This article is written by Mansi Sharma, a student of Diploma in Entrepreneurship, Administration and Business Laws from LawSikho as a part of her coursework. She is a student of Balaji Law College, Pune.

Introduction

Fintech is a financial technology that improves and automates the delivery and use of financial services. It helps companies, business owners and consumers to manage their financial operations, processes and to utilize special software and algorithms. Fintech emerged in 21^st century and was initially applied to technology employed in financial institutions.

It includes innovation and automation of financial sector including advances in financial literacy, advice and education, as well as streamlining of wealth management, lending and borrowing, retail banking, fund rising, money transfers/payments, investment management and more.

Fintech as a New technology:

Fintech is a keen adaptor of automated customer service technology, utilizing chatbots to and AI interfaces to assist customers with basic tasks and also keep down staffing costs. It help to fight fraud by leveraging information about payment history to flag transactions that are outside the norm.

Some of most active areas of Fintech innovations are following:-

1. Cryptocurrency and digital cash.
2. Blockchain technology, including Ethereum, a distributed ledger technology (DLT) that, maintain n records on a network of computers, but has no central ledger.
3. Smart contracts, which utilize computer programs (often utilizing the blockchain ) to automatically execute contracts between buyers and sellers.
4. Open banking, a concept that leans on the blockchain and posits that third parties should have access to bank to built applications that create a connected network of financial institutions and third party providers.
5. Insurtech, which seeks to use technology to simplify the streamline the insurance industry.
6. Regtech, which seeks to help financial service firms meet industry compliance rules, especially those covering Anti-money Laundering and know your customer protocols which fight fraud.
7. Robo-advisors, such a betterment, utilize algorithms to automate investment advice to lower its cost and increase accessibility.
8. Unbanked/underbanked, services that seek to serve disadvantaged or low income individuals who are ignored or underserviced by traditional banks or main stream financial services companies.
9. Cyber security, giving a proliferation of cybercrime and the centralized storage of data, cyber security and Fintech are intertwined.

What is a Fintech Company?

A Fintech company is one that develops new technology and ideas in order to offer an alternative e financial product that disrupts the existing ones. A good example is TransferWise, who eradicated the old practice of paying massive fee for sending money abroad by offering a service which let people transfer money between themselves.

Another examples are digital only banks such as ATOM or MONDO – these businesses don’t just make full use of the technology , they also provide a better customer service which is something you don’t normally associate with a bank.

The Fintech industry consists of the following:

1. Mobile payments
2. Instant money transfers
3. Instant loans
4. Crowdfunding
5. Asset management, etc.

Products offered by a Fintech company:

1. Single interface for managing accounts
2. Multilingual mobile applications
3. Cardless withdrawals from ATMs

Top 5 FINTECH Companies

1. OPEN – BANKOPEN ; Asia’s First NEO Bank offered by India
2. NCPI – National Payment Corporation of India
3. BBPS & UPI
4. RUBIQUE
5. LazyPay – PAYU

OPEN – BANKOPEN: Asia’s First NEO Bank offered by India

Bank Open is a NEO bank. It issues a Bank account number, and IFSC code and it’s all they do on the frame of bank which is running on a background. Neo-banking emerged about 5 years ago through Fintech players such as Atom and Monzo bank.

Neo-bank is a new type of digital bank that exists without any branches. Neo-banks are starting to evolve with not only the introduction of equity crowd funding, but legislation being put forward that reduces restrictions on an organization. It is sitting on a 100% digital and mobile platform, but its systems are 100% new too, which means it is not simply a digital front end to a traditional bank.

Open is a business banking services that combines everything from banking to invoicing and automated bookkeeping in one place. Open is Asia’s first digital banking service that offers an all-in-one digital bank account that includes a current account packed with powerful tools for bookkeeping, invoices, moving money and accessing credit.

NCPI : National Payments Corporation of India

NCPI is an organization for operating retail payments and settlement systems in India. NCPI is a payment industry which was founded in 2008 . Its products are NFS (National Financial Switch), NACH, IMPS (Immediate Payment Service), RuPay, CTS (Cheque Truncation System), AePS (Aadhaar Enabled Payment System), UPI (Unified Payments Interface), *99#, BHIM, Bharat bill Payment System. The organization (NCPI) is owned consortium of major banks and has been promoted by country’s Central Bank, the Reserve Bank of India.

Presently, there are ten core promoter Banks i.e SBI – State Bank of India, PNB – Punjab National Bank, Canara Bank, Bank of Baroda , Union Bank of India, BOI – Bank of India, ICICI Bank, HDFC bank, CITI Bank and HSBC.

BBPS and UPI

BBPI – Bharat Bill Payment System, is an integrated bill payment system which offers interoperable and accessible bill payment services to customers through registered agents and enable multiple payment modes and provide instant confirmation of payments. It is an integrated payment platform which creates a single, bank-agnostic pitstop for all utility payment, while wallet services brought a payment revolution with customers paying their bills through mobile wallets.

UPI – Unified Payments Interface, is a system that powers multiple bank accounts into a single mobile application (of any participating banks) , merging several banking features, seamless fund routing, and merchant payments into one hood. It also caters to the Peer to Peer collect request which can be scheduled and payed as per requirement and convenience. How to get it:

• Bank account
• Mobile number should be linked with bank account
• Smart phone with internet facility
• Debit card for re-setting MPIN

Service Activation:

1. Download the app for UPI
2. Do registration online on the with account details
3. Create a virtual ID
4. Set MPIN
5. 5-7 minutes

Requirement for transactions:

1. Smart phone with internet facility
2. Registered device only
3. Use registered MPIN
4. Self service mode

Transaction Cost:

1. Nil to customer by most banks
2. Customer pays for data charges

Services Offered:

1. Balance enquiry
2. Transaction history
3. Send/pay money
   • Virtual address
   • Account number and IFSC code
   • Mobile number and MMID
   • Aadhaar (to be made functional)
4. Collect money
5. Add bank account
6. Charges/MPIN
7. Notifications
8. Account management

Rubique

Rubique was formed to create an online financial matchmaking market place/credit market place in India that fulfills the financial aspirations during the customer’s life cycle in the simplest, shortest and speediest possible ways. Rubique’s proprietary AI based recommendation engine and Rubique’s financial match making platform allows customers to find the best match to his/her credit requirement. The credit policy digitization is the magic key at the foundation which brings predictability for all and helps in faster turnaround time.

Rubique’s multi-sided lending platform is loaded with features like e-KYC, bank statement analysis, credit bureau check, credit memo generation and MCA integration along with real time application tracking to make it a paperless experience. Built on AI based recommendation engine, Rubique’s online credit market place platform has been integrated with financial institution systems for real time processing and providing online approvals to the customers. Right from the customers, influencers to financial institutions, Rubique offers a host of technology solutions to cover the entire landing spectrum. Rubique provide top-notch solutions to the entire landing spectrum.

It provides lenders with:

• High quality fulfillment
• Fraud detection
• Credit decisioning engine

LazyPay (PAYU)

LazyPay was launched by PAYU in India, a unique online deferred payment facility for customers. It is a product aimed at those who transact digitally for any amount between INR 500 – INR 2500, and is an option to pay later.

PayU is a fintech company that provides payment technology to online merchants. The company was founded in 2002 and is headquartered in Hoofddrop, Netherland. It allows online businesses to accept and process payment through a payment method that can be integrated with web and mobile applications.

PayU is the biggest payment gateway used in India. It is a regulated financial institution which holds licenses from national banks and local regulators. PayU’s products include:

• PCI-DSS certified payment gateway
• An anti-fraud system
• An online- Visa/MasterCard acquirer

PayU is a leading financial services provider in global growth markets using its expertise and heritage in cross border and local payments to extend the services offers to its merchants and customers.

PayU’s innovative technology, developed in-house  as well as throughout investments and strategic partnerships, empowers billions of people and millions of merchants to but and sell online, extending the reach of financial services. Its local operations span 18 markets across Asia, Central and Eastern Europe, Latin America, the Middle East and Africa by delivering fast, simple and efficient financial services technology that unlocks access to more than 2.3 billion consumer. Its unique knowledge of local habits helps to offer cross-border customers access to the best payment services.

---

Students of Lawsikho courses regularly produce writing assignments and work on practical exercises as a part of their coursework and develop themselves in real-life practical skill.