpenGamma, a UK start-up that has
launched an open source risk analytics platform
for financial institutions.3
The latest evolution in
transaction processing technology comes from
bitcoin and its blockchain. The distributed ledger
accounting system of the cryptocurrency network
can form the backbone of future transaction
processing networks, eliminating the need for
central counterparties, concentration risks and
intermediary fees.
On the financial inclusion front, mobile-led
technologies are advancing rapidly in the wake of
increasing telecom and smartphone penetration.
Mobile-based customer interface and sales
platforms and alternative connective technologies
like NFC, ultrasound, and Bluetooth are enabling
providers to create specific use cases for customers.
Analytics adds the next layer of innovation. Big
data technologies, machine learning and artificial
intelligence are beginning to be deployed globally
with increasing frequency, in order to understand
customers in greater depth and optimise
distribution formats and networks. For example,
wealth management stands to be disrupted by the
rise of ‘robo-advisors’ or autonomous AI-based
mobile applications that automate the process of
investment and portfolio management for the mass
affluent segment, largely eliminating the need for
relationship managers and branch infrastructure.
Thus, the confluence of software and hardware
innovations, flexible IT operating models, mobile,
internet and alternative connective technologies,
and analytics is likely to fundamentally alter the
financial services distribution paradigm.
11. Rethinking distribution: Smart solutions for smart customers 11
Demand-side trends:
The empowered customer
1. Mobile as a channel of delivery breaks barriers
of geography and physical presence.
The mobile phone has now become the primary
channel and point of contact with the consumer.
While one could begin to worry about the future
of mobiles as wearables or other technologies
disrupting this communication channel, in the
Indian context, it is safe to assume that the
mobile is here to stay as a delivery channel for
the foreseeable future. The anticipated use of the
mobile as a channel is primarily driven by changes
in consumer behaviour and preferences, shaped
by developments of the last decade in telecom and
the consumption of entertainment and commerce
over ubiquitous mobile phones. However, again,
given the size and diversity of India, the mobile
phone has greater relevance owing to the sheer
extent to which it acts as a substitute for lack of
physical connectivity. The other advantage of the
mobile is the ability for consumers to become
‘known’ even when they do not have formal literacy,
documents or other collateral. As formal financial
services suppliers struggle to balance regulatory
compliance on transaction monitoring with scale
and expansion, consumers’ constant connectivity
and willingness to engage on their mobile phones
will help break traditional barriers of geography
and physical connectivity.
2. The app-happy consumer is used to simple
design and direct communication and can learn
as they transact.
One of the primary barriers to inclusion has been
the lack of trust in financial products. While this
may result from episodes of market disruption for
the included, for the excluded, the sheer complexity
of the communication and product is the prime
culprit. Grasping the details of a basic loan,
investment products or credit cards requires a fair
amount of financial sophistication—for instance,
understanding commission structures and charges
for pre-payment. The problem of complexity is
often compounded by hidden fees and back-end
charges that hamper adoption.
However, with digital becoming the increasingly
popular media for sales initiation, simplicity in
products and transparency in charges are expected
to become a commonplace consumer expectation.
In their other facets of life, consumers, particularly
those using mobile phones, are responding
enthusiastically to the app-based delivery of
services, intuitively learning and responding
to simplicity of design and communication by
accepting the alternatives that work and rejecting
many that do not. As the potential of this learning
behaviour becomes obvious to providers, financial
literacy is expected to improve consistently as
consumers transact, borrow or invest.
Many global fintech providers have differentiated
themselves from large institutions through
promises of transparency and great consumer
experience. Financial institutions, particularly the
new digital entrants, will have the opportunity to
build upon similar solutions within the regulated
framework, even as traditional players look to
enhance their digital capabilities to match up. Tech
entrants in payments and financial services are
already introducing intuitive and simple product
features like one-click payments, or one-tick
check boxes for travel insurance products, that are
becoming popular with consumers. This trend will
gather greater momentum with the proliferation of
smartphones and increase in data usage.
12. 12 PwC
3. E-commerce and use of social media
are rewriting the rules of engagement
for consumers.
In India, e-commerce has increasingly become a
defining force of customer experience. Consumers
are quickly getting used to being pampered by
e-commerce players as well as other service
providers who are using digital technologies to
enhance and differentiate themselves largely on
the basis of customer experience. Customers are
beginning to expect similar differentiation in the
delivery of financial services. Of the Internet users
in India, 56% use WhatsApp every day, 51% use
Facebook and an additional 28% use Facebook
Messenger every day.4
Combined with the market
potential of Twitter, Snapchat and Instagram, which
are becoming increasingly popular in India, social
media is clearly emerging as a popular channel for
the instant dissemination of information for most
financial products.
The power of social media as a channel for
customer acquisition is undeniable in India,
and large banks and financial institutions are
successfully experimenting with platforms for
social media payments, game-based insurance
applications, and interactive wealth management
and investment apps for the middle-class digitally
savvy population. With ‘click-bait’ advertisements,
social media channels have the ability to catch a
target audience’s interest, create awareness and
lead to conversion.
Social media also has tremendous power as a
forum for the instantaneous redressal of customer
grievances. The viral nature of the platform allows
any unattended complaint to cause severe damage
to the brand. Innovative solutions aggregating
customer feedback and grievances across websites
like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Snapchat
help service providers remain on top of customer
service and revolutionise the after-sales customer
experience.
While all this is truly exciting, the underlying
consumer behaviour that requires attention is the
shift in the way trust structures and society work.
Normal, non-commercial people are opening their
doors to complete strangers to come and stay with
them through websites like CouchSurfing or Airbnb.
Further, anyone can double up as a taxi driver,
restauranteur, or dance or yoga instructor without
going through the traditional brick-and-mortar
institution that provided space and authorisation
for such bringing together of suppliers and buyers
of services. It is possible that, buoyed by the
information at their command and their ability
to penalise service providers for malpractices by
simply calling them out on social media (the more
instant equivalent of the traditional withdrawal
of licenses after interminable regulatory and
judicial processes), new consumers are willing to
experiment. For financial services distribution, this
should be good news. However, the supreme reality
of intermediation between savers and investors
is a matter of systemic risk .Eventually regulation
will call for careful picking and choosing from
many of these fashionable trends. Crowdfunding
and bitcoins are good examples of the complexity
of these market opportunities and the regulatory
concerns that need to be balanced.
14. 14 PwC
In post-independent India, development of banks,
capital markets and insurance has taken place via
nationalisation and large-scale policy interventions. The
timing, pattern and intensity of these interventions have
varied across the different sub-sectors within financial
services. For example, insurance was nationalised
in 1956 and 1963, banks in 1969, and mutual funds
emerged with the creation of UTI in 1963 and the entry
of PSU funds in 1987. The competitive landscape within
these sectors is also varied. LIC and UTI emerged as
monoliths in their sectors, while in banking, 26 public
sector banks emerged with SBI and its associates
occupying prime positions. The financial inclusion
agenda focussed on credit delivery, making banks pre-
dominant players in creating and growing distribution
networks.
Liberalisation of the Indian economy in the 1990s
opened the doors for private sector participation.
Banking and capital markets were opened up in 1993,
but the opening of insurance took another six years
till the creation of the IRDA. New regulators came into
being for securities, insurance and commodities markets
to regulate anti-competitive and monopolistic practices,
and each has taken upon the task of regulating their
sectors in right earnest, building upon some of the best
global practices and learning. Customer protection,
suitability and appropriateness, grievance redressal
norms for all market segments thus developed in
parallel or at different times and focussed on risks
in their respective segments. While the regulatory
framework was built around products, the market
was building itself around customers, trying to cater
to their needs and spanning across asset classes. This
was particularly pronounced during the 90s as the new
consumer was the archetypal salaried middle class with
predictable life cycle requirements of salary, savings,
investment, loan, mortgage, insurance, pension in order
to afford future housing needs, consumption, education
or retirement.
Current distribution architecture for
financial services may not be optimal.
The above mentioned developments and the entry of
global financial services giants in India (within the
somewhat restrictive or conditional rules of FDIs:
sectoral caps, rules for capitalisation and downstream
investments) resulted in a distribution architecture
for financial services. This has not only served the
needs of the consumer but also limited the penetration
of financial services to relatively small numbers. In
quantitative terms, banks, insurance companies and
mutual funds operate over 140,000 offices and work
through nearly three million agents. The predominance
of banks in the Indian financial system is not reflected
in their share of sourcing new financial services
businesses other than savings and credit, thus reflecting
the limitations of the cross-selling model across the
product classes. Just about 9.43%5
of new premiums
for life insurers are sourced through banks, and bank-
sponsored mutual funds account for about 17% of
AUM.6
Prima facie, there is scope for leveraging the
existing outreach of banks and improving cross selling,
leading to reduction in costs and increase in customer
choice.
2. Snapshot of distribution of financial
services in India
15. Rethinking distribution: Smart solutions for smart customers 15
Financial institutions Distribution channel
Insurance
Banks
9.43% of all new premium business sourced from banks
16.8% of MF AUM with bank-sponsored MFs
Mutual funds
and stock
exchanges
Branches
Corporate
agents
Brokers
Agents
689
20,904
363
2,188,550
Sales force
Sub-agents
Sub-brokers
Sub-agents
Branches
Off-site ATMs
125,857
92,588
Extension counters
ultra-small branches/
mobile branches
Agents
650,560
On-site ATMs
91,299
Offices
Brokers 11,502
1,593
363
239
Depository
participants
Investment
advisors
Sales force
Sub-brokers
44,540
Snapshot of the current distribution networks of key financial services providers in India7
16. 16 PwC
Preference for non-financial assets
remains sticky.
The good news is that India continues to remain an
economy with high savings rate, with gross domestic
saving being amongst the highest in the world at 29%
of the GDP (2014).8
The bad news is that the savings
through financial investments in India is one of the
lowest. The worse news is that preference for non-
financial assets is sticky and has not changed over
the years despite growth in the size of gross assets of
households. A survey on ‘How households save and
invest’ estimated that only 24.5 million households who
constitute about 11% of total households invest at all.9
A large portion of household savings are allocated to
physical assets like property and gold, and the share of
financial savings has largely remained constant over
time. Even within financial assets, the preference for
liquid bank deposits dominates investment decisions of
Indian households, with mutual fund, insurance and
pension penetration still in single digits.
Achieving better asset allocation will
present large opportunities.
Contrast India’s saving and investment with how the
world saves and manages its assets. India fares poorly
not only when compared to developed markets but also
when compared to China, Brazil or South Africa. For
Brazil and China, the ratio of financial assets to total
assets of households is between 40%-55%, while for
developed nations this can vary between 40%-70%.
Assuming that India aspires to emulate the US growth
path, there is a need to grow the share of financial
assets more than five times. India, like Indonesia,
seems to face structural barriers to distribution and
asset diversification. Significantly, low penetration
of financial assets in India may stem from the unique
combination of historical, developmental and
demographic reasons, but it is clear that this presents
large opportunities for markets and government. As
India grows and develops, the share of household
wealth allocated to financial assets can be expected to
increase.
Consumers will benefit from choice and
diversification of asset class.
Compositional changes in the allocation of financial
assets are almost a necessity for India. With the Indian
economy persistently facing funding gaps in critical
sectors, the additional influx of domestic sources of
capital into markets will be a necessary prerequisite
for sustainable and equitable growth. After analysing
comparative global economies, it can be seen that
economic growth involves an increasing allocation of
household financial wealth to market instruments other
than bank deposits. In advanced economies, the share
of market investments is nearly 60% of all household
financial assets. Contrast this with India where bank
deposits currently account for 70% of all financial
investments. It is clear that a major shift in household
investment choices is needed to calibrate financial
markets with India’s future growth path.
Financial assets Non-financial assets
1,195
1,047
148
2,228
1,947
281
3,848
3,307
541
2000 2005 2010
Growth of household assets in India10
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
India
Indonesia
Brazil
China
Malaysia
South Korea
South Africa
Germany
France
UK
Australia
USA
50,000 100,000 150,000 200,000 250,000 300,000 350,000
Financial wealth per adult (USD)
Financialassests
(%oftotalassets)
Financial assets share of wealth and financial
wealth per adult across key economies11
17. Rethinking distribution: Smart solutions for smart customers 17
For consumers, this shift should be good news as
it increases choices and presents opportunities for
diversification as well as optimising returns. In the risk-
reward trade off, bank deposits stand at the extreme
end of the spectrum despite being low on return post tax
and post inflation basis, owing to the minimal risk due
to deposit insurance.
New institutions should provide
choices; distribution will be pivotal
In ‘A hundred small steps: Report of the Committee
on Financial Sector Reforms’ (2008), the committee
proposed a departure from the credit-led inclusion
approach to a broad-based access to payment
services, savings, insurance products and inflation
protected pensions. The committee envisioned the
creation of specialised banks, a liberal bank licensing
regime, easing regulations on the use of business
correspondents and creating a liquid secondary
market for PSL assets. More recently, the Nachiket
Mor Committee Report established ubiquitous and
sufficient access to payments, savings, credit and
investment products as its core vision. To achieve this,
the Mor Committee Report proposed the creation
of a co-opetitive environment in which providers
are focussed on their competitive strengths while
leveraging partnerships and shared infrastructure to
provide comprehensive services to their customers.
The committee was built on the recommendations
of ‘A hundred small steps’ by proposing twin
differentiation–the creation of small finance banks and
a new specialised banking entity that will focus only on
payments and savings, i.e. payment banks.
The licensing of 11 payments banks and 10 small
finance banks in July and August 2015 respectively
is the culmination of the Mor Committee’s
recommendations on promoting differentiation, co-
opetition and ubiquitous access. This will release a large
number of distribution touchpoints across the country.
The small finance bank licensees, for example, are
geographically distributed evenly across the country
and have a cumulative customer base of 9.8 million
serviced through 2,501 branches.
Mutual funds
penetration
(AUM/GDP)
Bank deposit
penetration
(Deposits/GDP)
Bank credit
penetration
(Credit/GDP)
Insurance
(Insurance
premium/
GDP)
7%
68%
Retail investor
equity holding
(% of listed equity)
Pension
assets
(Pension
AUM/GDP)
Cash
transactions
(% of total
transactions)
52%
4% ~97%
1%
4%
Penetration of financial services in India12
Capital LAB
AUFin
Utkarsh
RGVN
Disha
Suryoday
EquitasJanalakshmi
Ujjivan
ESAF
Geographic
distribution
Capital LAB 0.321
Disha, 0.177
RGVN, 0.227
Suryoday, 0.562
ESAF, 0.602
AUFin, 0.3
Janalakshmi,
2.345
Utkarsh, 0.608
Ujjivan,
2.317
Equitas,
2.5
Customer base
(in millions)
38
71
104
145 160
220 234
255
423
455
Branch network (actuals)
Geographic outreach, customer base and branch
networks of small finance bank licensees13
18. 18 PwC
Payments bank licensees have even greater national
presence and outreach. The four telecom networks
alone have 628 million customers, which is greater
than the banked population in the country. Post
Bank’s network of 154,882 offices is greater than the
entire extant bank branch network. In terms of digital
outreach, Paytm claims to have 100 million transacting
users on its marketplace and wallet, which is a larger
customer base than most of the largest banks.
Increase in the number of players and
distribution points will solve some
issues while some may still remain.
1. Financial awareness and trust
While public sector banks enjoy widespread trust,
particularly amongst rural populations, majority of
Indians remain wary or are unaware of investment
products and insurance. The new payments and
small finance banks are established players in their
markets and enjoy widespread brand recognition
and levels of trust. It can be hoped that they are
able to leverage this and extend it to their banking
businesses as well while building upon partnerships
with existing institutions to bring about gradual
change in customer outlook, perception and uptake.
In a pessimistic scenario, any disruption may
create further damage to the trust and therefore
innovation and aggression will need to match wits
with prudence and sensitivity to the nature of this
new consumer.
The proliferation of mass media and recent memory
of high profile cases of fraud, mis-selling and money
laundering in the financial services will pose key
challenges to the market.
2. Low viability of agent networks
Poor incentive structures and asymmetries in the
principal agent model have rendered bank agents
financially unviable. A 2013 study by CGAP called
‘National Survey of Branchless Banking Agents
in India’ reports only 24% of BCs as satisfied
with their level of remuneration. The study also
provides evidence to support the theory that the
primary reasons for becoming a BC is still social
rather than pecuniary. Cross selling remains low
for business correspondents with account opening
and G2C services generating the largest volume
of sales and transactions. Investment products are
virtually absent and insurance sales are declining.
The study concludes that the viability of bank agent
networks in India was a pressing issue and that
prolonged usage of the BC channel was unlikely
to promote financial inclusion substantially. It will
be important for new banks to find models and
incentive structures that adequately remunerate
agents and complement inherent social motivations
628.8
147
108
3.75
Telcos National financial
institutions
Payment players NBFCs
Customer base (in millions)
Payment bank licensees’ customer base and
outreach14
Airtel Idea
VodafoneTelenor
Jio
Pan-India
telcos
India Post NDSL
Combined
network
of 172,507
CSPs
Chola Tech Mahindra1,658
branches
Paytm FINOFINO:
28,520 CSPs
19. Rethinking distribution: Smart solutions for smart customers 19
to become a bank agent, thereby increasing the pool
of potential bank agents substantially. Licensees
also have the added advantage of large existing
distribution networks, for which the banking
business will add another layer of complexity and
costs, but also potential revenues. It will also be key
to retention and productivity in the likely scenario
of a war for distribution between existing and
new banks.
Low viability of agents drives attrition in
financial services networks, which is the highest
in comparable large industries, at over 70%
for insurance and about 34% for banks. Agent
replacement and retraining costs, combined
with disruptions in customer service, are a major
challenge to moulding a sustainable agent network.
Promoters of new banks come from industries
operating largely through agents and have
greater experience of acquiring, managing and
incentivising agents to remain with their principals.
Leveraging lessons from across successful
consumer facing industries will be key to bottom
line optimisation.
3. Infrastructure and connectivity
The quality and reliability of physical and digital
infrastructure, transport, communication and
utilities services in India has been a key impediment
to experimenting on distribution formats.
According to the Global Competitiveness Report
2014-2015 by the World Economic Forum, India
ranked 87 out of over 140 countries on quality
of infrastructure in 2015. New banks will have
to contend with disruption from power outages,
inaccessibility to the Internet and poor physical
connectivity.
4. Tax incentives and disincentives
A large part of the battle against physical assets
has to be fought through fiscal measures. India’s
preference for gold is cultural to a large extent
and provides savers the smartest and most liquid
alternative at a micro level. However, the data
provides good reason to believe that high gold
consumption is not all cultural but also related to
the utility of gold as a lucrative way to legitimise
undisclosed wealth. Similarly, while preferences
for real estate is part rational and cultural, arising
out of demographic shifts, nuclear families, and
its ability to protect and grow savings and create
revenue streams, real estate is also a major store-
value for unaccounted wealth. These issues will
remain beyond the control of the markets and
policy solutions will be needed to address them and
provide tailwinds to rational allocation of assets,
increasing consumer choice, and growth of the
market.
21. Rethinking distribution: Smart solutions for smart customers 21
With market developments discussed in this report, we
believe that the distribution architecture will change,
and with it, the macro picture on asset allocation and
consumer choice will also change. There is likely to be
a two-way causality here as both factors influence each
other and create momentum. Global examples included
in this report point to the way forward for India’s
financial services. However, we have to bear in mind
that Indian distribution architecture, with low legacy
issues, may also leapfrog and innovate ways to reach
out to hitherto excluded segments of the market, and
we may see uniquely Indian distribution innovations in
times to come.
This process will be supported by the convergence of
policy preference for diverse asset classes, regulatory
activism driving inclusion from all regulators, and also
some proactive or reactive measures to address issues
that have persisted in the Indian financial markets. A
discussion of some of these trends is outlined below:
1. Uniform customer protection framework
The parallel development of a product centric
customer protection framework has been a major
regulatory barrier to cross leverage financial
networks and create a unified distribution
platform. This has been the case despite regulators’
views on customer protection being largely in
sync. The FSLRC report, released in April 2013,
envisaged an overhaul of the existing legal and
regulatory architecture for financial services
in the country. The report proposed a sector
neutral, principle-based approach to consumer
protection, emphasising fundamental guarantees
to consumers, such as protection against unfair
contracts, unfair conduct, data privacy and fair
disclosure. Providers were required to exercise
professional diligence and an FRA was proposed
to resolve consumer complaints. Interestingly, the
report identified the consumers’ right to receive
suitable advice and providers’ obligation to ensure
‘suitability’ of financial products. The increased
burden of compliance and disclosure on providers
was to be in proportion to the envisaged benefits
to consumers, and competition and innovation
concerns were to be balanced against incremental
consumer protection measures.
Objectives Principles Regulatory framework
Preventive framework Curative framework
• Protecting and furthering the
interests of consumers of financial
products and services
• Promoting public awareness in
financial matters
Protections available
to consumers
• Level of protection to a
customer and responsibility
of the financial services
provider to depend on
sophistication of customer,
nature and degree of risk
involved, dependence of
customer on financial
services provider
• Consumer to take reasonable
responsibility for decisions
• Obligations imposed on
financial service providers
to be proportionate to
expected benefits
• Barriers to competition from
adverse regulation to be
minimised; prevalence of
competitive neutrality
• Need to promote, not hamper,
innovation in and access to
financial products and services
Basic protections for all consumers:
• Financial services providers to act
with professional diligence
• Protection against unfair
contract terms
• Protection against unfair conduct
• Protection of personal information
• Requirement of fair disclosure
• Redress of complaints by the
financial service provider
Additional protections for
retail consumers:
• Right to receive suitable advice
• Protection from conflict of interest
of advisors
• Access to redress agency
Consolidated non-sector specific financial consumer protection framework
• Advisory council on consumer protection to aid each regulator
• Redress agency’s board to consist of chairperson and four
other members appointed by regulators through a selection
process and one official to be nominated by each regulator
• Agency to be funded by the central government; standard
and complaint fees
• Technologically modern organisation
• Permitted to open offices anywhere in the country, expected
to be present in each district
Subordinate
legislation
Redress agencyFSAT
FS regulatorCCI
Mediation
unsuccessful
Feedback on
regulations
Consultation, review and reference
Complaint
received and
screenedWider definition of consumer without reference to
legal status or purpose of use, with special provisions
for retail consumers and enterprises
3. Addressing operating challenges and
paving the way forward
22. 22 PwC
While the draft IFC is yet to be implemented, the
Ministry of Finance and financial sector regulators
have pressed ahead with implementing their non-
legislative recommendations. A slew of regulatory
measures targeted at enhancing consumer
protection, improving disclosure, transparency and
incentives of distribution networks and liberalising
operating models have ensued.
Following the Mor Committee Report, RBI notified
a consumer code of rights, reemphasising the
primacy of ‘suitability’ and ‘appropriateness’ to
be adopted by banks. BC regulations and branch
banking guidelines were liberalised to permit
greater operational flexibility to banks. In the wake
of a high profile case of fraud and mis-selling, a
set of draft guidelines on wealth management and
distribution of third-party products was notified,
which proposed tough checks on banks’ permitted
distribution models and products. SEBI recently
announced a comprehensive regulatory framework
for investment advisors and through the industry
body and SRO-AMFI, discouraged aggressive
incentive structures for mutual fund distributors.
Similarly, IRDA and PFRDA have tightened the
framework for corporate agents, brokers and
distributors.
Changes to the consumer protection framework are
not restricted to the financial services sector alone.
In the light of the growing role of e-commerce
and electronic distribution and marketing, a
draft Consumer Protection Bill, 2015, has been
introduced in the parliament. The Bill envisages
establishing clear rules governing mediation
and settlement of disputes, liability sharing and
obligations of parties transacting over digital
networks.
India is gradually moving towards a unified
customer protection framework (across regulators
and legislators) built on the principles of sector
neutrality, appropriateness and reasonable
distribution of responsibilities between providers
and customers. However, the presence of a large
unbanked population and unsophisticated users
implies that the weight of obligations on providers
will be much higher than in a developed economy.
2. Use of technology for identification,
authentication and tracking to reduce friction
Among various rigidities that impede the uptake of
financial services, lack of adequate documentation
and data for identification and authentication is
perhaps the stickiest of challenges.
The new ecosystem will see this friction being
reduced with market players leveraging various
tools including eKYC using Aadhaar and Digital
India initiatives, such as digital lockers and
e-signatures that are API-enabled. Data available
through multiple independent proofs is currently
housed by different institutions which do not
connect with each other for data sharing. Securities
markets have already moved to the common KYC
framework, and current regulatory focus is on
creating this as a pan-market database for KYC
documentation. This will eliminate unnecessary
duplication of documents, paperwork and effort
in establishing the identity of an individual or an
entity. Policy initiatives like eKYC and Digital India
can facilitate electronic sharing of KYC information
for verification, paving the way for common KYC
databases.
Using digital risk management frameworks make
providing financial services faster, cheaper and
more efficient. With digital records of insurance
history, credit history and cash flow history, the
providers and their channels can determine which
product is suitable for the customer. Selling will
then become more targeted, which will make it
easier to close a sale.
3. Clarity on regulatory frameworks for digital
channels and innovation in distribution
The digital marketplace model of distribution, first
widely seen in e-commerce, is rapidly spreading
to other businesses, including the financial
services. Customers can now compare, review
and buy insurance policies, subscribe to mutual
funds, and apply for credit cards and loans on a
variety of websites. Financial services providers
are also increasingly sourcing customers through
digital channels—ICICI reported that 38% of its
23. Rethinking distribution: Smart solutions for smart customers 23
incremental retail term deposits were sourced via
digital channels;15
HDFC reported that 63%16
of
customer transactions were initiated online; while
Citibank reported that 40% of its customer base
actively used mobile channels and 50% actively
used Internet banking.17
Regulators acknowledge the benefits from digital
channels to customers via increased transparency
and availability of information, essentially acting
as a powerful customer protection and awareness
tool. Digital is also a powerful market force
driving providers to enhance and innovate on
their customer protection frameworks—in the
age of social media, price comparison, review
websites and digital marketing, the exponential
spread of information on digital networks will be
a major driver of brand value for financial services
providers—something other retail segments like
FMCG and e-commerce learned early on in their
digital transformation. Compliance and disclosure
requirements are also better addressed on digital
platforms, and do away with much of the cost
associated with a physical network and paper trail.
Internet-based businesses continue to be regarded
with a certain amount of scepticism and caution
by policymakers across the world despite the
attendant benefits, because while benefits come
early, risks hit late, and hard. The regulation of
marketplaces and digital distribution channels
has, therefore, been a work in progress in most
parts of the world. In India too, regulators have
issued concept papers or guidelines, but much of
this requires greater clarity as well as integration
between different regulators. As the market unifies
customer experience, it is important that regulators
close in on the siloed product-based regulation. For
example, IRDA notified rules for web aggregators
in 2013 and upgraded them in 2015—the rules cap
the volume of permissible business through the
aggregator, place significant training requirements
on staff, impose minimum capital requirements,
and restrict the use of outsourcing and contract
employees. In 2014, SEBI issued a consultation
paper on digital crowdfunding platforms in
which it proposed limiting the hosting of new
marketplaces to accredited entities with SEBI—like
depositories and stock exchanges—a move that
elicited much criticism from industry. As RBI has
not issued rules governing the activities of loan
marketplaces, ambiguities continue to plague such
innovation and the memory of MFI’s experience
with state moneylending guidelines looms large.
Guidelines for banks on Internet banking, mobile
banking, ATMs and WLAs limit the extent of
services and additional revenue streams these
channels could potentially leverage. These channels
may, for example, only exhibit ads of the parent
bank, precluding an essential characteristic of a
marketplace.
Given that India has already brought in proactive
payments regulation and licence payments banks,
it is hoped that a similar response to digital
aggregation and distribution will also emerge,
sooner rather than later.
24. 24 PwC
The way forward: Policy tailwinds and global best practices to drive market
innovation and expansion
As Indian financial services enter this exciting phase of building for the future, they may do well to learn from innovative
solutions playing out across the world. Globally, in order to increase usage of payments, savings, credit and insurance,
several technology-based solutions have achieved early success in reaching underserved consumers with successful
products.
1. Alipay: Small businesses and low-income households as key drivers
India’s underpenetrated market for formal financial services is comparable with China in the early 2000s, where SMEs
and individuals were primarily using informal finance. With economic growth, spread of mobile and Internet usage, and
innovative saving solutions for households and small businesses, adoption of digital financial products such as payments,
savings, mutual funds and loans increased significantly in the last two decades.
=
520 billion USD transactions,
which is greater than the
combined volume of transactions
at eBay and Amazon.
Alipay has the largest
market share of digital
payments in China ~ 50%
Population of the
United States
of America
300-320 million
registered users in China
+ 17 million overseas in
the first 10 years
Alipay captured the imagination of the Chinese customers and small enterprises through its platform
for digital payments, savings and credit.
• Alibaba launched this platform in 2004
• Empowered Chinese SMEs in the global and domestic market
• Alipay’s saving instrument tapped into the savings culture in China
Case study 1
Market and
ecosystem
conditions
The banking sector in China has been driven by state-owned banks. The People’s Bank of China is the
largest bank in China and also operates as their treasury. Policy and regulatory constructs did not favour
small businesses and households. Despite that, the economic boom in China in the 1980s-2000s created
a vibrant SME sector. Customer protection laws in China were weak and, hence, the formal financial
institutions did not provide products targeted at small businesses and households. One prominent
exception to the Chinese growth story was the famous liquidity crunch faced by Chinese banks in 2013.
Liquidity crisis in the Chinese economy created an opportunity for shadow banks.
The Chinese were a saving society, where credit cards could not make much headway. There was a
tendency to not buy something if there was no money for it. Since they usually used hard-earned savings
for their purchases and transactions, they were generally distrustful of delivery channels and products
that they could not touch and feel. Additionally, they wanted returns out of all their transactions.
What Alipay
did differently
Alipay already had critical mass in terms of ecommerce customers who used the wallet for paying on
Alibaba, TaoBao and T-Mall. These customers already had money on their wallets for payments, bill
processing and phone expenses besides their e-retail.
Alipay’s true innovation in terms of channel utilisation was to take the idle, non interest earning wallet
money and invest it. They created Yu’e Bao, which was a money market fund. Using the aggregated
sum and investing it when banks needed money allowed them to offer greater interest rates vis-à-vis
traditional instruments.
25. Rethinking distribution: Smart solutions for smart customers 25
With the diverse customer segments that Indian
financial services providers cater to, using a multi-
channel approach becomes imperative, but middlemen
inevitably increase the cost of delivery of services. An
example to observe is DirectAsia, one of Singapore’s
leading insurance providers, who removed middlemen
and, instead, employed effective use of multi-channels.
DirectAsia reduced prices, made underwriting quick
and let their customers customise their insurance. This
was achieved by deploying the direct-to-consumer
model and deployment over multiple channels (online,
call centres and physical offices).
17,000 claims fulfilled thanks to
highly trained staff enabling payouts
in a week
25-45% saving for
consumer due to direct
selling model
98% customer
satisfaction score
vs 71% industry
average
75,000 customers
served since its
inception
DirectAsia, an insurance company, used direct-to-consumer strategy that was deployed across multiple
channels to shake up the market.
• DirectAsia was launched in 2010 to deal with vehicle and travel insurance
• Lowered insurance pricing by removing the middleman
• Used multiple channels such as online, call centre and physical office
Using
45%
~
Case study 2
2. DirectAsia: Multi-channel and direct selling to reduce cost
Market and
ecosystem
conditions
The insurance industry relied on the tried and tested model of using agents for distribution of
products. This not only increased the cost of insurance products but also made the claims process very
cumbersome. The products were usually generic as customer feedback wasn’t reaching the insurance
company due to the extra layer of the agent being present.
What DirectAsia
did differently
DirectAsia reduced prices, made claims easy and empowered customers to pick and choose certain
aspects of insurance. This was achieved by deploying the direct-to-consumer model over multiple
channels (online, call centre and physical office), training employees and making customer service a
priority.
26. 26 PwC
It will be very interesting for providers to look towards
globally successful practices of bundling financial
products with high-utility non-financial goods. Bundling
of insurance products with telecom or remittance
services has succeeded in developing countries in Latin
America, Africa and Asia. EasyPaisa in Pakistan is one
such success story.
Case study 3
3. EasyPaisa: Bundling for successful relationship-building with consumers
113 million money transfers
totalling 3 billion USD in 2014
45% customers
are opting for other
financial services and
health insurance
60k outlets
across the country
13 million
customers served
since its inception
EasyPaisa, Telenor partnered with Tameer Microfinance Bank to become the largest branchless banking
service in Pakistan.
• EasyPaisa was launched in 2009 to cater to all telecom customers and not just Telenor customers
• Offered convenience in the form of branchless banking and differentiated accounts with an option to pay for more
• Offered additional financial services that piggybacked on remittances and recharges
45%
~
Market and
ecosystem
conditions
The Pakistani population is vast, and in rural areas of the country, deploying traditional bank
infrastructure was not appropriate due to the expense and lack of access to physical branches. 88% of
the Pakistani population does not have access to financial services. In 2010 there were only 16 million
bank accounts for a population totalling 180 million (CGAP, 2010).
What EasyPaisa
did differently
The careful selection and deployment of agents enable market capture. EasyPaisa also used the
piggyback strategy to deploy insurance initially at its own cost, which caught on, and now, close to 45%
of the customers use financial services other than the main product, which used to be recharges and
remittances.
27. Rethinking distribution: Smart solutions for smart customers 27
The future of financial services sector in India will be
defined by data analysis. Big Data mining is now being
used for generation of political data, macro-economic
predictions and social indicators. African service
providers like Jumo have used innovative data analytics
to offer financial solutions.
Case study 4
4. Jumo: Big Data is the big story
5 million loans disbursed
so far with an average value
of 200 USD
Non-performing loans
ratio due to technology
1 million/month
run rate of loans
11 million active
mobile wallets
since its inception
JUMO used other sources of data and created a market for micro loans leveraging on technology.
• Partnered with telecom players to offer borrowing and saving opportunities
• Uses a proprietary algorithm that has over 40k variables to pick best loan candidates
• Offered a digital ecosystem for payments and used agents for cash in and cash out
~
KENYA
UGANDA
TANZANIA
ZAMBIA
SOUTH AFRICA
4%
Market and
ecosystem
conditions
In Africa, due to its vast area, the market incumbents had a major challenge in providing infrastructure.
This meant that mostly the urban customers were banked and had access to financial services. Even
presently, formal banking penetration is extremely low and mobile wallets are the prevalent way of
depositing and transferring money.
What JUMO
did differently
JUMO partnered with telecom players to bring savings and credit products to consumers using a
proprietary algorithm with 40k variables. JUMO used a mobile wallet technology but created a digital
ecosystem with the help of agents to enable payments and create value for digital money.
28. 28 PwC
Abbreviations
AMFI Association of Mutual Funds of India
API Application programme interface
ATMs Automated teller machines
Aug August
AUM Assets under management
BCs Business correspondents
CCI Competition Commission of India
CGAP The Consultative Group to Assist the Poor
CII Confederation of Indian Industry
CRS Certified residential specialist
CSP Customer service point
eKYC Electronic Know Your Customer
FATCA Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act
FDI Foreign direct investment
FMCG Fast-moving consumer goods
FRA Financial Redress Agency
FS regulator Financial service regulator
FSAT Financial Sector Appellate Tribunal
FSLRC Financial Sector Legislative Reforms Commission
G2C Government-to-customer
GDP Gross domestic product
HNIs High net worth individuals
IFC International Finance Corporation
INR Indian national rupee
IRDA Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority
IT Information technology
KYC Know Your Customer
LIC Life Insurance Corporation of India
MF Mutual funds
MFI Micro Finance Institution
mn Million
NBFC Non-banking financial company
NFC Near field communication
p.a. Per annum
PFRDA
Pension Fund Regulatory and
Development Authority
PoS Point of sale
PPIs Prepaid payment instruments
PSL Priority sector lending
PSU Public sector unit
RBI Reserve Bank of India
RRBs Regional rural banks
SaaS Software as a Service
SEBI Securities and Exchange Board of India
SME Small and medium enterprises
SRO Self-regulatory organisation
UK The United Kingdom
USA The United States Of America
UTI Unit Trust of India
WLA White Label ATMs
29. Rethinking distribution: Smart solutions for smart customers 29
Endnotes
1
As of 2014. data for banks, FIs and NBFCs extracted from DBIE, RBI. Data for mutual funds taken from Statistical
Handbook, SEBI and AMFI. Data for insurance and pension AUM from the annual reports of IRDA and PFRDA
respectively.
2
PwC. ‘Profitable growth strategies for the Global Emerging Middle’.
3
Retrieved from Bankinnovation.net
4
TNS Global. Connected Life Study 2015. Retrieved from http://www.tnsglobal.com/press-release/new-social-
frontier-instant-messaging-usage-jumps
5
IRDA. Annual Report FY13-14
6
Association of Mutual Funds of India. (September 2015). Monthly AUM Statistics.
7
IRDA. Annual Report FY14; SEBI, Handbook of Statistics on the Securities Market, and RBI, Annual Report FY15
and Branch Banking Statistics.
8
World Bank
9
SEBI, NCAER. (July 2011). How households save and invest: Evidence from NCAER Household Survey
10
Credit Suisse Research Institute. (October 2014). Global Wealth Report 2014
11
Credit Suisse Research Institute. (October 2014). Global Wealth Report 2014.
12
Bank credit and deposits from DBIE, RBI; Mutual fund AUM from SEBI, AMFI; Insurance and Pension statistics
from Annual Reports of IRDA, PFRDA; Cash transactions from Master Card
13
Company annual reports, investor presentations and websites
14
Company annual reports, investor presentations and websites; Jio numbers not included as the company is yet to
launch operations; Paytm is a purely digital player with no current physical distribution network.
15
ICICI Bank. (September 2015). Presentation at Barclays Conference.
16
HDFC Bank. Investor presentation FY15
17
Rebello, J. (29 July 2015). Citibank sees ‘healthy growth’ in consumer banking in India. Live Mint. Retrieved from
http://www.livemint.com/Industry/Dg4IJzaINWXGt7hF4SwZCI/Citibank-sees-healthy-growth-in-consumer-
banking-in-India.html
18
Alibaba Group, 2010, ‘Alipay Surpasses 300 Million Registered Users Milestone’ http://www.alibabagroup.com/
en/news/press_pdf/p100314.pdf.
19
Qi, Leon, John Choi, and Liz Zeng, 2014, ‘China Financials And Internet Sectors’, Demystifying Internet Finance
Daiwa Capital Markets; http://asiaresearch.daiwacm.com/eg/cgi-bin/files/China_Financials_and_Internet_
sectors_140312
20
Direct Asia website: http://www.directasia.com/why-us/
21
Telenor Group. Q4/2014: Interim report, January–December 2014. Retrieved from http://www.telenor.com/wp-
content/uploads/2014/09/Telenor-Q4-report-2014-110215.pdf
22
CGAP. (2010). Regulation of Branchless Banking in Pakistan
23
Jumo. Retrieved from http://www.jumo.world/
30. 30 PwC
About CII
The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) works to create and sustain an environment conducive to the development of
India, partnering industry, Government, and civil society, through advisory and consultative processes.
CII is a non-government, not-for-profit, industry-led and industry-managed organization, playing a proactive role in
India´s development process. Founded in 1895, India’s premier business association has over 7900 members, from the
private as well as public sectors, including SMEs and MNCs, and an indirect membership of over 200,000 enterprises from
around 240 national and regional sectoral industry bodies.
CII charts change by working closely with Government on policy issues, interfacing with thought leaders, and enhancing
efficiency, competitiveness and business opportunities for industry through a range of specialized services and strategic
global linkages. It also provides a platform for consensus-building and networking on key issues.
Extending its agenda beyond business, CII assists industry to identify and execute corporate citizenship programmes.
Partnerships with civil society organizations carry forward corporate initiatives for integrated and inclusive development
across diverse domains including affirmative action, healthcare, education, livelihood, diversity management, skill
development, empowerment of women, and water, to name a few.
In its 120th year of service to the nation, the CII theme of “Build India- Invest in Development, A Shared Responsibility”,
reiterates Industry´s role and responsibility as a partner in national development. The focus is on four key enablers:
Facilitating Growth and Competitiveness, Promoting Infrastructure Investments, Developing Human Capital, and
Encouraging Social Development.
With 66 offices, including 9 Centres of Excellence, in India, and 8 overseas offices in Australia, Bahrain, China, Egypt,
France, Singapore, UK, and USA, as well as institutional partnerships with 312 counterpart organizations in 106
countries, CII serves as a reference point for Indian industry and the international business community.
Contacts
Kaushlendra Sinha
Regional Director
Confederation of Indian Industry (WR)
105 Kakad Chambers, 132 Dr A B Road
Worli, Mumbai - 400018
Phone: +91 22 24931790
Fax : +91 22 24939463 / 24945831
email : kaushlendra.sinha@cii.in
Sundeep Vachhani
Head-Major Conferences
Confederation of Indian Industry (WR)
105 Kakad Chambers, 132 Dr A B Road
Worli, Mumbai - 400018
Phone : +91 22 24931790
Fax : +91 22 24939463 / 24945831
email : sundeep.vachhani@cii.in
31. Rethinking distribution: Smart solutions for smart customers 31
About PwC India
Contacts
Shinjini Kumar
Leader, Banking and Capital Markets
PwC India
Email: shinjini.kumar@in.pwc.com
Phone: +91 22 6689 1277
Jamuna Rao Verghese
Senior Advisor, Financial Services
PwC India
Email: jamuna.r.verghese@in.pwc.com
Phone: +91 12 4616 9606
Team members
Anmol Soin
Youhan Noria
Aishwarya Agarwal
Radhica Kaushal
Vivek Pillai
Media
Nandini Chatterjee
nandini.chatterjee@in.pwc.com
+91 981 05 08447
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