Cards & Payment Solutions Blog

Friday, March 3, 2017

Credit bureaus want payments banks to share transaction data: report

Credit information bureaus have asked the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to make payments banks members to that they can share data on transactions, reports Press Trust of India. Payments banks are not allowed to undertake any lending operations, Mohan Jayaraman, managing director of Experian Credit Information Company, believes the transactions which they undertake will help understand borrowers.
The report added that CIBIL, India’s largest credit information bureau, is in initial talks with the RBI to get payments banks to sign up.
Currently, there are four credit bureaus operating in India – High Mark, Expreian, CIBIL and Equifax. Credit information companies can collect all types of information (positive as well as negative) from their member credit institutions and disseminate the same in the form of credit reports to the specified users/individuals.
These were designed by the RBI to improve the quality of credit, reducing the transaction cost and improving the flow of credit to the SME sector. However, in recent times, they have been used to reduce the number of bad loans in the retail segment.
Kotak Mahindra Bank said the credit bureaus and a stable job environment has helped the bank in bringing down default rates in its unsecured loans and credit card portfolios, as indicated by this Economic Times report.
Recharge information used to build credit history
In Kenya, telecom operator Vodafone’s wallet service M-Pesa is used to build a credit history based on a user’s transactions. That reflects a customer’s ability to meet credit obligations. KCB Bank and Commercial Bank of Africa are already lending using M-Pesa score.
Similarly, payment gateway Citrus Pay keeps a track of user’s spends and underwrites transactions so that they can use the pay later option.
Equifax India acquired NettPositive, an analytics and business intelligence solutions company. NettPositive serves financial, insurance and retail businesses in India, Middle East and Africa, and Equifax used NettPositive’s expertise to increase its own market reach.

MoneyTap launches credit line app

Bengaluru-based start-up MoneyTap on Wednesday launched an app-based credit line as a facility for consumers to borrow money up to Rs.5 lakh or even as little as Rs.3,000 at low interest rates for flexible tenure.

“The “Credit Line” means that bank will issue a limit of upto Rs5 lakh, without any collateral or charging any interest,” MoneyTap said in a statement.

The fin-tech start-up said that these loans can be repaid in equated monthly instalments (EMIs) over a period of two months to three years.

The company has partnered with banks such as RBL Bank to facilitate credit line services and claims it to be the first such service in India. The app is available for all salaried employees across metro cities and plans to expand in other cities in the next few months. The company plans to partner with other banks as well.

The rate of interests for loans vary from 1.25 -1.5% per month and the app has a set-up fees of Rs.499-plus taxes to be paid to the bank.

To avoid creating a credit bubble, the customers willing to take a loan will need to be qualified to apply for a loan and the approval for sanctions will come from banks after verification of identity and other details.

“Customers can ship online or swipe at a store, one tap to transfer money to the account instantly, 24x7; they can covert card spends to EMIs,” the company said.

From the banks’ perspective, these loans will be unsecured advances and will help widen the customer base by extending smaller loans.

http://www.livemint.com/Industry/OVN6xW4oqv4jxj2ocY9n1I/MoneyTap-launches-credit-line-app.html

What a personal loan costs you...Mint Article

SBI Card says note-ban pushes up spends by 30%

The second largest credit card player SBI Card today said post-noteban, the total spends on its cards have increased by 25-30 per cent, despite fall in certain segments like fuel, jewellery and other discretionary spending. “Total spending on our cards increased post- demonetisation by 25-30 per cent. But in some categories like fuel, jewellery and discretionary spending came down,” SBI Card chief executive Vijay Jasuja told reporters here today.

SBI chairman Arundhati Bhattacharya chipped in saying pre-demonetisation SBI Cards were getting 65 per cent of transactions on cards and after demonetisation it has been 85 per cent. So, in a span of 50 days we have seen a rise of 50 per cent. In November, spends had actually declined but the number of transactions went up. But then, subsequently in December it picked up again as there was 35-50 per cent increase in number of transactions during the month, he added.
With a little over 15 per cent market share, SBI Card is the second largest player in the 27.3 million credit cards market. Jasuja said he has 4.75 million credit card users. He said in December alone, SBI Card issued 1,05,000 new cards. Normally, 35-40 per cent is the attrition. So, net- addition was 65,000 in December.
In the past few months, the company was adding upwards of 1,00,000 cards per month. One year back it was around 65,000 and two years ago it was 40-45,000 a month. In the past two months consistently they have crossed 1,00,000, he added.

http://www.financialexpress.com/india-news/sbi-card-says-note-ban-pushes-up-spends-by-30/510650/

SBI Card’s monthly credit card issuances see 20% rise

State Bank of India’s (SBI) credit card arm — SBI Card — has seen close to 20% rise in monthly credit card issuances following demonetisation, and has 4.75 million cards at the end of December.
In December alone, SBI issued 1.15 lakh new cards. “We have been issuing more than 1 lakh cards per month in the last couple of months and issuances were at 85,000 cards per month before demonetisation,” said Vijay Jasuja, CEO, SBI Card. If the 35-40% attrition is taken into account, then net issuances per month were at 65,000 cards.
SBI chairman Arundhati Bhattacharya, who was present at the event, told reporters that demonetisation has given a big fillip to the card business. “We believe that if we continue with this kind of effort of putting more and more of our transactions online then it would do well for the card business,” she said on the sidelines of the launch of its co-branded cards with Future Group-owned Central outlets.

Bhattacharya said the bank is willing to allow cash at point-of-sale (PoS) terminals to any merchant who wishes to deploy the service. At present, the bank offers it to merchants such as the Future Group, petrol pump dealers and to its banking correspondents.
“Actually this is very useful as a person who is at a store to buy something does not need to go elsewhere for a small sum of cash,” she said, adding that the merchant also does not need to deposit the money in the bank and it gets recycled within the store.
“So for the banks too it becomes another outlet for cash,” Bhattacharya said. At the end of October 2016, the total number of credit cards in India was 27.34 million.

http://www.financialexpress.com/market/sbi-cards-monthly-credit-card-issuances-see-20-rise/510741/

Monday, December 5, 2016

9 of the Most Beautiful Brand Identities in Banking: IDFC Bank-one among these....

hey say the clothes don't make the man. That may be true, but most guys aren't going to get a date if they look like a slob. The same goes for brand identities. If your financial institution looks sad, frumpy, crusty and disheveled, you aren't going to make the right impression on consumers. You need to project the right image — one that is both contemporary and professional.

By Jeffry Pilcher, CEO/President & Publisher of The Financial Brand

n the Digital Age, a bank or credit union with an old, dated brand identity can’t compete. You can’t convince anyone your institution is tech savvy if your brand image screams “1980s.” Consumers today want to do business with financial institutions that are hip and innovative — banking providers that aren’t stuffy and traditional. You can leverage your brand identity to convince consumers that banking doesn’t have to be a boring chore.

Make no mistake: your financial institution’s brand identity is one of the most powerful (if not subtle) weapons in your marketing arsenal. Do not underestimate the impact your brand identity has — whether positive or negative — on people’s perceptions… and your bottom line.

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