The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) will debut the Digital Rupee in the Financial Year 2022-23, according to the Hon’ble Finance Minister of India’s Union Budget Speech on February 1, 2022. Meanwhile, China’s e-Yuan, currently in pilot mode, had its global premiere at the Beijing Winter Olympics 2022 when most foreign athletes got to experience a Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) for the first time. However, the Bahamas and Nigeria were among the first to establish CBDCs. Given that recent economic sanctions against Russia have granted governments additional reasons to implement alternative payment systems, such as CBDCs, it’s more vital than ever to understand and evaluate the experience of a few countries that are already ahead of the curve.

Source: https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/cbdctracker/

But, before we go any further, you need to familiarize yourself with what a CBDC is, as well as its pros and cons – read up on our previous blog post. Additionally, a few key terms can help in laying the groundwork:

• Possible Use Cases: A CBDC can be issued for either Retail purposes, implying that it can be used for all transactions by the public, or Wholesale, suggesting that it can only be used for bank-to-bank transactions and settlement. A Wholesale CBDC is expected to improve efficiency in large-value interbank settlements while also being programmable. A Retail CBDC is projected to promote a far broader cause of financial inclusion, bolster digital economies, and improve the efficiency of retail payment systems.
• Architecture: A CBDC can have one of three legal structures:

A Direct CBDC may cause financial disintermediation because commercial banks and non-banks will have no participation in its operation, but a Synthetic CBDC may limit monetary policy permeability and increase the risk of financial instability. A hybrid CBDC, on the contrary, is based on a time-tested paradigm in which both the central bank and financial intermediaries play active roles in the delivery of financial services while also promoting innovation.

• Infrastructure: Depending on how the security and verification aspects of transactions are defined, a CBDC can be built on a centrally controlled database or distributed ledger technology, which saw a breakthrough with crypto assets.
• Access: A CBDC can be accessed and used to make payments using either an account-based system, similar to our bank accounts, or digital tokens, which are more like physical cash. A fundamental distinction between the two is that, unlike an account-based CBDC, a digital token can retain the anonymity of cash.

Any central bank would strive to support the advantages of both physical cash (anonymity, settlement upon payment) and electronic payment systems (low cost, efficient and difficult to counterfeit), regardless of which mix of the above is chosen to construct a CBDC.

Let’s look at what it’s been like on the ground. We chose three countries to highlight out of the many that are experimenting with CBDC: China because it was the first to publicly announce its CBDC ambitions and has covered a lot of ground; Nigeria, because it is the largest country by population to have formally launched its CBDC; and Sweden, because of its unique objectives and differentiated design.

China’s e-CNY (under pilot):

China started working on the CBDC in 2014 and has been testing e-CNY pilots in cities across the country since December 2019. Given the early start and China’s stated desire to promote Yuan internationalization, it was widely assumed that e-CNY would hasten the process. However, all such speculations were dispelled by the People’s Bank of China’s (PBOC) research paper, which was published in July 2021. It said categorically that e-CNY is intended to “bolster the domestic economy, promote financial inclusion and make monetary and payment systems more efficient”. Meanwhile, e-CNY had been successfully tested across several use cases aligned with its objectives. By the end of June 2021, e-CNY transaction volume had already clocked 70.75 million, with a total value of RMB 34.5 billion (~$5.4 billion)!

Some distinguishing features of the e-CNY system are:

• Allows those without bank accounts to enjoy basic financial services
• Supports offline payments
• Supports ‘managed anonymity’ despite embracing an ‘account-based’ access model – small-value payments are expected to be anonymous

According to PBOC, e-CNY will now be tested across a broader range of use cases, involving all relevant stakeholders in the ecosystem. Prior to the commercial debut, it will expand its research on the influence of e-CNY on monetary policy and financial stability. Furthermore, China is taking an active part in the worldwide CBDC standard-setting, having joined the Multiple CBDC Bridge (mCBDC) headed by the BIS Innovation Hub, where it is jointly exploring various CBDC possibilities with other central banks.

Nigeria’s eNaira (launched):

Nigeria’s CBDC, eNaira, was launched with much fanfare in October 2021. While the project is still in its infancy, news reports suggest that the initial enthusiasm has waned. Nonetheless, its motivations for introducing eNaira are similar to those of other emerging nations that are likely to be keeping a close eye on the currency’s success. The following are some of the motivations:

• Promoting financial inclusion – While a bank account is required to use eNaira in the first phase, the second phase is planned to eliminate the requirement
• Reduce the amount of cash in circulation and, consequently, the cost of processing cash — the eNaira will contain all the characteristics of cash, such as direct claims on the central bank, no interest payable, and so on
• Enabling direct welfare payout to citizens — eNaira’s account-based capabilities enable welfare funds to be delivered directly to recipients without the risk of theft
• Increasing tax collection – As the economy becomes more organized as physical cash is phased out, tax revenues are likely to rise
• Facilitating diaspora remittances — eNaira is supposed to be a more efficient, secure, and cost-effective way to send money back home

In the first phase, eNaira was launched with a few basic functionalities. Depending on input from eNaira users and regular calibration of perceived threats from typical CBDC issues, the Central Bank of Nigeria is projected to gradually introduce many more functions to meet its core objectives.

Sweden’s eKrona (under pilot): 

While financial inclusion is a driving force behind e-CNY and eNaira, eKrona is being created to solve a different problem: the decline in cash usage! Yes, the Riksbank, Sweden’s central bank, recognizes that the decline in cash may limit its direct role in the payments ecosystem, making its goal of fostering a secure and efficient payment system more difficult. As a result, the Riksbank started testing eKrona in a closed system with simulated participants (intermediaries like commercial banks), end-users, and payment instruments in 2020. The first part of the pilot’s findings was positive, indicating that digital tokens appear to enhance cash use and hence improve Riksbank’s direct role in controlling the money supply. The Riksbank, nevertheless, recognizes that the pilot must now go on to the next stage, in which it intends to:

• Integrate with systems of actual participants
• Create an offline function so that digital tokens can be exchanged without the need for a network
• Test out various options by storing tokens and their keys in different ways that can be used for a variety of purposes
• Evaluate and improve the eKrona network’s performance and scalability

The ecosystem of a CBDC will be newly established and will act as an alternative to the existing electronic payment infrastructure, which is a common benefit of having one. The ramifications of the CBDC for monetary policy, financial stability, and financial disintermediation, on the other hand, are still uncertain. Even the legal aspects of a CBDC, which is neither whole cash nor equivalent to a deposit in a bank account, as well as data governance mechanisms, must be thoroughly examined before its use grows.

We’ll keep a close eye (with a magnifying glass!) on the various central banks’ evolving experiences. For the time being, we eagerly anticipate the RBI’s next steps on the Digital Rupee, which will detail its objectives, design elements, and commercial launch timeline.

References:

CBDCs: an opportunity for the monetary system –  https://www.bis.org/publ/arpdf/ar2021e3.htm

Progress of Research & Development of E-CNY in China – http://www.pbc.gov.cn/en/3688110/3688172/4157443/4293696/2021071614584691871.pdf

eNaira Design Paper – https://www.enaira.gov.ng/about/design

E-krona pilot phase 1 – https://www.riksbank.se/en-gb/payments–cash/e-krona/e-krona-reports/e-krona-pilot-phase-1-report-3/

India’s e-commerce sector has grown significantly over the past few years and is expected to grow multifold in the coming years. The growth has been driven by increasing internet penetration, rising smartphone adoption, and the growing popularity of online shopping among consumers. The D2C and B2B segments have seen significant growth due to the increasing popularity of online marketplaces, making it easier for businesses to reach customers directly and for buyers to find a wider range of products at competitive prices. The projected growth of the D2C market to US$ 60 billion by FY27 and the overall e-commerce market to US$ 350 billion by 2030 highlights the tremendous potential of the sector in India (according to a recent report published by e-commerce enablement platform Shiprocket in collaboration with CII)

Further, India has seen a boom in smartphone penetration as well as tremendous growth in digital transactions. The number of internet connections in 2021 saw a tremendous growth to 830 million, driven by the ‘Digital India’ programme and the digital transactions in January 23 were close to (in terms of value) INR 12.98 Lk Cr (according to the latest TRAI data).

Given an understanding of the low adoption of mobile penetration in rural areas, assisted commerce was born and is now a full-fledged huge business opportunity for the commerce industry.

The assisted commerce industry is growing rapidly, driven by several factors, including the increasing popularity of mobile messaging apps, the rise of voice assistants, and the growing demand for personalized and seamless shopping experiences.

One of the key benefits of assisted commerce is that it allows businesses to provide 24/7 customer service, without the need for human customer support staff. This can help improve customer satisfaction and reduce costs for businesses.

Assisted commerce is also helping businesses to improve their customer engagement and loyalty by providing personalized recommendations and targeted marketing messages.

Imagine a situation where an individual may require support to make online purchases or conduct transactions- What started as kiosks in tier–3, 4, 5, and 6 towns and villages to help people navigate online government services and promote financial inclusion created a whole new business model.

The goal of assisted commerce is to enable individuals to participate in the digital economy and make purchases independently, by offering some level of assistance.

Assisted commerce can take many forms, depending on the individual’s needs and abilities. For example, helping individuals in rural areas to navigate online shopping platforms, bill payments, and train and bus ticket purchases. Alternatively, it may involve support staff or caregivers assisting individuals with shopping in physical stores or conducting financial transactions.

Assisted commerce is important because it can help promote independence and autonomy for individuals who may otherwise face barriers to participating in the new economy. By providing the necessary support and assistance, individuals with disabilities or the elderly can have greater control over their finances and make purchases that align with their needs and goals.

On this, Prepaid cards can be a very useful tool, as they offer a way for caregivers or support staff to manage and monitor the individual’s spending while still allowing them to make purchases independently. Many prepaid card programs offer features specifically designed for assisted commerce, such as cardholder and caregiver controls.

Some examples of the types of transactions that can happen via Assisted Commerce:

1. Online shopping: Individuals who require assistance to navigate online shopping platforms may receive help from caregivers or support staff to browse products, compare prices, and make purchases.
2. Bill payments: Individuals may require assistance with paying bills (utility/mobile/etc), such as by helping to navigate online payment platforms
3. Banking transactions: Individuals may require assistance with banking transactions by making deposits or withdrawals at a bank branch or through online or mobile banking platforms.
4. Direct money transfers can also be facilitated with the help of assisted commerce. This can involve using a variety of payment methods, such as bank transfers, wire transfers, or mobile payment apps.

We at CARD91 can play an important role in facilitating assisted commerce by providing innovative solutions that will be easier for businesses that may have limited access to banking services. If you’ve any use case, particularly on Assisted Commerce, you may write us at sales@card91.io

Written by Khushboo Bakhru, Senior Manager – Partnerships & Sales

In today’s ever-evolving financial landscape, optimizing credit card management processes is imperative for sustained growth and regulatory compliance. That’s why I’m excited to introduce Optimus – an advanced credit card tech stack meticulously developed by CARD91. Optimus, derived from Latin meaning “The Best,” signifies a significant advancement in credit card life-cycle management, empowering financial institutions and raising customer service standards. 

With its customer-centric approach, Optimus enables financial institutions to meet the diverse needs of digitally savvy users. Through secure onboarding and a seamless digital journey, Optimus facilitates faster customer onboarding and improved service quality. By providing personalized rewards and streamlining processes, Optimus enhances customer satisfaction, elevating the overall customer experience and delivering added value to help institutions stand out in the rapidly growing credit card market.

Here are key features that position Optimus as a game-changer in credit card management –

Regulatory Compliance and Modernity:

Optimus is meticulously designed with a modern and modular framework to ensure strict adherence to industry regulations. This architecture provides financial institutions with a robust platform to navigate complex regulatory landscapes confidently. By upholding regulatory standards, Optimus mitigates the risk of penalties and legal issues, fostering a secure operational environment.

Configurable Credit Programs:

Optimus offers unparalleled configurability, allowing institutions to tailor credit programs to diverse customer needs and market dynamics. From setting credit limits to defining spending criteria and incentivizing usage, Optimus provides the flexibility to orchestrate credit programs seamlessly. This adaptability empowers institutions to stay agile and responsive to evolving market demands, driving innovation and maintaining competitiveness.

Customised Rewards:

Optimus enables financial institutions to offer personalized rewards tailored to individual cardholders’ preferences and spending habits. Whether it is cashback on specific categories, discounts at preferred merchants, or exclusive access to events, Optimus empowers institutions to create bespoke rewards programs that resonate with their customers, fostering stronger loyalty and engagement.

Digital-First Approach: 

Optimus offers a digital-first approach, prioritizing a user-centric experience aligned with modern expectations. By leveraging optimized digital channels and streamlined processes, Optimus enhances convenience and accessibility for cardholders, ensuring seamless interactions and efficient credit card management.

In conclusion, Optimus represents a transformative milestone in credit card management technology. With its robust regulatory compliance, configurable features, rewards program, and digital-first approach Optimus empowers financial institutions to navigate intricate regulatory environments while delivering unparalleled customer experiences.

I also extend my heartfelt congratulations to the exceptional CARD91 team for their dedication and innovation in launching Optimus. 

Ready to experience the future of credit card management? 

Reach out, and let us demonstrate the power of Optimus. Book DEMO now.

(Blog Authored By: Ajay Pandey, CEO & Co-Founder CARD91)

E-Commerce has broken the political borders and offers products & services across different country borders. This has resulted in a high volume of cross-border goods and payment flows. 

Cross border payments have become an integral part of the day-to-day activities of global businesses. Small Businesses’ zeal to expand their business beyond their country boundaries has been well supported by ongoing digitalisation and high-end technological capabilities across multiple sectors and industries. However, it continues to face significant challenges owing to complicated cross-border mechanisms. The Small businesses face challenges in making or receiving payments internationally because of dealing in different currencies and country specific rules and regulations for international payments. This has created a need for a more agile and frictionless cross border payment framework making cross-border payments as simple as domestic transactions.

What are Cross-border payments?  

Cross-border payments are defined when both the parties i.e. buyer and sellers involved in the transaction are registered in different countries. Most popular cross border payments methods are wire transfer, credit cards and alternative payment methods- mobile wallet, low value payment method. All interaction for payments happens between buyers and sellers through their respective Banks. The Banks communicate with each other through the SWIFT mechanism when it comes to international transactions. 

In Traditional cross-border payments of correspondent banks, the number of intermediary banks depends on the relationship of the buyer’s and seller bank’s with the correspondent bank. As the number of intermediary banks increases, costs associated with fees and commissions also increase. A Bank can track the transactions till its immediate bank. It becomes difficult for the originating bank to track the transaction once the payment goes to the next bank in the sequence. There is no standard procedure for cross-border payments due to different rules and regulations of each country.  Evolving customer requirements, instantaneous fund transfer, cost reduction, complete transparency and technological innovation has initiated the process to improve cross-border payments as a whole.

Cash Flow in Cross-border Payments

When a customer makes a purchase, there’s a complete back-end process wherein money gets transferred from the buyer’s bank account to the seller’s bank account. This process becomes very complex when it comes to cross-border payments. In international transactions, currency exchange rates and foreign transaction fees are also involved along with the fees or commission charged by the different bank in the value-chain. In cross border payments domestic and international financial institutions are working together to make the transfer of funds.

When a purchase is made, if the buyer’s and seller’s bank have a direct relationship payment is done very easily and seamlessly but in the absence of direct relationship intermediary bank’s role becomes important. These intermediary banks are called correspondent banks.

Major Banks across the globe have their own branch or correspondent bank’s branch in another city. In such cases, the funds will first move from the Buyer’s bank branch to the Bank’s own branch or its Correspondent bank’s branch in the seller’s country. This fund is further transferred to the seller’s bank who will then credit the seller’s account. There are many entities, different currencies, exchange rates and transaction fees involved in the single international transaction which make the process slow and opaque in nature. The more the number of correspondent banks in the chain, cost and complexity of transaction keeps on increasing

In the Era of Globalised Digital Economy, international payments still felt backward and analogue.

A Revolution in Cross Border Payments  

The future of cross-border payments is clear wherein the world requires ability to move funds instantaneously, seamlessly with full transparency and 24*7 access. As the payment industry started moving forward on this journey, an array of new industry initiatives and emerging technologies are transforming the payments process. Fintechs using emerging technologies like blockchain, artificial intelligence, machine learning have started offering faster, agile and seamless solutions to the financial institutions to cater the emerging needs of customers.

Currently multiple paths are being used by the payment service providers such as Real-time payments, SWIFT gpi, SWIFT’s transaction manager, artificial intelligence, blockchain and digital currencies- cryptocurrency, central bank digital currency and stable coins. These new ways in cross-border payments would provide opportunities to make cross-border transactions faster, more frictionless, efficient, transparent and cost-effective like domestic transactions. Fintechs act as catalysts for innovation and bring global payments together through various approaches. Banks have started collaborating with fintech to mend their strengths and optimize their offerings by enhancing the payments infrastructure with latest technologies.

This revolution will transform the landscape of cross-border payments and empower the end user with full control on sending and receiving international payments at any point in time with complete transparency related to fees/ commissions charged and traceability of transactions in the system.

As per Deloitte report – B2B and P2P payments with blockchain would result in a 40% to 80% reduction in transaction costs and take an average of four to six seconds to finalize (compared to two to three days using the standard transfer process).

Card industry has seen steady growth in the last two decades from EMV chip card (use a smart microchip to store data instead of mag stripe) payments to contactless payments, but security remains a big challenge for the industry. These concerns have led to innovations towards more reliable and secure technologies such as biometric card payment. Such technologies have received significant boosters during the contagious Global pandemic of COVID-19. People started preferring contactless payment methods for payments using Mobile wallets or tap and pay cards to avoid any kind contact as precautionary measures. The main concern with the current contactless payment system is the upper cap on the transaction amount. To boost the contactless payment, RBI has increased the limit from Rs 2000 to Rs 5000 during the pandemic period. However, higher transaction limits for tap and pay cards posed bigger security concerns since no second factor is being used for payment authorisation. Biometric cards do provide a ray of hope by addressing some of the challenges faced by the card industry.

Biometric Cards: Innovation for Secure Payments

What are Biometric Cards? 

Biometric cards are a unique combination which uses the payment mechanism of a regular Card, authentication mechanism of biometric based payment while maintaining the safety mechanism of contactless payment. Biometric contactless cards offer more security and seamless user experience than all the other payment modes by combining their best features and avoiding their shortcomings. Each Biometric Card has a built-in fingerprint reader hence customers do not need to remember their PIN or touch any POS terminal, as all transactions are performed by touching the fingerprint reader on the card itself. Biometric payment cards ensure the same existing EMV standards and use typical safety measures like end-to-end encryption along with tokenization with additional layer of security, by adding finger size biometric reader on the card for biometric authentication. In the case of cards Lost or Stolen, chances of replicating fingerprints or stealing data from Card for fraudulent activities is implausible. Also, personal data of cardholders is stored only on the card and is neither held on the bank server nor sent to any external database. We tech savvy people always want more personalised and high technology cards and these biometric cards are the exact solution for our requirements.

How do Biometric cards work?

• Once the biometric card is received, the cardholder can securely install the fingerprints data in the card by inserting the biometric card in the sleeve and following the simple procedure provided.

• Cardholders can also configure the fingerprints by visiting their nearest bank branch.

• Card activation is completed at the time of the first transaction at the POS terminal. 

• At the time of making the payment, customers can place the card on the POS terminal.

• The POS terminal reads the card details and requests for authentication.

• Customers can authenticate the transaction by placing their finger on a biometric reader on the card thus avoiding any direct contact with the POS terminal.

Benefits to Stakeholders

• Highly Safe, Secure and easy to use. 

• Easy and quick registration of fingerprint data on card at home or by visiting bank branch

• Instant and seamless payments authorisation.

• No need to remember the card PIN.

• Technical compatibility with the existing contactless or chip payments terminals

• No additional cost for merchants to accept payments through biometric payment.

• Self-charging – biometric sensor is powered using a terminal.

• No queue on the checkout counter because payment processing is faster with biometric cards.

The only challenge with the biometric card is that only the cardholder can use the card because transactions get completed only after the successful fingerprint authentication and biometric technology can only capture one unique identity that can never be changed.

Way Forward

Biometric cards can bridge the gap between innovation and security concerns of the current payment system. It will gain trust of banks and service providers by providing complete customer assurance and convenience to use with no additional efforts on their part than simply putting a thumb on the card. All these benefits put together make biometric cards setting the new industry standards from a security and convenience point of view in the payment industry. According to the ABI research around 2.5 Million biometric contactless cards are expected to be issued in 2021 and growth of biometric cards is expected to soar globally in the next few years.

In a country like ours which is predominantly rural and agricultural based, where the illiteracy rate is very high and remembering PIN/ Password for cards is very challenging. The benefits of Biometric cards will be a real boon for us. Biometric payment cards provide all-in-one high-end technology, convenience, usability of smartphones and security assurance with reduced effort on the customer’s part. Now is the perfect time for Indian banks to start offering biometric cards to its users and  make India a cashless and digital economy.