payments

Pine Labs & Thomas Cook India partner to enable UPI payments to merchants for foreign nationals from G20 nations

February 23, 2023 TeluguSuperNews Leave a comment

Telugu Super News, India, February23, 2023: Pine Labs, a leading merchant commerce omnichannel platform and Thomas Cook (India) Limited, India’s leading foreign exchange service provider, have partnered with National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), in a pioneering initiative to ensure safe, seamless, convenient merchant payments via UPI for foreign nationals from G20 countries. The prepaid payment product is issued by Pine Labs under the PPI authorisation obtained from RBI. This facility can be availed on arrival – across Thomas Cook’s airport counters.

Simple, seamless process:

1. On arrival at the airport, encash foreign currency at Thomas Cook’s counter

2. Instead of collecting INR in cash, Thomas Cook’s forex expert will assist the customer to open a Pine Labs Fave Moneyprepaid account and load the INR value

3. The customer then downloads Pine Labs’ Fave app, signs in and can start using the pre-loaded INR amount by scanning any UPI QR code at merchant outlets pan India

4. On departure, any balance can be encashed by the customer at Thomas Cook’s airport counters

To facilitate this process, Pine Labs has launched Fave Money that allows travellers from G20 countries the ability to pay digitally via their mobile phone at millions of merchant establishments in India using UPI. The prepaid product issued by Pine Labs is powered by its proprietary issuing platform Qwikcilver and is integrated with the Fave mobile app.

Commenting on the launch, B Amrish Rau, CEO, Pine Labs, said, “G20 Presidency was a proud moment for India. Resonating with its beautiful theme “Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam” or “One Earth · One Family · One Future”, we wanted to contribute towards ensuring no inconvenience comes to G20 travellers coming to India while making payments. UPI is India’s incredible contribution to the world when it comes to digital payments, and a quick onboarding on the Fave app will allow these visitors to pay digitally via UPI using our Fave mobile app. We thank our partner Thomas Cook and NPCI for this pioneering collaboration.”

Mahesh Iyer, Executive Director & CEO, Thomas Cook (India) Limited said “As India’s leading foreign exchange provider, we are delighted to partner with Pine Labs & NPCI to give visiting foreign nationals from G20 countries the seamless UPI experience across our gateway airports, via this collaboration.”

“UPI One World is a game-changing offering that will revolutionize the way international travellers make payments in India. With the Fave app powered by Pine Lab’s issuing platform Qwikcilver, travellers can easily and securely make digital payments at millions of merchant establishments equipped with UPI QRs across the country. This innovative solution is yet another step forward in our mission to make digital payments more accessible and convenient for people everywhere. We are delighted to support this initiative by Pine Labs and Thomas Cook,” said Praveena Rai, COO, NPCI.

About NPCI

The National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) is a non-profit organization that operates India’s retail payments and settlement systems. Established in 2008, NPCI offers a range of payment solutions such as UPI, IMPS, BHIM, NETC, and RuPay, with UPI being the most popular. It allows users to transfer money from one bank account to another in real-time using their mobile phones. NPCI’s goal is to create a robust payments infrastructure, promote digital payments, financial inclusion, and innovation in the payments space. NPCI has played a significant role in India’s digital payments revolution, transforming the way people make payments and manage their finances.

About Thomas Cook (India) Limited: Set up in 1881, Thomas Cook India) Limited. (TCIL) is the leading omnichannel travel company in the country offering a broad spectrum of services including Foreign Exchange, Corporate Travel, MICE, Leisure Travel, Value Added Services and Visa Services. It operates leading B2C and B2B brands including Thomas Cook, SOTC, TCI, SITA, Asian Trails, Allied TPro, Australian Tours Management, Desert Adventures, Luxe Asia, Travel Circle International Limited (TCI 勝景), Sterling Holiday Resorts Limited, Distant Frontiers, TC Tours, Digiphoto Entertainment Imaging (DEI), Go Vacation, Private Safaris East & South Africa.

As one of the largest travel service provider networks headquartered in the Asia-Pacific region, The Thomas Cook India Group spans 28 countries across 5 continents

For more information, please visit www.thomascook.in

About Pine Labs

Pine Labs is a leading merchant commerce omnichannel platform operating across India and Southeast Asia. Pine Labs’ tech-first approach to digital payments and focus on simplification at the front end aims to help many businesses embrace fintech products at scale.

In digital payments, our online payments cloud-based software Plural represents a one-stop payments destination across channels. Plural is designed to deliver secure and frictionless online payment experiences to the end user, powered by an advanced tech stack that can augment an existing online business or build an all-new e-commerce payment setup from the ground up.

Our Issuing business is powered by Qwikcilver – a proprietary and industry leading prepaid, stored value and gift card issuance, processing and distribution solution. Qwikcilver is the platform of choice for leading enterprises including merchants, brands, e-commerce companies across categories in India, Middle East and Australia powering embedded issuing solutions that bolster sales, acquire and retain customers, drive operational efficiencies and improve cash flows.

In consumer app, Fave is a fintech platform for the next generation of consumers, providing smart payments and savings, while empowering merchants with a loyalty solution to grow and engage with their customers in a whole new way.

Incorporated in Singapore, the key investors of Pine Labs include Sequoia India, Actis Capital, Temasek, PayPal and Mastercard. To know more, please visit www.pinelabs.com.

HDFC Bank launches pilot for Offline Digital Payments

February 13, 2023 TeluguSuperNews Leave a comment

Telugu Super News,Mumbai,Febraury 13th,2023: HDFC Bank has launched a pilot in partnership with Crunchfish, to test offline digital payments for merchants and customers under the RBI’s Regulatory Sandbox Program, known as ‘OfflinePay’.

HDFC Bank’s ‘OfflinePay’ will enable customers and merchants to make and receive payments even when there is no mobile network. HDFC Bank is the first bank in the industry to launch a digital payment solution in a completely offline mode. This can boost adoption of digital payments in smaller towns and rural areas with poor network connectivity.

Even in urban centres, it can enable cashless payments during large public events, fairs & exhibitions despite network congestion; underground metro stations, parking lots, & retail stores with network blind spots; and even in airplanes, sea-ferries, and trains with no network.

HDFC Bank has been working with the regulator to pilot offline digital payments under the Payments cohort of RBI’s Regulatory Sandbox program. In September 2022, RBI approved HDFC Bank’s application, in partnership with Crunchfish, to access the Regulatory Sandbox. Crunchfish Digital Cash AB is a subsidiary of Crunchfish AB, a publicly listed company on Nasdaq First North Growth Market in Stockholm, Sweden. The pilot, if successful, will provide the basis for RBI’s guidance and regulatory support in providing offline digital payments based on ‘Crunchfish Digital Cash’ platform to the payment ecosystem of India.

Digital Payment typically requires one party (either the customer or the merchant) to be online. This limits the usage of such payments to areas with good data connectivity. HDFC Bank’s ‘OfflinePay’ brings in the unique capability where both customer and merchant can be fully offline and yet do the transaction. Merchants can receive an instant payment confirmation even in an offline mode. As soon as either the merchant or the customer goes online, the transaction gets settled.

“HDFC Bank is pleased to work under regulator’s guidance and partner with Crunchfish Digital Cash to launch ‘OfflinePay’, an industry-first digital solution. This innovation will accelerate financial inclusion in remote areas by enabling adoption of digital payments as both merchants and customers can do transactions without any network. HDFC Bank is committed to bring more digital innovations and payment solutions to its customers and merchants,” said Parag Rao, Country Head for Payments Business, Consumer Finance, Digital Banking, and Marketing at HDFC Bank.

As of now, HDFC Bank would roll-out this service as part of a limited pilot for 4 months in 16+ cities & towns across India. Bank would be enabling merchants and users of even other banks to experience ‘OfflinePay’ via an invitation link. During the pilot, the offline transaction amount would be limited to up to Rs. 200 per txn. To showcase off-us transactions with other bank’s customers and merchants, HDFC Bank has partnered with IDFC First Bank. For building customer & merchant apps for pilot, HDFC Bank had enrolled M2P Fintech Pvt Ltd.

IDFC FIRST Bank and WhatsApp enable FASTag recharge through ‘payments on WhatsApp

September 15, 2022 TeluguSuperNews Leave a comment

IDFC FIRST Bank today announced the launch of its integration with ‘payments on WhatsApp’ to enable simple and secure FASTags recharge for the Bank’s customers. This partnership means IDFC FIRST customers will be able to recharge their FASTags right within IDFC FIRST’s WhatsApp chatbot and complete the transaction from within the chat thread.

IDFC FIRST Bank customers can get started by just sending ‘Hi’ to the Bank’s official WhatsApp chatbot number at +919555555555.

The process of recharge will be a seamless experience that will enable payments in two simple steps, without having to exit the WhatsApp chat. On selecting the recharge option in the WhatsApp chat, customers will then be required to enter the amount and authenticate the transaction via an OTP, after which they will receive a message confirming the transaction.

This new service will equip users to pay for their recharge through ‘payments on WhatsApp’, without having to log onto any other Mobile App or Netbanking portal, making it easier and faster for millions of the Bank’s FASTag users.

B. Madhivanan, Chief Operating Officer, IDFC FIRST Bank, said, “IDFC FIRST Bank has been working to drive innovations in FASTag to create outstanding user experiences. Customers use our proven, secure and simple FASTag solutions to pay for toll, fuel, parking and green taxes. We are thrilled to partner with WhatsApp to enable recharge of FASTags using ‘payments on WhatsApp’. This not only makes the IDFC FIRST FASTag a powerful proposition but also marks an industry first for any banking institution to enable transactions using payments on Whatsapp.”

Abhijit Bose, Head of WhatsApp India said, “IDFC First Bank’s FASTag recharge on WhatsApp is a great example of our vision to make digital transactions easy and accessible for everyone in the country. Companies can now create customized and intuitive journeys for their customers on WhatsApp. Everyday transactions that took time and effort before, can now be initiated and completed quickly right within the WhatsApp chat thread.”

Payments on WhatsApp allows users to send and receive money from their contacts via Unified Payment Interface (UPI) as easily as sending a WhatsApp message. With user-safety at its core, ‘payments on WhatsApp’ is designed with a strong set of security and privacy principles, including entering a personal UPI-PIN for each payment.

IDFC FIRST Bank’s WhatsApp banking channel offers over 25 services for savings accounts, credit cards, loans, FASTag, which are being extensively used by account-holders. The Bank has now added FASTag purchase and recharge to this list of services. As FASTag is a prepaid instrument, it is important for users to keep the account funded before the vehicle reaches the toll plaza.

The Bank has so far issued around 9 million FASTags, making travel for its consumers easier and faster on highways due to fewer delays at toll plazas. As an acquiring bank, IDFC FIRST Bank enables payments via FASTag at close to 420 toll plazas and 20 parking locations, accounting for 40% market share in terms of monthly toll value processed. The Bank is also the largest parking acquirer with 45% market share.

The Bank has a tie-up with HPCL and processes payments close to 1 lakh liters of fuel a month using FASTag balances. IDFC FIRST Bank FASTags are accepted at around 19,000 HPCL outlets. The Bank also leads FASTag usage in the commercial vehicle space and is the preferred tag for long haul trucks.

IDFC FIRST Bank and WhatsApp enable FASTag recharge through ‘payments on WhatsApp

The FASTag program was jointly launched by the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI), Indian Highways Management Company Ltd (IHMCL) and National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) as a medium to accept toll fare across all National Highway plazas. Banks act as issuers and acquirers in this ecosystem which processes close to seven million transactions a day. FASTags are accepted across all national highway toll plazas and select state highways. The latest count of active toll plazas was around 900.

This use case can also be experienced at the Global Fintech Festival 2022 where WhatsApp as a theme partner will showcase various innovative solutions being built on its platform that are contributing to a sustainable financial world, going green, global and inclusive.