In an unscheduled televised appearance on Nov. 8, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced that 500 and 1,000 rupee notes (which accounted for 86 percent of all currency) would be removed from circulation overnight.

The purpose of this demonetization policy was to promote fiscal transparency, modernize a complex, cash-centric economy and empower social inclusion.

As one would suppose, the impact of such a radical, unexpected approach was immediate and profound. Cash accounted for 90 percent of all transactions, so the early days of demonetized India were defined by queues at ATMs and an economically damaging liquidity crisis. 

With liquidity stabilizing and a more certain picture emerging, however, it is clear that identity, mobile and payments are increasingly converging to meet the challenges of the Indian digital economy.

The Aadhaar program

One of the fundamental pillars supporting demonetization in India is the Aadhaar program.

Aadhaar is a 12-digit unique identification number, which contains biometric and demographic data. Uptake has been extraordinary, with 99 percent of Indians age 18 and older having enrolled as of January 2017, making it by far the world’s most advanced biometric identification scheme. 

The importance of Aadhaar in India’s brave new digital economy cannot be underestimated. This is because it can be used as the sole means of identity verification when accessing financial services, removing the key barrier for India’s unbanked population.

Already, more than 270 million bank accounts have been opened using Aadhaar. 

Mobile infrastructure

This wider and simplified access to financial services is coupled with an increasingly advanced mobile infrastructure.

India boasts the globe’s highest mobile per capita rate, and it will lead the world in smartphone adoption by 2020. Additionally, mobile data use will increase fivefold by 2021.

Consequently, the Indian mobile wallet market is set for 148 percent growth between 2017-22, accounting for $4.4 billion in transactions.

Indeed, we are already seeing considerable innovation across mobile payments and the emergence of a sophisticated mobile payments infrastructure.

For example, the National Payments Corporation of India — an umbrella institution for all retail payment systems designed to facilitate affordable payment mechanisms in the country — has developed its Unified Payment Interface platform. UPI is a payments application that enables users to transfer and transact using just a mobile number, dedicated UPI address or Aadhaar ID.

We also expect several HCE-based mobile wallet solutions to emerge as a quick and cost-effective means of delivering mobile payment services.

In the absence of hardware security, however, the security of cardholder data is integral to ensuring consumer confidence and driving adoption. Compliance with industry standards such as PCI DSS, therefore, is key.

In parallel, the strategic and commercial importance of the Indian market means the OEM “Pay” platforms will undoubtedly have a role to play. Samsung Pay has launched already, and we can surely expect similar announcements from the other technology giants.

POS enablement 

The demonetization process, in parallel with the ongoing EMV migration, means that the merchant community is embarking on the huge task of upgrading the acceptance infrastructure nationwide.

For India’s terminal manufacturers, this expanding market is an unprecedented opportunity. But they must move quickly. 

Tax exemptions for domestic manufacturers are providing an incentive for entry into this increasingly lucrative space, and governmental regulation to relax certification requirements for imported POS terminals will foster further competition from overseas.

Accelerating time to market is key to meeting demand. Manufacturers and developers may therefore want to work with local partners to streamline the certification process for their solutions.

Getting to the next level 

Let us be clear. Demonetization in India is a policy of extraordinary scope and ambition, combining advanced solutions across identity, mobile and payments to revolutionize commerce and financial services across the nation.

It is imperative, therefore, that local players upgrade their knowledge and work with the right partners to assess and analyze the changing landscape to enable them to make the right decisions swiftly, now and in the future.

(Source: https://www.atmmarketplace.com/articles/the-3-things-india-needs-to-go-cashless/)

British people look to security measures more than rates when choosing banks, and biometrics is their preferred authentication method, finds a new survey.

In the survey by specialist lender and savings bank Aldermore, 88% of those surveyed say interest rates are important when choosing a savings provider, slightly ahead of the amount of people who say good customer service is important, 86%.

When it comes to seeking higher returns in a low interest rate environment, nearly one in five (19%) 18-34 year olds would consider riskier savings and investment products which offer higher rates of returns but less protection, compared to only 5% of over-55s.

Across the UK, two thirds (66%) of respondents would not consider using a savings provider that is not covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS), despite the opportunity to benefit from higher interest rates on their savings.

According to the research, the biggest concern for over a third (35%) of people is the threat of direct theft through online hacking.

When asked what would help consumers trust their bank or savings provider more when it comes to security, nearly nine in ten (89%) say they want to see further investment in security technology and 88% want their bank or savings provider to regularly update its security procedures. In addition to this, nearly six in ten (57%) would trust their bank or savings provider more if it offered biometric authentication.

– Planetbiometrics –

On August 8th, 2017 at JW Marriott hotel, the conference “Promoting the application of civil encryption products and services for socio-economic development” was held by Department of Civil Cryptography Management and Cryptographic Product Testing, Government Cipher Committee. 

This was the discussion forum on research, development and application of cryptography products, contributing to the improvement of state management mechanism and policies on cryptography products. It also was the opportunity for leading technology companies to introduce technical solutions, technologies and security products, promoting the application of cryptography to information security in socio-economic field.

The conference was attended by key stakeholders representing the Government office, Ministry of Information and Communications, Government Cipher Committee, departments for managing and applying information technology and information security of the ministries and many others from organizations, enterprises trading & applying cryptography products, i.e. IBM, Oracle, HPE, Bitdefender, Samsung, Sonicwall, Netvision, MK Group, etc.
At the conference, Mr. Le Minh Quoc – CTO of MK Smart presented the All-in-one MK smart customization security solution and Mr. Vu Minh Vu – Solution Manager of MK Group presented the Prim’X high-grade encryption solution.

The All-in-one MK smart customization security solution is highly recommended for its flexibility and applicability of the implementation in practice. This is a high security solution implemented on the basis of the card and USB reader applied security algorithms and updated standards today. By mastering the smart card operating system, MK Smart can provide multi-factor authentication applications, such as: OTP, PKI and biometrics on smart card, token or USB reader. The All-in-one MK solution is designed to make it easy for updating and changing authentication methods or algorithms or biometric identification. The All-in-one MK is a great choice for security devices for e-government, enterprises, banks, personal and organizations.

Meanwhile, with the motto “Encrypt everything, everywhere and always”, the Prim’X high-grade encryption solution provided and presented at the event by MK Group is a new encryption method for greater protection of sensitive data against loss, theft, disclosure and economic espionage. The Prim’X high-grade encryption solution will enable these processes to be all-embracing, simple & transparent, automatic and security policy-driven. This solution is easy to implement for enterprises or government agencies. The Prim’X high-grade encryption solution has been provided for multiple major clients, such as EU, BNP Bank, Thales, the French Interior Ministry, etc.

As the trusted partner in Authentication and Security solutions, MK Group, via the conference “Promoting the application of cryptography products for socio-economic development”, hopes to introduce and provide organizations with efficient encryption methods enhancing data security in daily operations and production.

Visa says it will support of the new global QR Code Payment Specifications from EMVCo, the global technical body that manages the EMV Specifications.

The specifications cover consumer-presented and merchant-presented QR code payment use cases for digital payment acceptance. QR codes are two-dimensional machine-readable barcodes, used to facilitate mobile payments at the point-of-sale.

Visa and the other EMVCo Members worked to develop these new globally interoperable EMV specifications. Visa has already successfully enabled the merchant-presented QR technology in 15 countries around the world, with India, Kenya and Nigeria currently live in mark“We’ve already seen tremendous progress towards adoption of standardized, interoperable QR code payment systems in the developing world,” says Sam Shrauger, SVP, Digital Products, Visa. “We are working with governments and central banks in countries like India to develop and implement QR code payment solutions that provide the convenience and security that are synonymous with Visa and help the journey toward a cashless future.”

Easy Implementation for Merchants

Visa has enabled the growth of merchant-presented QR code payment around the world with its mobile payments solution, mVisa.

mVisa allows consumers to pay for goods and services by scanning a QR code on a smart phone or entering a merchant number into their feature phones. Payment goes straight from the consumer’s Visa account into the merchant’s account and provides real-time notification to both parties.

mVisa is completely interoperable, meaning that the consumer and the merchant do not need to be customers of the same bank. This brings the same convenience, security and reliability provided by the trusted Visa brand.

QR Code Payments Driving a Cashless Future

As digital payments help continue a shift toward a cashless future, this new global specification is an important step that promotes interoperability and standardizes the fast growing ecosystem of QR code payments across the world. Already, 33 banks and more than 328,000 merchants across India, Kenya and Nigeria have adopted the interoperable standards as they accelerate their QR code digital payment programs.

“mVisa enables successful completion of the transaction independent of the mobile operator service on both the consumer and the merchant’s phone, and the consumers and merchant’s banks,” continues Shrauger. “This addresses a major challenge with mobile money programs, and lets consumers and merchants choose their own bank or mobile operator.”

Reserve Bank of India has encouraged the adoption of standardized QR code payment to provide access to low-cost, secure digital payments to millions of consumers and merchants. Working with our partners, Visa is converting both everyday and recurring cash purchases to digital payments through direct integrations with supermarket chains and large utility billers.

By presenting dynamic QR codes to consumers that provide a seamless payment experience, billers such as Tata Sky, Idea Cellular, Reliance Energy, Mahanagar Gas, as well as Pizza Hut and supermarket chains Nakumatt, Spar, and Zucchini, are bringing benefits of digital payments to millions of potential customers.

Visa intends to replicate this success in 12 other countries where mVisa has been enabled: Cambodia, Egypt, Ghana, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Pakistan, Rwanda, Tanzania, Thailand, Uganda and Vietnam.

– PaymentsCards&Mobile –