Fintech month kickstarts on an inspiring note

Feb 16, 2022 | Business


Commencing on 7th February 2022, the Fintech Open month is a first-of-its-kind initiative bringing together regulators, Fintech professionals and enthusiasts, industry leaders, the start-up community, and developers on a common platform to collaborate, exchange ideas, and innovate. Creating an immersive learning experience, the FinTech month with the overarching theme ‘OPEN’ aims to achieve three key objectives – 1) encourage an OPEN ecosystem across the FinTech industry; (2) Foster co-innovation and growth; (3) Ensure financial inclusion and leverage new models like Account Aggregator to unleash the next wave of fintech innovation.


Week One of the Fintech month included in-depth conversations, deep dives, and panel discussions highlighting innovation, opinions, and diverse perspectives from industry leaders.


Missed these discussions? Here are the highlights:


Day 1 – February 7, 2022:


Virtual Inauguration by Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw and special address by NITI Aayog Vice-Chairman Dr. Rajiv Kumar:


Inaugural address by Shri Ashwini Vaishnaw, Honourable Minister for Electronics & Information Technology, Railways & Communications, highlighted the importance of the FinTech industry and the pivotal role of an OPEN ecosystem for creating useful solutions for society.


“Under the leadership of our Honorable Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi we believe in creating OPEN platforms such as COWIN, UPI, and others being developed for healthcare, logistics and other categories.


An OPEN platform is created using public investment wherein numerous private entrepreneurs, start-ups and developers can join to create new solutions for the people.”




FinTech Facts shared during the keynote address by Union Minister Shri Ashwini Vaishnaw:


  1. Today, 270 banks are connected with UPI and many entrepreneurs and start-ups have provided solutions that have helped increase the country’s FinTech adoption rate

  2. India has the highest FinTech adoption rate globally of 87%

  3. Much of this adoption comes from Tier 2 & 3 cities

  4. About 2100+ start-ups are contributing to FinTech

  5. Indian FinTechs are expected to reach a valuation of above US$150 billion in the next two to three years

  6. Eight unicorns already in the FinTech space




NITI Aayog Vice Chairman Dr Rajiv Kumar:




“India is witnessing increasing digitization with people getting greater and easier access to financial services. This has led to a shift in consumers’ financial behaviour—from cash to e-wallets and UPI. The expansion of digital payments is an important pivot for creating a more equitable, prosperous, and financially inclusive India.


 The rise of fintech has accelerated financial inclusion. I am excited to see the countless possibilities that will be presented by the bright minds of our country over the next few weeks.”




View the inaugural address here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dJmnQseIkBw


Day 2 – February 8, 2022




Fireside chat with Kunal Shah, Founder, CRED and Sameer Nigam, CEO & Founder, PhonePe




Talking about the fintech industry in today’s digitised world, Sameer Nigam, CEO and Founder, PhonePe, and Kunal Shah, Founder, CRED shared their insights on digital payments, how companies have started taking the tech route, and how COVID has altered the way people look at payments and services.




Kunal Shah, Founder, CRED


“The rate at which evolution of technology is happening, we are more likely to witness a revolutionary adaptation to all things digital sooner rather than later. Products designed to cater to every cohort, to solve unique pain points will be the talk of the town in the coming years.”


Sameer Nigam, CEO & Co-Founder, PhonePe:


“The FinTech space has witnessed a massive growth in the last couple of years. With UPI slowly becoming the bread & butter of every Indian household, the ecosystem looks quite vibrant! Amidst this, startups should focus on building solution-oriented companies.


There is an unprecedented opportunity for young entrepreneurs to cater to the needs of a billion people. They just have to go out there and grab that opportunity!”


Key takeaways for start-ups from the session:


  • Build a company that is solution-oriented. If one is solving problems at scale, financial support typically follows suit.

  • There is a lot of capital in the market, entrepreneurs must go out there and capitalize on the opportunities that exist and build the right products.

  • There is an unprecedented opportunity for young entrepreneurs to cater to the needs of a billion people.


Watch the session here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xp_CaOy5Vf0




Day 3 – February 9, 2022:


Panel Discussion – Budget Reaction and implications for Fintechs




The Union Budget 2022-23, presented by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, pillared itself on technology, the start-up ecosystem, and integrating the concept of digitization into every space from developing modern solutions to solving agricultural problems, modernisation of the defense sector to recognising the AVGC (Animation, visual effects, gaming, and comic) sector by setting up a task force to analyse its full potential.


Moderated by Chandra Srikanth (Editor, Technology, Start-ups, and New Economy at MoneyControl), Fintech month hosted a panel discussion on budget implications for the Fintech industry with distinguished guests – Nithin Kamath (CEO, Zerodha), Vivek Belgavi (Partner & FinTech Leader, PWC) and Harshil Mathur (Co-Founder & CEO, Razorpay), who deliberated on the budget highlights, announcements that excited them the most and their views on a brand-new tech-oriented India.




Nithin Kamath, Co-Founder & CEO, Zerodha


“Government recognition of cryptocurrency has come as a pleasant surprise in this year’s Budget. Platforms enabling start-up investing and such are going to get a lot more traction this year.”


Harshil Mathur, Co-Founder & CEO, Razorpay


“Embedded finance is likely to scale this year. Every company can scale their API in today’s date and expand their ecosystems to solve a variety of problems!”


Vivek Belgavi, Partner & FinTech Leader, PWC


“India is a fairly underutilized market. Therefore, with leaps in both technology & innovation, establishment of Neo banks, it’s time India spread its wings to the global market, and that is one development I am looking forward to this year.”


Watch the session here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KCfjvk0jWSs




Day 4 – February 12, 2022




Fireside chat: Interaction between Mr. Amitabh Kant (CEO Niti Aayog) and Mr. Nandan Nilekani (Co-Founder and Chairman of Infosys, Founding Chairman of UIDAI & Chairman of EkStep).


What began with Aadhaar, and UPI is now a financial revolution in India. As we stand on the brink of a big change, Nandan Nilekani (Co-Founder & Chairman of Infosys & the force behind Aadhaar) in a chat with Amitabh Kant (CEO, Niti Aayog) shared insights on enabling the next wave of financial inclusion, Account Aggregator Network and shared some success stories on the AA platform. Additionally, he also touched upon digital banking, CBDC, India’s stand in the global fintech ecosystem.


While sharing some invaluable suggestions for future entrepreneurs and other FinTech stakeholders, Nandan Nilekani also shared his perspective on the inclusion of women entrepreneurs:


“We have created an onboarding ramp for women entrepreneurs. The tools of the game are in place – one can start a company online, pay taxes online and run a business smoothly. What women entrepreneurs need at this hour is the creation of wealth networks and groups of investors who want to support their business.


It is important to open up the capital to women and match young women entrepreneurs with potential pools of wealth.”




Watch the session here – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7GZkdI_4FJg




Day 5 – February 14, 202


Panel Discussion: Democratising Financial Services for a Billion Indians using Technology


Panelists: Moderated by Rahul Chari (CTO, PhonePe), the panelists include Dr. Pramod Varma (CTO, EkStep) and Dilip Asbe (MD & CEO, NPCI)


The session covered a wide range of topics such as the digital economy architecture, digital public goods infrastructure, the cruciality of an empowered ecosystem, and the continued need for a simplistic approach to bring Billion Indians into the fold of the digital financial services ecosystem.




Dilip Asbe (MD & CEO NPCI)


“We are sitting on a tipping point. Whether it’s technology, coverage, or use cases, there is an opportunity for India to lead the world and I think we will.”




Dr. Pramod Varma (CTO, EkStep Foundation)


“User empowerment will need to be driven through interoperability and necessary diversity & inclusion as no single app can solve a Billion population’s problems.”




Rahul Chari (Co-Founder and CTO, PhonePe):


“Expanding the digital payments ecosystem itself presents so many opportunities – from education, awareness to detection of fraud and many more. Moving 700 million people to the digital payment ecosystem is a herculean task and there is a lot of scope for phenomenal growth.”




Watch the session here – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tNI6gVxANAM




Forthcoming sessions: While week One witnessed some exciting discourse on the Fintech industry, as we step into week two of the Fintech Open month, get ready for a series of panel discussions with industry stalwarts sharing thought-provoking perspectives and the launch of India’s biggest fintech hackathon. 




Here’s a sneak peek of the upcoming events:


  • February 16, 2022 – Panel discussion on Open Investments


Panelists: Moderated by Nithin Kamath (CEO, Zerodha), the panelists include Vijay Chandhok (ICICI Securities), Lalit Keshre (Groww) and Kavitha Subramaniam (C-Founder, Upstox)


Details on the session: The session will cover the investment landscape in India and how it is rapidly changing. It will discuss how FinTechs are innovating and building user-friendly products to get more Indians to start investing.


  • February 18, 2022 – Panel discussion on Open Insurance


Panelists: Moderated by Sameer Nigam (CEO, PhonePe), the panelists include Yashish Dahiya (CEO, Policy Bazaar), Anuj Gulati (CEO Care) and Varun Dua (CEO, Acko).


Details on the session: The session will talk about the Insurance landscape in India and how the market has become more open and receptive to buying Insurance in the last few years. It will also talk about future growth prospects for the industry and how FinTechs can build Insurance for Tier, 2,3 and beyond.


That’s not all! The highlight of the summit will be India’s biggest fintech hackathon ever, which will provide an opportunity to individual developers and the start-up community to present breakthrough ideas with the potential to solve real-world problems. To foster creativity, innovation, and an entrepreneurial mindset among children, another hackathon for school students will also be organized via Atal Innovation Mission’s Atal Tinkering Labs network. Additionally, the work undertaken by FinTech’s will also be showcased, and the most innovative start-up will be recognized in a virtual felicitation ceremony.


So, don’t forget to tune in and check out the Fintech Open Month website for more details here – https://cic.niti.gov.in/fintech-open-month.html


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DS/AKJ/AK




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Join TikTok for a month of #RnBvibes, with Khalid, Summer Walker, Normani, and more

Nov 6, 2021 | Business

As the weather gets colder and cuffing season approaches, there’s no better time to get cozy and listen to your favorite R&B jams. For the whole month of November, we’re celebrating all things R&B, with LIVEs from your favorite artists, guest playlists, and the featured #RnBvibes hashtag that allows fans to show their appreciation for the music.

The month of #RnBvibes kick off in earnest on Friday (11/5) with a LIVE Q&A with Summer Walker, in which she will answer questions about her new album Still Over It, releasing the same day.

Summer Walker is merely the first of many LIVE streams from some of today’s biggest R&B stars: TikTok will host an intimate LIVE performance from Khalid, on November 12th, featuring new songs from his upcoming album, and on November 24th, Normani will go LIVE and pay tribute to all her fans who made the #WildSideChallenge a success. Beyond that, look out for an upcoming Sound-Off from JoJo on November 10th, AfroBeat Superstar Tiwa Savage on November 17th and a LIVE from Kehlani on November 19th.

Along with the star-studded series of TikTok LIVEs, we’ve created five brand new playlists, highlighted on the Sounds page of the app. From classic soul to modern moods, the new playlists provide a overview of the past, present, and future of R&B. Stay tuned in the coming weeks for guest-curated playlists from R&B experts Alicia Keys, Mario, and Silk Sonic.

Please join us in celebrating one of our favorite genres and show appreciation for our favorite artists by using the hashtag #RnBvibes.

EPFO adds 12.37 lakh net subscribers in the month of February, 2021

Apr 21, 2021 | Business

The provisional payroll data of EPFO has been published on 20th April, 2021 highlights a growing trend with the addition of 12.37 lakh net subscribers during the month of February, 2021. Despite COVID-19 pandemic, EPFO has added around 69.58 lakh net subscribers during the current financial year.

The data reflects growth of 3.52% in net subscribers addition in February, 2021 over January, 2021. Year-on-year comparison of payroll data indicates an increase of 19.63% in net subscribers as compared to the corresponding period in February 2020.The growth may partly be attributed to various e-initiatives taken by EPFO for seamless and uninterrupted service delivery in addition to the policy support for formalization of the economy through ABRY, PMGKY and PMRPY schemes of Government of India, amid COVID -19 pandemic.

Of the 12.37 lakh net subscribers added during the month of February 2021, around 7.56 lakh new members have come into the social security ambit of EPFO for the first time. Around 4.81 lakh net subscribers exited and then rejoined EPFO by switching their jobs within the establishments covered by EPFO and choosing to retain membership through transfer of funds rather than opting for final settlement.

The data of exited members is based on the claims submitted by the individuals/establishments and the exit data uploaded by employers, whereas number of new subscribers is based on the Universal Account Number (UAN) generated in the system and has received non-zero subscription.

Age-wise analysis indicates that during February 2021, the age-bracket of 22-25 has registered highest number of net enrollments with around 3.29 lakh net subscribers addition. This is followed by age-bracket of 29-35 with around 2.51 lakh net enrollments. This age group can be considered as experienced workers who changed jobs for career growth and opted to be with EPFO.

Category-wise analysis of industries reflects dominance of ‘expert services’ category with overall additions of 4.99 lakh net payroll additions in February 2021, followed by ‘Trading-commercial establishments’ category, contributing around 84,000 subscribers.

Pan India comparison shows that states of Maharashtra, Haryana, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka are in forefront of net payroll addition. These five states contributed 54.81% of the total net subscribers additions across all the age-groups by adding 38.14 lakh net subscribers during the current financial year.

Gender-wise analysis reflects addition of around 2.60 lakh net female subscribersin the month of February, 2021 which is 21% of total net addition during the month. Month-on-month comparison indicates an increase of approximately 12.74% over the previous month of January, 2020.

The payroll data is provisional since the data generation is a continuous exercise as updation of employee record is a continuous process. The previous data hence gets updated every month. Since April, 2018 EPFO has been releasing payroll data covering the period September 2017 onwards. The data published comprises of members who have joined during the month and whose contribution has been received.

During the difficult time of Covid19 pandemic, EPFO is committed to provide a helping hand to all its stakeholders and reaffirms its vision to be an innovation driven social security organisation aiming to ensure Nirbadh-Seamless and uninterrupted service delivery.

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EPFO adds 13.36 lakh net subscribers in the month of January, 2021

Mar 22, 2021 | Business

The provisional payroll data of EPFO published on 20th March, 2021 highlights a growing trend of subscriber base with the addition of 13.36 lakh net subscribers during the month of January, 2021. Despite COVID-19 pandemic, EPFO added around 62.49 lakh subscribers during  the current financial year.

The data reflects growth of 24% for the month of January, 2021 over December, 2020. Year-on-year comparison of payroll data indicates an increase of 27.79% in net subscribers’ as compared to the corresponding period last year, indicating return to the pre-Covid levels of subscriber growth for EPFO. Growing  trend in EPFO payroll numbers and the accelerated expansion of the subscription base may partly be attributed to recent e-initiatives taken by EPFO for seamless and uninterrupted service delivery in addition to the policy support for formalization of the economy through ABRY, PMGKY and PMRPY schemes of Government of India, amid COVID -19 pandemic. 

Of the 13.36 lakh net subscribers added during the month of January 2021, around 8.20 lakh new members will receive the benefit of EPFO’s social security schemes for the first time. Around 5.16 lakh net subscribers exited and then rejoined EPFO indicating switching of jobs by the subscribers within the establishments covered by EPFO and subscribers choosing to retain membership by transferring funds rather than opting for final settlement. Members are now availing the facility of hassle-free auto-transfer of PF holdings from old PF account to the new PF account on change of job, which facilitates continuity of their membership with EPFO.

Net payroll addition data reflects that the number of members exiting EPFO has been declining  continuously after the peaking in June 2020, during current financial year. This trend indicates that the adverse impact of COVID- 19 on members’ exit from EPFO has gradually dissipated.

The data of exited members is based on the claims submitted by the individuals/establishments and the exit data uploaded by employers, whereas number of new subscribers is based on the Universal Account Number (UAN) generated in the system and have received non-zero subscription.

Age-wise analysis indicates that during January 2021, the age-bracket of 22-25 has registered substantial growth in subscriber base with around 3.48 lakh net enrollments. This age-group may be considered as freshers in the job market. This is followed by age-bracket of 29-35 with around 2.69 lakh net enrollments, which can be seen as experienced workers who changed jobs for career growth and opted to be with EPFO.

Category-wise analysis of industry reflects healthy growth as compared with the previous months. The ‘expert services’ category still tops in volume terms with 5.65 lakh net payroll addition during January 2021 . Among top 10 industry classification Computer and IT services category along with Electrical, Mechanical or General Engineering Products category registered highest month-on-month  growth of around 40%  as compared to previous month with 42205 and  77392 net additions for January 2021, respectively. This was followed by Trading & Commercial establishments category with 82238 net payroll additions registering 27% growth as compared to previous month. 

Pan India comparison shows that states of Maharashtra, Haryana, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka are in forefront of net payroll addition by adding 34.24 lakh net subscribers out of 62.49 lakh cumulative net subscribers added during the current financial year, across all the age-groups. 

Gender-wise analysis shows that 2.61 lakh net female subscribers were added in the month of January, 2021 showing an increase of approximately 30% over the previous month of December, 2020.

The payroll data is provisional since the data generation is a continuous exercise as updation of employee record is a continuous process. The previous data hence gets updated every month. Since April, 2018 EPFO has been releasing payroll data covering the period September 2017 onwards. The data published comprises of members who have joined during the month and whose contribution has been received.