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Trends the fintech industry should adopt in 2018

 1024 457 Sirish Kumar

Originally published in Entrepreneur India, January 2018   The financial technology industry has been soaring in India, kept abuzz throughout 2017 with a continuous flow of prominent developments by the public and private sector alike. With the implementation of initiatives such as demonetization, Jan Dhan Yojana and UPI, the Government has provided significant direct and…

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Financial inclusion can leapfrog with blockchain technology

 150 150 Sirish Kumar

Originally published in YourStory, 10 January 2018   Back in 2009, as the 2008 global financial meltdown unfolded, cryptocurrencies – and by extension, the Blockchain technology – made their first appearance. Positioned from the outset as an alternative to traditional banking mechanisms, Blockchain raised the possibility of a revolution in the world of financial technology, and…

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Social commerce: the next big thing in payments?

 150 150 Sirish Kumar

Social commerce: the next big thing in payments? Originally published in CXOtoday.com, 12 December 2017 As of today, Facebook hosts 2 billion monthly active users, Whatsapp has made inroads to over 1.2 billion, while nearly 700 million are active on Instagram, and the Twitter bird has caught the fancy of over 328 million users. The…

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Is the UAE retail sector ready to go cashless?

 150 150 Sirish Kumar

Is the UAE retail sector ready to go cashless? Originally published in Startup Scene ME, 15 November 2017 The concept of ‘cashless payments’ is on the rise, due in no small part to the convenience and security that it brings both retailers and consumers, compared to traditional payment methods. A significant factor in the adoption…

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Spreading the word on cashless transactions

 150 150 Sirish Kumar

Spreading the word on cashless transactions Originally published in Gulf News, 31 October 2017 Cashless payments and transactions are on the rise, driven by customer convenience and efficiency. Forty-one per cent of consumers anticipate conducting all transactions through a mobile wallet within five years, according to a recent survey by Ubamarket. Digital commerce and cashless…

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Acceptance of e-payments: boosting sales of MSMEs

 150 150 Sirish Kumar

Acceptance of e-payments: boosting sales of MSMEs Originally published in YourStory, October 2017 While the Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises (MSME) sector forms the backbone of the Indian economy, it continues to remain and operate offline, despite the surge of digitisation sweeping across the nation. According to the joint study shared by KPMG and Google,…

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Is your MENA payment gateway also your gateway to a global market?

 150 150 Sirish Kumar

Is your MENA payment gateway also your gateway to a global market? Originally published in Inc. Arabia, 6 August 2017 Your e-commerce operation might be taking you places you’d never expected to go. The reach of the Internet is staggering—just here in the Middle East, 57% of the population is online, according to Internet World…

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Social commerce and opportunities for regional businesses

 150 150 Sirish Kumar

Social commerce and opportunities for regional businesses Originally published in Gulf Business, 29 July 2017 Your customers want to buy in social media channels, so why aren’t you selling to them there? It’s an incredible statistic that we spend an extra 58 million hours on Facebook during Ramadan in the region. That’s 5 per cent…

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Is mobile wallet and payment industry headed towards consolidation?

 150 150 Sirish Kumar

Is mobile wallet and payment industry headed towards consolidation? Originally published in the Economic Times, 15 July 2017 Mobile wallets have been one of the primary beneficiaries of the increasing digitalization of payments. The demonetization drive brought in an early Christmas for the wallet players last year, with the leading e-wallets declaring an unprecedented increase…

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Security in digital payments: urgent need for focus

 150 150 Sirish Kumar

Security in digital payments: urgent need for focus Originally published in CXOtoday.com, 6 July 2017 The unprecedented push for cashless payments has enabled the growth of several FinTech and digital payments platforms alike. However, while e-wallets have gained traction and the utility of credit cards and net-banking has increased, the need for cyber-security has also…

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