CIBIL-To explore ePayments option.

CIBIL-To explore  ePayments option.

CIBIL has introduced a new scheme, to enable Individual’s to access their Credit History.

As on date, only CIBIL is the player (Individuals Category) in the Credit Information  Business.

Reserve Bank of India, vide its press release 17/04/2009, has granted In-Principle Approval for 4 more companies.

The Press Release can be accessed at

http://www.rbi.org.in/scripts/BS_PressReleaseDisplay.aspx?prid=20539

The process to Order your Individual Credit Rating through CIBIL, can be accessed at

http://www.cibil.com/accesscredit.htm

The fee charged by CIBI is Rs142/-. In my opinion, the fee is reasonable.

But, CIBIL insists only a Demand Draft for the fees. There is no other mode of Payment.

In this era of multiple payment options, this seems a bit strange. However, CIBIL is not a regular Merchant, so it will not be interested in multiple payment options

Nevertheless, CIBIL should explore the ePayments Option. The fees can be remitted through NEFT, to CIBIL Bank Account, and on receipt of the Documents along with NEFT Payment Proof, the request can be processed.

As it is CIBIL will process the request, only on receipt of the Address/Identity Proof. So, there will be no loss, in case the fee is not received through NEFT.

CIBIL-Introduce ePayments Fee Option.

POS Terminals-An Aid to Impulse Donation’s.

POS Terminals-An Aid to Impulse Donation’s.

Donations to Religious Institutions/Charitable Institutions/Hospitals/NGO’s on Internet via Online Banking /Credit Cards/Debit Cards are common.

This method of Payment is also catching up amongst Indians, and is a very popular method of Donations for NRI’s.

However, to my surprise, so far no one has understood the potential of Point of Sales Terminals(POS), as an aid for Donations.

Walk into any Religious Institutions/Charitable Institutions/Hospitals/NGO’s, and the mode of Donation is Cash/Kind or at the most Cheque.

Have you ever seen a POS Terminal to swipe the money from your Credit Card/Bank Account and complete the Donation Cycle.

Religious Institutions/Charitable Institutions/Hospitals/NGO’s, can install POS Terminals at their office’s, and see their Income via Donations zoom.

I go to a temple, and come to know that for a Donation of Rs5116/- Lunch Sponsor, for a particular day, every year, suits me. But, unless the visit and intention to donate are planned in Advance, I will not carry that much cash. So the temple has lost a donation of Rs5116/-, unless I visit the temple again, with the express purpose of Donating Rs5116/-.

A POS Terminal at the temple, would have made my job easier of Donating, and the Temple too would have gained a Donor,.

It is observed, that in supermarkets, 20% Buying is Impulse Buying i.e there is scope of Impulse Donation too!!!!.

Impulse-(Whim, Urge, Fancy) emotions can be tapped by Religious Institutions/Charitable Institutions/Hospitals/NGO’s, to attract Donations. And, the best tool is POS Terminals.

I go a Religious Institution, with my friends, offer prayers, and I observe my friend making a Donation. Impulsively I too make a donation.

But, if I am making a Donation through POS Terminal, the Donation size will be bigger!!

The Benefits of POS Terminals at Religious Institutions/Charitable Institutions/Hospitals/NGO’s are

• Tap into the Impulse Emotions.
• Increase the ADPV(Average Donation Per Visitor). A new term coined by me.
• Enhance credibility amongst Visitors, as Donations through POS Terminals, will be accounted for.
• Reflect a Modern Outlook, to Visitors. 

The Benefits of POS Terminals at Religious Institutions/Charitable Institutions/Hospitals/NGO’s for Banks are

• Religious Institutions/Charitable Institutions/Hospitals/NGO’s, saving accouant with the Banks. A sure way to increase the CASA of the Bank.
• Indirect Marketing of the Bank, by way of Bank’s Logo being displayed at the Religious Institutions/Charitable Institutions/Hospitals/NGO’s.
•  A simple method to minimize cash handling of Religious Institutions/Charitable Institutions/Hospitals/NGO’s.

 Which Bank will be first  in this new Wave of ePayments

ID Holiday for RTGS/NEFT on 21st September, 2009, Monday

ID Holiday for RTGS/NEFT on 21st September, 2009, Monday

RTGS Holiday - Year 2009

Sl. No.	Date	Day	Occasion
8.	September 21, 2009	Monday	Ramzan ID

21^st September, 2009, Monday is a Holiday for ePayments-RTGS and NEFT in India.

On a RTGS Holiday, NEFT too is automatically closed.

This means ep will be closed consecutively for 2 days in a row.

Hence, there will be heavy volumes on 22^nd September, 2009.

To minimize the inconvenience of the Holidays, viewers might find these tips useful:-

RTGS-

• Execute your Transactions on 19^th September, 2009 by 12noon, so, Returns if any, will come back on 19^th itself.

NEFT-

• Execute your Transactions on 19^th September, 2009 by 10 am, so, Returns if any, will come back on 19^th itself.
• There will be only 3 NEFT Settlement Cycles on on 19^th September, 2009, as it is a Saturday. The Settlement Cycles will take place at 9.00am, 11.00am and 12.00noon.
• Try to avoid NEFT transactions on 20^th and 21^st, through Net/Mobile Banking. Such transactions will be in queue and executed only on 22^nd. In the meanwhile, if there is a change of plans, it will be difficult to cancel the pending transactions.

Enjoy the Holidays

Dividend Payouts – ePayment Mode

  

 Dividend Payouts – ePayment Mode

During the last couple of months, Companies have been declaring Dividends and remitting the same, to their shareholders.

In India, the chief modes of Dividend Remittance is through

01) Paper Based i.e Cheques

02) ePayments i.e Electronic Clearing Service(ECS)/ National Electronic Clearing Service(NECS).       Apart from the above two ePayment Options, the third emerging trend is NEFTmode.

 /20ratio between Paper bases and rough

 shareholders.

It is observed that the ratio between Paper based and ePayment based transactions is  80/20.

To increase the ratio of ePayments over Paper Based, both the Companies and shareholders, should work together. However, as the benefits of ePayments are more to the companies, the companies should take the lead.

E – Dividend

This is an automated system of dividend payment into investors account through electronic device without physical cheques. Though an emerging concept in the domestic capital market, it offers several advantages over the usual cumbersome printing and posting of paper based dividend warrants. E-dividend comes with a lot of attendant benefits;

01) There is increased transparency in the administration of dividend payment.

02) Eliminates the cost and stress associated with printing and posting of dividend warrants thereby reducing total cost of dividend processing.

03) Faster and more secured dividend payment delivery.

04) Reduces incidents of unclaimed dividends.

05) More investors will be attracted into the capital market.

06) Happier investors as dividends are received conveniently and promptly.

07) 24 hour processing which gives next day value to the investor.

The following enquires related to Paper-Based Dividends can be minimized:-

1.    Stale Dividend Warrant requiring revalidation.

2.    Returned unclaimed warrants.

3.    Non-Receipt of dividend after six month.

4.    Non-Receipt of a particular Dividend Payment.

5.    Loss/Missing Dividend Warrant.

6.    Short or over-payment of dividend warrants.

7.    Mutilated warrant or partly torn warrant, or warrant with wrong spelling of name and omission of        shareholders title.

However, Companies should have a robust investor grievance cell, to respond to

1    Enquiries in respect of paid dividend warrants.

2.    Enquiries on E – dividend.

As a first step, Banks should distribute their Dividend only in ePayment Mode.

Retail Share Market Participants – New ePayments entrants.

  

Retail Share Market Participants – New ePayments entrants.

The Share Market Participants too want to enjoy the benefits of the ePayments, especially RTGS and NEFT.

In this regard, Some DP’s have requested CDSL to implement the IFSC [Indian Financial System Code] in the DP system to enable payment through the RTGS [Real Time Gross Settlement] and NEFT [National Electronic Fund Transfer] systems. 

In this regard, CDSL has vide its communiqué, CDSL/OPS/DP/1677  Dt.August 13, 2009, to DEPOSITORY PARTICIPANTS,  announced  the inclusion of the IFSC in the CDSL system with effect from August 22, 2009.

The complete Notification can be accessed at

http://www.cdslindia.com/communiques/comresults.jsp

One practical step by CDSL in this initiative, is the inclusion of the IFSC Master List in it’s Data Base. This way, the IFSC Code provided by the DP Holder can be cross-verified , with the data-base for accuracy.

In fact, it would be practical for DP Participants to install POS Terminals at their premises, to enable DP Holders to remit their dues through Debit/Credit Cards.

This will complete the ePayments Cycle for the DP Participants.

One more step in the journey towards 100% ePayments