TELECOM OPERATORS EXPECTED TO MAKE BANKING EASIER: NEW LOOK FOR BANKING

Mobile banking will soon be possible with a basic handset and without accessing the internet. The telecom regulator will soon ask telcos — many of which have been resisting for years — to enable bank-authorized mobile payment companies to offer such service. Telecom companies are expected to fall in line with local and international payment companies, including an associate company of Visa, lobbying with the regulator and the government for permitting them to tap the Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD) channel of telcos.

The USSD channel is a simple interactive text messaging system that can be used by a mobile phone subscriber to reach out to her bank for anything -- transfer funds, check balance amount, pay bills, cancel a cheque, request for a cheque book, obtain an account statement, and even buy books and music using debit or credit cards. Customers - without 2G or 3G connectivity or a smartphone - have to simply key in something like *67# -- or any other number a telco provides - to 'talk' to her bank.

According to a government official, "The Telecommunication tariff (fifty Sixth Amendment) Order, 2013 states that all telecom operators are 'obliged' to provide connectivity to any payment aggregator who has set up a USSD gateway. Therefore, Trai will ask the telecom operators to comply with it."

Given the growth in mobile subscriber base and that 75 per cent of users do not have a smartphone, the decision could increase bank penetration and customer convenience while lower cost for banks. Even though NPCI has the code and is ready to provide USSS based banking in Hindi and other languages, its non-profit character and limited budget has held it back from launching a large ad campaign and striking joint promotion deals with banks.

Visit us @www.urssystems.com

Read More

Platforms can fundamentally change the way Banks perform key functions

Platforms are pretty buzzy. The term is all over banking and technology, especially for core back office functions in risk and finance. Nearly every Tom, Dick, and Susie in vendor space uses the term “platform.”

But not all platforms are created equal, and some don’t even qualify as such. This isn’t just semantics; this definition matters. Platforms have powerful features that allow financial institutions to do things better, faster, and cheaper than ever before; the latest generation takes it to another level.

1. Adaptability is crucial in risk and finance applications. There have been a myriad of new demands over the past decade, and most financial institutions have struggled to keep up.

2. A real platform changes the eternal buy versus build question to “buy and build.” Yes, there’s an embedded assumption in this that financial institutions don’t build platforms. There are always exceptions, but in general the pressures facing internal IT departments are simply too great for them to build a real platform. 

3. A platform is built of components that allow for the creation of higher order software services that can be reused for different things across the enterprise. Rule engines, cashflow engines, workflow processing tools, and so on come together in a way that allows for customization as a core design principle. 

Read More