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Showing posts from April, 2020

Facebook India Fundraiser – Please enable UPI as a Donation channel

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          In the first week of 2017, Facebook launched its fundraising module. The module is targeted towards Facebook users in need of funds for personal needs like tuition, medical care, pet care, or other personal expenses.           This module is the offshoot of Facebook charitable tools. Facebook users at the same time also can also solicit funds for crisis relief such as public crises or natural disasters, personal emergencies such as a house fire, theft or car accident etc.           Facebook charitable tools also assist Non-Profit Organisations to raise funds for further deployment. The major difference between Personal Fund raising and Non-Profit Organization funding is that under ‘Non-Profit Organisation fund raising’, the donations always go to an eligible organization.         ...

A big Disappointment - India is not in the radar of ‘Google Card’

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          In the last quarter of 2019, as per news articles Google was firming up plans to unveil ‘Google Checking Accounts’, in the USA initially in association with Citigroup and Stanford Federal Credit Union.            As the numbers of Checking Account grow, Google may include other financial institutions to be part of the journey.           Checking Accounts is a terminology frequently used in the USA for basic commercial banking accounts. In India, the equivalent of Checking Account is Current Account. However, in the USA, individuals too can hold and operate ‘Checking Accounts’, for their day to day financial transactions.           The word Checking Account can be associated with ‘Cheques’. ‘Cheques’ were the primary mode of transactions initially when modern banking was spreading its wings in...

FASTag to resume Toll Collection Charges from 20th April 2020

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           It is not yet clear if NHAI will start its Toll Collection from 12 AM 20 th April 2020 or 6.00AM 20 th April 2020.           This can only be confirmed by the actual highway travelers driving on National Highways between 11pm of 19 th April 2020 and 8am of 20 th April 2020.           Interested readers may closely monitor social media sites for keywords #NHAI, #FASTag           The government had on 25 March announced temporarily suspending toll collection on national highways to ease emergency services in view of the coronavirus outbreak.           As there will be an only partial lockdown from 20 th April 2020, Ministry of Road Transport and Highways in a letter to NHAI advised NHAI to take necessary steps to resume tolling operations w....

Public Notice – YouTube Premium onboards UPI

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          YouTube Premium is a subscription paid service for viewers to enjoy YouTube and YouTube Music Ad free.           This means there will be no advertisements to disturb the viewers while viewing YouTube or YouTube Music content.           YouTube videos can be downloaded for offline viewing.           Through YouTube Music Premium, one can enjoy music ad-free, offline and also when your screen is locked.   Enjoy kid’s content on YouTube Kids with Ad-free and offline too. Enjoy Google Play Music in select countries. YouTube Premium offers both Pre-paid and subscription plans. The plans have two variants i.e Family and Student. The Family Plan starts at INR189/- and the Student Plan starts at INR79/- The subscription amount is to be paid through GPay   and th...

State Bank of India (SBI) COVID19 Moratorium FAQs

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           State Bank of India has updated all the RBI COVID 19 regulatory package details under a separate module on its website. The module outlines the complete process to gain the moratorium benefits and the various options available to its customers. State Bank of India has initiated steps to defer the instalments and interest/EMIs on Term Loans falling due between 01.03.2020 to 31.05.2020. Accordingly, the total repayment period will be extended by 3 months over the original repayment period. SBI Customers have 3 options: Option 01) Customer who do not want to defer recovery of instalments /EMI Option 02) Customer who wants to defer recovery of instalments/EMI Option 03) Customers who want refund of the instalment/EMI already paid Through two examples outlined in the module, SBI’s customers may able to get a feel of the impact of the deferment. The module has 4 formats to assist SBI customers to take an inform...

The Cat is out of the Bag – Schools to collect Fees via BBPS (Bharat Bill Payment Service)

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          The immense investment in India’s premier Digital Bill System i.e BBPS is paying off. The bill payments in the BBPS channel is on the increase.           BBPS currently supports Electricity, Water, Mobile phones, Land Phones, Loan Repayments, FASTag, LPG consumer gas, DTH, Broadband, and Insurance Premium categories.           There are 182+ billers on the BBPS channel.           Loan Repayment, FASTag, LPG Consumer Gas are the latest entrants to BBPS.           Though the number of billers is less, the volumes are high, as the customer base of the respective billers is very high.           Educational Fees is the next category which BBPS will make an entry.    ...

Thank you - DMart - for embracing UPI

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          Read my previous posts for a brief background @ https://innovationinbanking.blogspot.com/search/label/%23dmart           By now, the majority of Saving Bank Account Holders in India have done at least 1 UPI transaction either P2P (Person 2 Person)   or P2M (Person 2 Merchant).           They have understood the joy of Safe ePayments. Of course, like every process, few aberrations are there is UPI and money is diverted off. This does not lessen the UPI benefits gained to the digital transactions channel. In simple terms, Unified Payments Interface (UPI) is a payment method that allows one to instantly transfer money to a bank account, either a person’s account or a merchant account. UPI ID is a virtual payment address (VPA) that uniquely identifies a bank account. Either of a person or a merchant. A UPI ID format ...

DMart Ready – UPI not yet active

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           In a short span of time, DMart has become very popular, with 200+ stores spread all over India.   There has been a constant demand for an online avatar of DMart.           To cater to the requirements of eCommerce enthusiasts, DMart launched ‘DMart App’.                 ‘DMart Ready’ is the APP Avtar of DMart. One can buy any daily household products available in the linked DMart store.           Delivery is only to specific pin codes. The delivery area is mapped as per the nearest DMart store.           DMart offers two types of delivery for your convenience: 1) Self Pick Up: Order online from the app and pick up your order from a ‘DMart Ready’ Pick Up point nearest to you. There is no delivery charge for collecting your ...

When will DMart enable UPI in its Stores?

           This is one of my most popular blog posts @ https://innovationinbanking.blogspot.com/2017/07/upi-dmart-thanks-but-no-thanks.html Almost every day I get a few hits on this blog post. Just wondering what makes folks to search for the ‘Payment Modes’, at DMart in the Google search page. Physical stores are the strength of DMart and DMart has a negligible online presence.  DMart started its journey in 2002 and over the years spread its presence in 11 States and 1 Union Territory. DMart services its customers with 206+ physical stores and some parts of Mumbai through its online channel. States and Cities: Maharashtra: Amravati, Aurangabad, Ichalkaranji, Jaisingpur, Jalgaon, Jalna, Karad, Kolhapur, Latur, Miraj, Mumbai, Nagpur, Nanded, Navi Mumbai, Osmanabad, Pune, Ratnagiri, Sangli, Satara, Solapur, Thane Gujarat: Ahmedabad, Anand, Baroda, Bhuj, Gandhinagar, Gandhidham, Mehsana, Nadiad, Rajkot, Surat, Valsad, Vapi...