Combat Volatility like a pro with Mahindra Manulife Arbitration Yojana mutual fund

Who would have thought that a majority of Indian PSU banks would be trading below Rs 50? Who would have predicted that Pharma shares would be touching sky high within a few months? There were only a few market gurus who could predict the unprecedented move of RIL in just 50 days. Analysing our sensitive stock market in tough especially in the unprecedented & unseen times like these. But investing must not stop as Ups & Downs are a part of our lives as well as markets.

Market analysts rely on INDIAVIX index during such strange times. Basically its an index which charts the future trajectory of the market cycle. When the lockdown was announced, the INDIAVIX index jumped from 10 to 80 within a fortnight. As they say, only 5% of investors make the most of such occurrences and the rest 95% end up losing their hard earned money. The damage was such that most investors even today think twice before averaging their pre-covid investments. People who traded each minute, each day during the market hour were afraid to check their trading portals.

It’s funny when they say, “When the bulls climb they take the stairs & when the bears fall they jump through the window”. The general perception was so skewed that when the market media cried a No Buy on a certain stocks and funds there were investors who took a leap of faith & made it big!

Are you aware that there is a mutual fund which can make money on both rise and fall of the market cycle? Mahindra Manulife Arbitrage Yojana is an open ended scheme for investment in arbitrage opportunities available in equity, derivatives, debt and invIT markets. Arbitrage Mutual Funds are moderately low risk investment that can generate you an income through arbitrage opportunities in cash and derivative segment. Volatility gives an investor more opportunity in cash & futures/options market. Arbitrage Mutual Funds though they invest in equity are generally considered as safe investment pick and investors making loss in this kind of investment is yet unheard of.

Depending the upon the market conditions, Mahindra Manulife Arbitrage Yojana can hedge the risk by switching between Debt & Equity investment. At times a stock is available at different prices in two exchanges. For instance, stock A is trading at Rs 1000 on NSE & Rs 950 on BSE at the same time, then the spread of Rs 50 between both exchanges acts as your profit.

Another strategy that is often used by fund managers is cash & carry arbitrage. For example, buy stock B at Rs 1000 in spot market and sell the same contract of stock B in futures market at Rs 1020 with a lock-in profit of Rs 20. It is one of the least volatile hybrid schemes that is suitable for investment across market cycles.

What differentiates Mahindra Manulife Arbitration Yojana from other liquid funds is that when you exit the fund, the credit is reflected in your account the very next day. Being an equity based fund hybrid arbitrage mutual fund, the market position gets closed immediately giving investors an instant margin facility. The scheme offers better tax efficiency on returns compared to other short-term debt funds. Also, there’s no exit load after the period of 30 days.

It’s a win-win-win situation wherever the market heads. Mahindra Manulife Arbitration Yojana is best suited for investors who are looking out for Short Term investment parking pool with investment period varied from 1 month to 6 months.

The NFO opens for subscription on August 12 and closes on August 19. The scheme will reopen for continuous sale and repurchase from August 25.

Investors can invest online in the scheme from here.

Mahindra Manulife Arbitration Yojana MF scheme details

Fund House: Mahindra Manulife Mutual Fund

Issue opens: 12 August 2020

Issue close: 19 August 2020

MF category: Hybrid

Type: Open ended

Minimum Investment: Rs 1,000

Exit Load: Nil, after 30 days.

Plans: Growth, Dividend

Benchmark: Nifty 50 Arbitrage Index TRI

Riskometer: Moderately Low

Fund Managers: Srinivasan Ramamurthy & Rahul Pal

Disclaimer: Investment subject to market risk. Please consult your financial advisor before investing.

Indiabulls Shubh trading app offers ‘Truly Unlimited Plans’ for new-age investors.

India’s economy and its bustling stock market have witnessed a phenomenal rise in the last decade. Such has been the success that many few would believe that BSE Sensex was trading below 10,000 points just 9 years back. With reforms at the fore-front agenda, World Bank predicts that India’s economy is set to reach $5 trillion by 2025. Most leading brokerage houses have a bullish outlook on Sensex and Nifty especially after the recent historic announcements on corporate tax by FM Sitharaman. We all will unanimously agree that stock market investments, be it equity or commodity, are one of the only few investment avenues which have the potential to beat ever-rising inflation.

The times they are a changin’! From floor-based trading to branch-based services and now trading on-the-go with smartphones. A data released by National Stock Exchange states mobile trading share has more than tripled to 10.7% as on August 2019 from 3.3% in April 2016. Catching the bandwagon, Indiabulls has launched Shubh – a mobile trading platform with subscription based plans for seamless trading experience. Indiabulls Ventures Limited is one of the earliest capital market company providing securities and derivative broking services.

Karo Shubh Se Shuruat!

Shubh trading app is the newest offering from Indiabulls Ventures Limited. The discount broking platform is India’s first truly unlimited trading platform with 'Subscription based' monthly pricing options. Shubh gives the customers a choice of monthly plans that suit their broking needs starting at ₹ 1000 where they can enjoy the benefit of 0*% brokerage on both Intraday and Delivery. No need to panic on the asterisk (*) symbol, as Shubh charges maximum ₹ 0.01 brokerage per order as per SEBI rules.

Indiabulls Shubh is basically the ‘Netflix of Trading’. Once the investor is on-board and subscribed, the platform offers a transparent trading experience like never before at fixed rates. Many may not know this, but the volume of ‘Buy Today and Sell Today Tomorrow’ trades is such that several investors end up paying brokerage value amounting in thousands in just single trading day. By renewing subscription plan every month, investors can protect their capital from hefty brokerages and trade as much they want.

On plans onwards ₹ 2000 per month, Shubh trading app offers an attractive margin trading facility from ₹ 1 lakh to ₹ 50 lakh at 0% interest rate. Indiabulls Shubh is perfectly placed for new-age investors who trade in equity (NSE & BSE), futures & options (NSE F&O) and currency segments. The intraday exposure offered by Shubh is upto 4x in F&O, 5x in equity, and 4x for margin trading. As an introductory offer, the company has announced free trading for the first 30 days with no subscription charges for new customers. The one time account opening charges of Shubh is just ₹ 500 inclusive GST. Existing 7.1 lakh Indiabulls clients can also enjoy the benefits of the new plan by upgrading their current one.

Trading Made Easy

Indiabulls Shubh trading app is available on both Android and iOS platform. For the ease of trading, investors can execute trades at a lightning fast speed on app, web and on desktop. If in a hurry, no worry! Users can even place trading orders on the phone at no additional charges. The Shubh app is built on the philosophy of speed, stability and simplicity.

With an enormous amount of data and continuous transactions, traders often complain of mobile app downtimes. This is unique to sentimental capital markets like India. Be it budget, government policy, US fed, or China- US trade war, the downtime of trading apps is a major issue where traders may potentially lose their hard-earned money. Unlike some newbies in the business, Indiabulls leverages its market experience of the past 20 years to offer seamless trading experience even during major events.

“Shubh’s subscription plans have been designed keeping in mind the needs of today’s new-age traders. We have built a clean, vanilla type of product where customers can trade through app, web, and even through calls with ease. We invite traders to experience our all new Shubh platform” - Divyesh Shah, CEO, Indiabulls Ventures Limited.

The Indiabulls Shubh app and web platforms offer an entirely online process for opening a Demat Account. Open the app, fill out the e-KYC details with e-signature Et Voila! Traders can further subscribe to monthly plans as per their needs.

Download the Indiabulls Shubh app from Play Store and Apple App Store and try it yourself!

Tamal Bandyopadhyay’s HDFC Bank 2.0 book narrates the Puri legacy.

Indian banking industry is not in the pink of health now but that’s largely the story of the government-owned banks. If we look at the private sector, barring a few odd banks which are not the best examples of corporate governance, over the last three decades, the industry has witnessed phenomenal growth with consumerism. The privitisation push in 1991 was a defining moment for the financial sector in India. What we have achieved today would not have been possible without India’s private sector banks like HDFC Bank. It is a child of economic liberalisation.

In the 1990’s, talking about banks as dinosaurs, Bill Gates of Microsoft famously said, “We need banking, but we don’t need banks anymore”. Three decades later, a bank is still relevant and will continue to do so if it’s willing to reinvent itself to be in sync with the changing milieu where it operates – by embracing digitalisation.

From a nimble start-up in 1995 to India’s most valuable banking brand, HDFC Bank has a made  gigantic strides into the world of digital banking under the leadership of Mr Aditya Puri. In a sector marred by controversies, Mr Puri has not just been the longest serving chairman of any bank globally but the face of a world class bank in India. Tamal Bandyopadhyay’s latest book “HDFC Bank 2.0: From Dawn to Digital” narrates this unique story of the  transformation of India’s most valued lender from a life cycle bank to a lifestyle bank. 

For starters, let me remind you that this book is not a sponsored project. It chronicles the HDFC Bank story warts and all. While highlighting the bank’s unique features, Tamal also criticises the unforgivable mistakes done by HDFC Bank during this journey through his unparalleled  writing skills. 

One of the key reasons why Indian banks were largely unaffected  during the Global Financial Crisis of 2009 was the fact that they were truly connected with their roots. During that  period, Mr Puri had guided HDFC Bank to add branches and ATM network in tier three cities and rural areas. The expansion drive created the credit card, auto and home loan boom. The book describes how  a bank reaching out to person for a loan – and not  the other way round - creates a new sense of trust in the aspirational class of India.

The era of Digital Disruption

Mr Puri believes that digitalisation and disruption are intertwined. Whenever there’s change, people tend to panic but if handled correctly, it can open up new beginnings. HDFC Bank saw this transformation ahead of others. During his Silicon Valley trip in 2014, Mr Puri saw how the fintech companies – the new kids on the  tech block – were venturing into fund transfers, mobile banking and shopping. They could build products that could give instant loan with slick user interface on their phones. Home grown fintech innovations like the United Payments Interface (UPI) were set to transform the way we Indians bank.

“Why don’t we disrupt ourselves instead of waiting to be disrupted by fintech companies? Why can’t we give a loan in 10 seconds? Why can’t we invent something to transfer money in just a click? HDFC Bank aspires to become a financial marketplace. It wants to be India’s Alibaba or Netflix when it comes to banking”. - Mr Aditya Puri, Chairman & Managing Director, HDFC Bank.

HDFC Bank first tied up with Chillr, an app which sends money over the phone using a UPI technology. A BharatQR code-based payments service named PayZapp is popular in many stores. The bank has also used AI for many applications like chatbots and social media interactions. Indigenously developed IRA robots have been deployed at several branches to solve customer queries. 

While adopting this technological shift, there were times when the bank failed on the customer front. For instance, the HDFC bank app crash in November 2018 became a hot topic in the media and  the bank was subjected to national outrage and ridicule. The book – “HDFC Bank 2.0: From Dawn to Digital” – clinically  chronicles the journey over the years.

About the book

Tamal Bandyopadhyay’s HDFC Bank 2.0: From Dawn to Digital is published by Jaico Publishing House. The book was launched by Rajnish Kumar, Chairman, State Bank of India at Nehru Centre, Mumbai. Aditya Puri, Managing Director, HDFC Bank Ltd  and many  luminaries in the financial services industry were present there. Tamal Bandyopadhyay is an author, columnist and keen watcher of banking and finance. His Banker’s Trust column, which now appears every Monday in Business Standard, is the most popular column on banking and finance with over half a million followers on the Linkedin platform.

“Tamal combines his financial knowledge, eye for detail, and an excellent storytelling style to create a vivid portrait of India’s most valued bank and its path to future” - Nandan Nilekani, Co-foundar & Chairman, Infosys & founding chairman of UIDAI, has written in his forward to the book.

HDFC Bank 2.0: From Dawn to Digital (ISBN: 978-93-88423-35-9) are now available at Crossword, Amazon, Flipkart and other leading book stores.

BSE launches 'BSE stAR MF' Android app for its mutual fund platform

BSE StAR MF, India's largest Mutual Funds Distributor platform, launched its mobile app - ‘BSE StAR MF’ at BSE International Convention Hall, Mumbai. The newly-launched app would look at enabling more participation from Mutual Fund Distributors (MFDs) by helping them process transactions on the go! The app would further ease the process of purchase and redemption of mutual fund units on behalf of their clients.

BSE StAR MF Mobile app supports real-time client registration and paperless transactions, creates and uploads mandate for SIPs, generates the basket of multiple of orders, tracks and allows the distributor to analyse his business at his fingertips.

In April 2019, the platform processed 42.6 lakh transactions. In FY2018-19, BSE StAR MF crossed 3.5 crore transactions witnessing 111% growth as compared to 1.70 crore transactions in FY2017-18.

Commenting on the launch of BSE StAR MF app, BSE MD & CEO, Ashishkumar Chauhan said, “BSE StAR MF platform has become a benchmark for the fintech industry in India by e-enabling more than 24,000 direct IFAs and 200,000 indirect IFAs to automate end to end processes in their front and back offices. The launch of the app would further provide the comfort of doing business to our 24,000 members. This app would not only increase their productivity, but would also enable IFAs to take their business anywhere, anytime. BSE StAR MF has seen more than 100% year on year growth every year for the last 10 years consistently. With the launch of the app, we look forward to help IFAs grow their business and retain the No. 1 position in the online MF distribution platform segment. This mobile application will also be provided to individual investors shortly.”

Overall, the superior support system and distribution reach of BSE StAR MF has enabled the platform to grow exponentially with the registered distributors soon to touch 24,000 in India. The launch of the StAR MF app is expected to further increase the number of distributors significantly. In the future, the app aims to support online video KYC to onboard new investors.  The BSE StAR MF app can be downloaded from the Google Play Store. Once the app is downloaded, the sign up can be done by providing the member identification number.

Source: Press Release.

TCS will digitally transform India Post's 1,50,000 post offices with ERP solutions.

Indian MNC Tata Consultancy Services has received an order to digitally transform India Post's 1,50,000 e-postal network with next-gen ERP solutions. TCS has partnered with the Department of Posts in its multi-year transformational journey to become a multi-service digital hub, modernize the delivery of mail and packages, enhance customer experience, and launch innovative services that will drive new revenues.

At the heart of this transformation is the Core System Integration (CSI) program designed and implemented by TCS. This involved deploying an integrated ERP solution that caters to mail operations, finance and accounting, and HR functions, and connects its vast network of more than 150,000 post offices, making this the largest distributed ePostal network in the world.

The integrated solution is built to cater to the Department’s immense scale, and future needs. It supports the HR needs of over 500,000 employees, services over 40,000 concurrent users, and processes over 3 million postal transactions a day, making this one of the largest SAP implementations in the world.

On the front-end, TCS has implemented its Point of Sale (PoS) solution across 24,000 post offices with over 80,000 PoS terminals, making this amongst the largest such implementations in the world. Additionally, TCS has built a web portal with consignment tracking capabilities, and set up a multi-lingual call center for customer support.

To enable India Post to benefit from the burgeoning ecommerce opportunity, while fulfilling a vital social obligation, the web portal has an e-marketplace to help rural artisans, self-help groups, and women entrepreneurs reach out to buyers throughout the country.

An important objective of the transformation is to use the Department’s nation-wide reach to drive financial inclusion and accessibility of citizen services in remote areas. This is being accomplished through over 130,000 DARPAN hand-held devices that Gramin Dak Sevaks use to provide postal, banking, insurance, and cash management services in remote villages, even those without network connectivity.

Salim Haque, Member, Postal Services Board, said, “A program of this scale, spread and complexity, required meticulous planning and adroit execution. The TCS team has shown sheer rigor, passion, dedication and attention to detail, which have been commendable. Their maturity in understanding the requirements of India Post has been par excellence, yielding a robust design, which makes the solution state-of-the-art and adaptable to future needs.”

Department of Posts is pioneering in an initiative to build a world class, future-ready digital platform that the nation can be proud of. With the implementation of Enterprise Resource Planning solutions, the department can offer smart postal services, enriched customer experiences, and innovative value-added services to the citizens of India.

"One Nation One Card" for Metro, Local Train, Buses across India. NPCI, CDAC and Bharat Electronics develop National Common Mobility Card.

National Payments Corporation of India, Centre for Development of Advanced Computing and Bharat Electronics Limited have jointly developed an intelligent transport system smart-card. In line with the spirit of 'One Nation', the smart card once recharged can be used anywhere on any metro system, suburban trains, and buses across India. At this moment, the Delhi Metro card cannot be used on AFC gates in Mumbai Metro. Similarly, Mumbai Metro, Monorail, Local trains and BEST buses issue different smart cards dedicated only for its respective ticketing service.

Soon, a Pan-India transport card will be made available for the common public. Such smart cards are operational in advanced city nations like Singapore and Hong Kong. Transport evangelists believe that other services like taxis and toll tax could also be linked on this National Common Mobility Card.

PM Narendra Modi launched today One Nation, One Card for transport mobility at a function in Ahmedabad today. The Indigenous Automatic Fare Collection System based on One Nation One Card Model i.e. National Common Mobility Card (NCMC) is the first of its kind in India.

India’s First Indigenously Developed Payment Eco-system for transport consisting of NCMC Card, SWEEKAR (Swachalit Kiraya: Automatic Fare Collection System) and SWAGAT (Swachalit Gate) is based on NCMC Standards.

A new era of Smart Transportation

Public Transport is extensively used across India as the economical and convenient mode of commuting for all classes of society. Cash continues to be the most preferred mode of fare payments across the public transport. However, there are multiple challenges associated with the cash payment e.g. cash handling, revenue leakages, cash reconciliation etc. Various initiatives have been taken by transit operators to automate & digitize the fare collection using Automatic Fare Collection System (AFC). The introduction of closed loop cards issued by these operators helped to digitize the fare collection to a significant extent. However, the restricted usability of these payment instruments limits the digital adoption by customers.

AFC System (gates, readers/validators, backend infrastructure etc.) is the core of any transit operator to automate the fare collection process. The major challenge associated with AFC system implementation in India till now is the lack of indigenous solution provider. Till now, AFC systems deployed at various Metros are from foreign players. In order to avoid the vendor lock-in and create an interoperable system, there was a need to develop indigenous standards and AFC system under Make in India initiative.

In order to ensure a seamless travel across metros and other transport systems in addition to retail shopping and purchases, the Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs (MoHUA) came out with the National Common Mobility Card (NCMC) Program. 

A committee was formed with representatives from National Informatics Centre (NIC), Centre for Development of Advance Computing (C-DAC), Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS), National Payment Corporation of India (NPCI) and the Ministry of Finance with an objective to develop the vendor agnostic interoperable ecosystem for NCMC including indigenous AFC System and banking interface. 

NPCI was given the mandate to develop the specifications for card & terminal to support the NCMC ecosystem. Based on the best global practices and dynamics of Indian market, the committee recommended EMV based Open Loop Card with stored value as NCMC

CDAC has entrusted the task of finalization of NCMC specification for AFC system including the interface with Bank server. CDAC worked in collaboration with NPCI to complete this activity. Thereafter, BEL was roped in for making Gates & Reader.

The Gate & Reader prototype has been made by BEL. This is the first gate and the reader which has been manufactured by an Indian company. This is also the first indigenous payment reader which has been certified as per International standards. India joins the very few elite nations who have indigenous capacity on gate and reader production.

NCMC Ecosystem offers the value proposition for customers as they need not to carry multiple cards for different usage. Further, the super quick contactless transactions will improve the seamless experience. For operators, NCMC ecosystem brings common standards for implementation without vendor lock-in.

This will also help in higher digital payments penetration, savings on closed loop card lifecycle management cost and reduced operating cost. The rich data insights may be used by operators for business intelligence leading to efficient operation. 

With the NCMC Ecosystem, banks will get an access to segments which are highly driven by cash but stickiness in nature. NCMC Ecosystem will further help the government in digitization of low-value payments and reduced cost for the entire ecosystem. 

In order to showcase the entire NCMC ecosystem for digital fare collection, the complete AFC system has been deployed in Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) across few stations for field trial purpose. Under this pilot, NCMC compliant gates have been deployed at various stations of DMRC and cards have been issued by multiple banks to the users.

The pilot at DMRC was inaugurated by MoHUA on Jan 31st, 2019. This pilot will help to improve hardware reliability and fine tuning of the software. This will also facilitate large scale indigenous production and deployment in the Indian transit system. The first level trails has been successfully completed in collaboration with CDAC, BEL, NPCI and SBI.

'One Nation One Card'

Public Sector Banks like SBI will issue Debit/Credit/Prepaid cards and the customer may use this single card for payments across all segments including metro, bus, suburban railways, toll, parking, smart city and retail. The stored value on card supports offline transaction across all travel needs with minimal financial risk to involved stakeholders. The service area feature of this card supports operator specific applications e.g. monthly passes, season tickets etc.

The National Common Mobility Card (NCMC) to enable seamless travel by different metros and other transport systems across the country besides retail shopping and purchases is an initiative of the Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs. The card will address the challenges associated with the cash payment e.g. cash handling, revenue leakages, cash reconciliation etc. Various initiatives have been taken by transit operators to automate & digitize the fare collection using Automatic Fare Collection System (AFC). The introduction of closed loop cards issued by these operators helped to digitize the fare collection to a significant extent. However, the restricted usability of these payment instruments limits the digital adoption by customers. 

The customers need not carry multiple cards for different usage. Further, the super quick contactless transactions will improve the seamless experience. This will also help in higher digital payments penetration, savings on closed loop card lifecycle management cost and reduced operating cost. The rich data insights may be used by operators for business intelligence leading to efficient operation.

Source - Press Information Bureau.

#IRMA2019: Key insights from ICICI Lombard’s ‘Managing New Age Risks’ survey.

Technology, as we know, has become an integral part of our business enterprises. Industrial Revolution 4.0 which connects physical devices with electronic devices comes with new kind of risks. As the world is getting increasingly interconnected, everyone shares the responsibility of securing our cyberspace. Adopting preventive measures and cyber risk mitigation tools has become the need of the hour.

ICICI Lombard, India’s leading private sector general insurance company has commissioned a PAN India survey titled ‘Managing New Age Risk’ to assess the preparedness of Indian organisations towards new age risks. A detailed feedback of CXOs from 100 companies across various sectors was taken for this research.

Corporate dependence on insurance to cover the risk of cyberattacks is expanding in line with their increasing reliance on tech for everything from invoicing to engaging consumers on social media. Next-gen technologies such as Artificial Intelligence, Robotics, Cloud, Blockchain, IoT etc. are associated with new age risks like cyberattacks, data theft, cloud hacks etc. India was the target of 17% cyberattacks, second only to US (38%) between 2015- 2017 as per report released by Symantec Corp. The Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In) reported 53,081 cases of cybercrime in the year 2017. More than 40,000 computers in India were jeopardised by Wannacry ransomware attack. Recently, a Pune-based co-operative bank lost nearly Rs 94 crores when hackers operating from abroad breached bank’s ATM servers.

As cyberattacks become more frequent and severe, the need for solid insurance coverage to plug potential financial losses is in demand.

ICICI Lombard’s ‘Managing New Age Risks’ survey delved into understanding the risks that Indian Inc. perceives as critical for business. It also looked at the role of insurers in managing risks from the lens of Indian firms. The survey findings were unveiled by Mr. Bhargav Dasgupta, MD and CEO, ICICI Lombard in the august presence of Prof. Kenneth Rogoff, Professor of Economics & Public Policy at Harvard University and a former Chief Economist at the International Monetary Fund.

The report highlights that companies still consider traditional risks as extremely crucial for their business. CXOs believed that assets like property, machinery and health & wellness of employees are pivotal risks and are needed to be insured. When asked about which risks have been gaining importance in the last 3 years, the response was clearly for new age risks such as hacking, data theft etc. 67% of India Inc. believes data thefts have increased substantially from the last 3 years, 63% feels that risks from cybercrime have increased substantially in the same period.

In terms of challenges to handle risks, 43% CXOs find new age risk incident to be unique, while 42% found it even difficult to identify the source of an attack, making it a tough task to manage. 21% company executives believed that new age risk incidents spread too fast, making it difficult for firms to handle them.

Lack of internal capabilities was a key takeaway when it came to preparedness of organisations in managing new age risks. 41% respondents believed that their existing systems were not equipped to handle these risks, while 39% respondents felt that there was a shortage of skilled manpower that could address these risks. 71% of respondents said that prevention of new age risks is the best way to deal with e-risks.

On the role of insurers, 81% companies believe that insurers are equipped to a certain extent in managing new age risks. Specifically, companies believe that insurers are better equipped to manage risks such as cloud computing (100%) and cyberattacks (69%). However, a majority of CXOs believe that e-risks like data thefts can be better managed internally.

“New age risks are already a reality today, globally and in India. It is most critical that Indian firms take cognizance of this aspect. As is evident from ‘Managing New Age Risks’ survey, being prepared and having the right risk management framework in place is the need of the hour. ICICI Lombard is partnering with their clients to ensure that they are equipped with appropriate and adequate ‘risk management and mitigation’ solutions to effectively handle any prospective new age risk incidents.” - Mr. Bhargav Dasgupta, MD & CEO, ICICI Lombard.

In the digital age, cyberattacks will face a sharp incline in the years to come. Corporates and Insurance companies will have to combine synergies to fight these new age cyber risks in the interest of customers.

- Chaitanya Kulkarni.

YES BANK Datathon unites professionals and academia to co-create next-gen data driven products.

Technology and Banking are no longer poles apart. Over the last few years, innovation in the fintech industry has taken the world by storm, becoming a global phenomena not limited to one region. The Asian fintech space was dominated by innovations from Indian and Chinese firms, especially from the new-age startups. Being a software superpower, Indian startups and MNCs are contributed immensely towards the development of innovative products and models.

This year, we all have witnessed the growth of game-changing technologies like UPI, Blockchain, Artificial Intelligence and Open Banking. Global technology giants like Google, WhatsApp were wooed by the United Payments Interface, making India a top destination of digital payment adoption. Blockchain, which is also the underlying technology for all cryptocurrencies is implemented by banks to secure financial transactions.

Experts who have closely followed these trends believe that the next wave of fintech would be in the field of data science. YES BANK, India’s fourth largest private bank has been at the forefront for adopting next-gen technologies to service its customers better. YES BANK believes that the best of outcomes in the field of technology is received from the engineers and data scientists of tomorrow – the students. The idea generation from aspiring data scientist and its execution under the mentorship of CIOs and CTOs would be key in building scalable models in the data science ecosystem.

Data scientists, engineers, students from Top colleges, all compete at the Datathon.

Datathon, India’s first bank led Datathon collaborated aspiring data scientists and professionals from IT field to augment YES BANK’s 600 TB anonymized and embedded data stack to create new Artificial Intelligence/Machine Learning (AI/ML) prototypes in a period of just 100 days. In its inaugural season, more than 6000 aspiring data scientists/ engineers and developers joined this competitive initiative. The top teams include not only students from top technology institutes like the IITs, BITS, ISI Kolkata and University of Moratuwa, Sri Lanka but also 150 plus professionals from top IT organisations.

Participants at Datathon got an opportunity to access unstructured and anonymised data on Cloudera and AWS dashboards. YES BANK had also onboarded a pool of 20+ data science experts and leaders across industries, to support the data science teams as well as to help the bank identify relevant use cases for product development using Big Data Analytics, AI and ML. After the detailed scrutiny of models, top 15 teams were invited to Bengaluru to present their models in front of esteemed panelists at Datathon Finale.

Data models developed during the Datathon were aimed at addressing the current business and service requirements. For instance, team Django Unchained has created an AI based application for sales representatives of the bank which enables them to measure share of wallet reserved for every retail customer, predict customer attrition and provide customized products to different classes of customer. Team Prayaas, a mix student team from NMIMS Mumbai and ISI Kolkata worked on a proactive model which predicts individual customer deliveries like cards, cheque books, statements by reducing human interference and service requests. Majority of models presented at Yes Datathon pointed towards improving customer satisfaction and reducing overheads; a facet of fintech.

And the winners are...

Oracle, a team of professionals from IBM and two students from IIM Bangalore bagged the top spot of Yes Datathon challenge. Team Oracle presented a ‘master product’ which creates a single 360 degree view of every retail customer. Upon analysis, the model provides customised product and service recommendations for every individual retail customer along with the resolution of pending service requests. Team Data Pros and Data Acers from the University of Moratuwa, Sri Lanka were honoured with runners-up and Best Student Team (position) at Yes Datathon challenge.

YES BANK plans to deploy the selected data models in the real-time banking ecosystem by March 2019. YES BANK believes in the ideology of consistently adopting next-gen technologies to deliver superior products and services. Datathon is also actively partnering with top technology institutes, and has partnered with top IITs and BITS Pilani, and will also host AI/ML challenges and data engineering workshops to deepen practical and technical knowhow of future technology leaders and widen the data science ecosystem. Yes Datathon is a part of a long-term strategy of YES BANK of ‘becoming a technology company in the banking business’.

- Chaitanya Kulkarni.

#DialDforData: YES BANK’s Data Science Initiative Collaborates with 200 Data scientists to create 20+ data models in just 100 days.

Over the years, data has been an analytical tool to record and gather information from our surroundings to optimise our lives. The millennials would recall how we as society shifted from being predominantly ‘analog’ to ‘digital’ in just a few years. Today, thanks to technologies like the cloud and the algorithm-based infrastructure, data evangelists are talking about storing and analysing thousands of terabytes of data within a matter of minutes. This exponential growth of data is referred to as Big Data.

Big Data is our present and our future. In this age of information, data will fundamentally change the way businesses compete and operate. The analysis of this data could help businesses in making key management decisions which drive scalable transformation. Data scientists funnel vital data from terabytes of unstructured information to understand consumer buying patterns, likes and needs, and create scalable models which reduce systemic bottlenecks.

If data is a new oil then analysis is the refinery. The Internet of Things, Machine Learning, Predictive Analytics, Hadoop etc. are leading industrial trends which are shaping the data-driven economy.

Data Analytics: the next frontier.

The impact of data analytics will be beyond one sector, be it manufacturing, healthcare or finance. For instance, data science has today become a vital part of sports management industry. Each and every player of Indian Cricket Team is analysed on his current and past performance to predict behavioural patterns in an effort to rectify human error. BFSI firms are one of early pioneers to adapt data analytics.

With data science and analytics gaining importance across sectors, YES BANK reached out to the global developers, coders and data science community to work on Yes Bank’s data stacks. Datathon, an initiative of YES BANK is India’s first bank-led Datathon with a mantra of decode-derive-develop. Launched in September 2018, Yes Datathon has witnessed participation of over 6000 plus data scientists and engineers both from academia and corporate background. In a competitive selection, top 15 teams qualified for the Datathon Finale will be given 60 days to create working data models/prototypes which will be trained, tested and deployed by the Yes Bank.

The top teams include not only students from top technology institutes like IIT Bombay, IIT Madras, IIT Kharagpur and ISI Kolkata but also 150+ professionals from organizations like IBM, Walmart Labs, Oracle, Amazon Development Centre, TCS, Accenture and Infosys among others, who are taking on the challenge beyond their professional duties. A student team from University of Moratuwa, Sri Lanka presented their model at Yes Datathon finale held in Bengaluru.

Teams participating in Yes Datathon presented innovative models which were previously not thought-off. For instance, Team Data Pirates created an alternative method to credit score customers pooling in LinkedIn and external APIs. Team Greenity has developed an ML algorithm which analyses credit card history transactions to service customer better and predicting new target customers for YES BANK credit card.

Moving from buzz to biz

Artificial Intelligence has moved from buzz to biz. YES BANK has deployed AI based chatbot named Yes Robot to disseminate information about loan offerings to prospective customers. It currently helps users with instant 20+ banking services and 2,000+ banking queries. Next-gen technologies such as artificial intelligence, machine learning, natural language processing and bots enables YES BANK to serve their customers and clients with greater depth, sophistication and efficiency.

Yes Datathon is a part of a long-term strategy of Yes Bank of ‘becoming a technology company in the banking business’. Data scientists and engineers would have an experience of a lifetime handling 600 TB of anonymised data. Datathon provides a rare opportunity to build algorithms and data models on Terabytes of ‘real data’ in a deployment-ready environment. The collaboration between academia and corporate would deepen practical and technical know-how of future technology leaders and widen the data science ecosystem.

- Chaitanya Kulkarni.

COCO by DHFL General Insurance is here to transform the “Sold, Not Bought” aspect of Insurance.

Students studying in the field of Insurance are practised to believe in the thought process of “Insurance is Sold and Not Bought”. This is even considered as conventional wisdom for veterans working in the insurance industry. Many people claim that insurance products are complex, easily misunderstood, need a detailed analysis to be underwritten, and therefore have to be “sold” to customers. But for how long? With the advent of technology, InsureTech firms are here to demystify the age-old concept of “Sold, Not Bought”. Insurance companies are not just going to B2C but the customer too is keen for best value offering.

In the age of where everything is going digital, insurance companies are offering new products through the digital ecosystem. The key advantages for consumers choosing digital insurers are product choice, transparency, direct point of contact etc. COCO by DHFL General Insurance believes in the Philosophy of Connected Covers – a policy which can be bought, reviewed, claimed and renewed, all online in the digital ecosystem with the help of next-gen techs like Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning.

COCODrive offers India’s highest Personal Accident Cover

COCO by DHFL General Insurance has launched India’s first customizable online comprehensive car insurance policy named COCODrive. Gone are the days when consumers were forced to buy unwanted services in bundled insurance policies. Busting traditional routes, COCODrive gives freedom to customers to choose from whopping 19 add-ons depending upon the type of car, the age of a car or geographical area.

The a`la carte approach in the COCODrive policy provides suggestions to customers that will help them pick the right add-ons suitable for their need. COCO by DHFL General Insurance ensures that customers have the right protection for themselves, their loved ones and of course their family car.

COCODrive offers India’s highest personal accident cover which can go up to Rs 35 lakhs. The policy offers many non-standard add-ons such as enhanced owner, occupant and paid driver personal accident cover. While the recent Supreme Court decision mandates personal accident cover of Rs 15 lakhs, COCODrive is the only product in the market to offer an enhanced personal accident cover that can go as high as Rs 35 lakh.

Protecting your loved ones: Family + Car.

Choose what you want! COCODrive offers a range of crucial add-ons for you, your loved ones and your car. COCO by DHFL General Insurance offers 6 car related add-ons out of a total number of 19 add-ons, which is the highest in the market.

Using a car which is older than 5 years, then you should buy Zero Dep cover as it fully pays the replacement cost of your car’s damaged parts without worrying for depreciation. If you live in monsoon prone areas like Mumbai, Bangalore, Kerala or North East which face excessive floods every year. The Engine Protect add-on cover pays for damages caused to the vehicle’s engine or its most important parts like cylinder, piston, crankshaft, pins, gearbox etc due to water ingression. Flood related damages are excluded in the standard motor insurance policy and it is essential to buy if you live in low lying areas. Also, car owners should avoid parking your car in the flood prone areas or over a river bridge during monsoon. A car fully submerged under water can result in a total loss. In such unfortunate case, New Car for Old Car add-on can get you a claim worth the cost of the new vehicle at just Rs 0.50 per day.

In case of a vehicle breakdown or meeting with an accident, the Roadside Assistance offers a host of benefits including towing, battery jump start, phone assistance etc. Data analytics suggests that 80% of breakdowns or accidents happen on National Highway, far from the city. In such case, if your vehicle can’t be repaired on spot, the Emergency Transport and Hotel Stay add-on covers for your last minute travelling charges or an overnight hotel stay. Accidents generally end up in a need to go to the hospital, although we dislike it. The Accident Hospitalisation add-on will ensure that the cost of medical expenses (driver and occupants) do not add to your pain.

COCODrive rewards you for Safe Driving with No Claim Bonus (NCB) which can go high as 50% of the policy value. The NCB Secure add-on allows you to have Second Chance by protecting your NCB in case you make 1 claim during your policy tenure.

#CareMoreHaveMore

COCO by DHFL General Insurance Ltd is a new age InsureTech (general insurance venture) promoted by Wadhawan Global Capital Pvt Ltd (WGC).  COCO by DHFL General Insurance, a 100%  owned entity of WGC started its business operations in November 2017 with an overreaching ambition to transform General Insurance domain in India. COCO has launched Motor Insurance and is soon going to venture into other General Insurance segments namely Health, Travel, and Home. COCO, the digital avatar of DHFL General Insurance was awarded for ‘Brand Excellence in BFSI’ at Awards for Excellence in Branding and Marketing, Singapore 2018. The Gross Written Premium for YTD FY 201819 stood at Rs 202.71 crores, making COCO by DHFL General Insurance a leading InsureTech firm to service Indians.

- Chaitanya Kulkarni.

Financial Inclusion 2.0: All 1.55 lakh post offices will offer banking services through India Post Payments Bank.

From the Red Fort, PM Modi announced the plans about postal banks across all villages of 715 districts of India in 2014. The much delayed India Post Payments Bank was launched on 1st September in Talkotara Stadium, Delhi in the august presence of PM Modi and Mr Suresh Sethi, MD and CEO, India Post Payments Bank. The function was witnessed at over 3000 locations across the country, which were connected to the main event in Delhi. "Jo Khata Nahi uska bhi toh Khata Hota Hain" said jokingly as PM Modi also become the first bank account holder of India Post Payment Bank.

IPPB has been envisioned as an accessible, affordable and trusted bank for the common man, to help speedily achieve the financial inclusion objectives of the Union Government. It will leverage the vast network of the Department of Posts, which covers every corner of the country with more than 300,000 Postmen and Grameen Dak Sewaks. IPPB will hence significantly augment the reach of the banking sector in India.

The launch of IPPB marks another significant milestone in the Union Government’s endeavour to take the benefits of a rapidly developing India to the remotest corners of our country. On the day of the launch, IPPB will have 650 Branches and 3250 Access Points spread across the country. Simultaneous launch events will be held at these branches and access points. All the 1.55 lakh Post Offices in the country will be linked to the IPPB system by December 2018.

IPPB will offer a range of products such as savings and current accounts, money transfer, direct benefit transfers, bill and utility payments, and enterprise and merchant payments. These products, and related services will be offered across multiple channels (counter services, micro-ATM, mobile banking app, SMS and IVR), using the bank’s state-of-the-art technology platform.

Postmen across India has long been a respected and accepted person in the villages. He said the trust on the postman remains, despite the advent of modern technology. The Government’s approach is to reform existing frameworks and structures, and hence, transform them in accordance with the changing times. There are over 1.5 lakh post offices and over three lakh postmen or “grameen dak sevaks” who are connected to the people of the country. Now they shall be empowered with smartphones and digital devices to provide financial services. - PM Modi.

The Jan Dhan Yojana has opened 32 crores accounts across the country. But in rural areas, people have to travel more than 20km to reach the bank. Since Postal Departments have a wider reach, financial experts are of an opinion that India Post Payment Bank is indeed Financial Inclusion 2.0.

Wonder Home Finance commences operations with 29 branches across Rajasthan.

With 29 branches spread across the big cities and small towns of Rajasthan, Wonder Home Finance Limited has announced its entry into India’s booming retail housing finance business. Wonder Home Finance is a part of RK Group, Rajasthan and India’s well-known business groups. From RK Marble to Wonder Cement and now Wonder Home Finance, RK Group is committed to holistic and transparent business practices. The vision and dedication of its promoters and employees had led to patronage amongst its consumers and business partners. Wonder Home Finance Limited has received final approval from the National Housing Bank to commence its business.

As a part of the first phase of roll-out, Wonder Home Finance will focus on its lending business across the length and breadth of Rajasthan. Currently, the company has 9 branches in Jaipur, Jodhpur, Bikaner, Udaipur, Chittorgarh and Rajsamand region and is in a process to set up 20 more branches across the state of Rajasthan by the end of August 2018. The branch spread will cover almost 70% of service area in Rajasthan state.

Wonder Home Finance will give financial assistance in the range of Rs 5 lakhs to Rs 35 lakhs to the people from lower and middle income strata of the society. The interest for home loans, repair and renovation of homes and construction of homes will be in the range of 11% to 14% with the tenure of 3 years to 20 years. With the focus of last-mile financial inclusion, the facility of home loans can be also availed on Gram Panchayat Properties and for the development of Non-Agriculture land.

In a boost to small businesses and proprietorship, Wonder Home Finance will offer financing at attractive interests. The loan amount ranges from Rs 5 lakhs to Rs 20 lakhs with the maximum loan tenure period of 15 years.

The lending by Wonder Home Finance is envisioned with PM Modi’s vision of ‘Housing for All by 2022’. The Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana is an initiative by Government of India in which affordable housing will be provided to the poor with a target of building 20 million affordable homes. The scheme also includes an attractive credit linked subsidy on loan interest which aims to help PMAY beneficiaries from lower and middle income group. As per National Housing Bank, beneficiaries from lower and middle income group would be eligible for the interest subsidy at the rate of 6.5% for loan amount upto Rs 6 lakh, 4% for loan upto Rs 9 lakhs and 3% for the loan amount upto Rs 12 lakh. Wonder Home Finance Limited has signed a MoU with National Housing Bank keeping in mind the mission of Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana which allows beneficiaries to apply for Credit linked subsidy scheme.

“With the launch of Wonder Home Finance Limited, we are confident that we will be able to deliver unified financial services to the people of this country. Our people centric business model and service oriented delivery mechanism will help to create an exceptional experience amongst our target audience. It will further enhance the groups philosophy of perfection and reaching to masses. Also envisaged by our Government’s vision of ‘Housing for all by 2022’, it is a step towards delivering last mile financial services to the people of this country. We are confident of this business proposition which is a unique one in the industry today and it will surely help us to drive the group’s growth to the next level.” - Shri Ashok Patni, Chairman, RK Group.

Wonder Home Finance uses easy, transparent and customer friendly loan processes. The company claims to offer home and business loans with the fastest decision time of 3 days. Convenience and use of technology are among the core values as customers can avail easy financing through the website, mobile app and door step service.

In order to take its financial services business to the highest level, Wonder Home Finance Limited will target to leverage the pedigree and network built by the RK Group. With its Pan-India license, the company plans to expand operations in Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra in FY 2018-19. The company is confident of building a powerful brand ‘Wonder Home Finance’, which would become a synonym to housing finance segment in the near future.

- Chaitanya Kulkarni