HipBar – India’s newest Mobile Wallet - For your nocturnal thrills, not your electricity bills

          I was just browsing through this Reserve Bank of India URL @ https://rbi.org.in/scripts/publicationsview.aspx?id=12043  and this name caught my attention:-

“Hip Bar Private Limited”.

          Curious, I Googled ‘HipBar’, and got these results

This innovation can be directly attributed to Government of India’s thrust on Safe Digital Transactions. With digitisation picking up, innovators are looking forward to rollout specialised Mobile Wallets.  HipBar Mobile Wallet is an early entrant in this space.

          HipBar has gone through the whole process to become a semi-closed Pre-Paid Wallet and be governed by the Payments & Settlements Act of 2007

          Semi-Closed  PrePaid Instruments facilitate CashLess transactions amongst merchants part of the closed loop. These instruments do not permit cash withdrawal or redemption.

          As per the description on HipBar website, “HipBar is a mobile wallet exclusive for drinks (We don't like using the 'B' word). Explore an assortment of drinks and experiences from your favourite watering holes and liquor stores in the city. Pre-pay for the drinks (at special rates) through the app and stock 'em in your very own Bar On The Cloud™. Happy Stocking !”

Operating concept::

01)  HipBar invites Watering Holes management to sign-up for HipBar Wallet and display their merchandise.

02) HipBar also invites general public to download HipBar App and reserve the merchandise displayed by the participating merchants.

03) Registered consumers of HipBar can redeem their purchases as and when they visit the respective Watering Holes.

04) No, door delivery of Drinks is not on the immediate agenda, as door delivery of drinks is not yet legally permitted.

HipBar has just started and is gaining traction day-by-day.

          The HipBar App is attracting mixed reviews. The common thread amongst the reviews is on the limited choice!!

          The concept of HipBar was formally unveiled in October 2015 by Prasanna Natarajan, founder of Hipbar .

          Read this article on HipBar @ http://techstory.in/hipbar/

         

Leading BFSI & FinTech Companies Come Together At IAMAI to Form the Largest Fintech Group

          Like it or Dislike it, Financial Technology will dominate the Indian Banking Industry in the years to come.

          Going back to the old fashioned, manual ledgers is not feasible or desirable.

          The volumes of Digital Transactions are on the increase, but lots need to be done, to convince the public that the Digital Transactions channel are safe.

          The higher the trust factor, the higher the volumes. In an idealistic situation, the volumes of Digital Transactions should increase due to internal factors only and not due to external factors.  Volumes dependent on  external factors tend to taper down and are not consistent.

To address the ‘TRUST’, factor IAMAI has brought in Leading BFSI & FinTech companies in a group.

Readers can read here about IAMAI.

IAMAI through Payments Council of India has experience of dealing with Digital Payment Industry. Payment Council of India was founded in 2013 with the main purposes of representing the various regulated non-banking payment industry players, to address and help resolve various industry level issues and barriers which require discussion and action.

Through this new Fintech Group , now IAMAI is brining together BFSI and FinTech companies under one umbrella.

The purpose of the group is to encourage collaboration, seek complementarities and build synergy between leading BFSI companies and the emerging Fintech start-ups.

The group comprises of 60 members from leading banks and technology start-ups including SBI, HDFC, ICICI Bank, IndusInd Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank, BankBazaar, PolicyBazaar, i-Lend, Faircent, LendingKart, PNB Metlife, ClearTax, CoverFox, Scripbox, Indifi Technologies, Capital Float, Bill Desk, Itz Cash, PayPal, Chillar, Avenues India, MSwipe, among others.

Mrutyunjay Mahapatra,  Managing Director & CIO – State Bank of India, said: “The mandate of the group is to reach out to the last person and bring him into the structure of the entire financial system and create trust and safety, by leveraging technology.” This group represents the following segments - Credit, Payments, P2P Lending, Personal Finance and Technology.

On the need for such a group, Adhil Shetty, CEO – BankBazaar.com, said: "IAMAI Fintech Committee is a unique and important coming together of leading Financial Institutions, innovative FinTech Companies, Information Security Companies, and leading policy organisations. Thanks to IAMAI, all these organisations are collaborating to usher in secure digital financial services. The FinTech Committee will engage with all stakeholders on cashless and paperless financial services, information security and privacy standards, and create awareness of the benefits and security in paperless and cashless digital finance."

Commenting on the formation of the group, Dr Subho Ray, President, IAMAI, said: “Technology is moving fast and principle service providers such as banks and insurance companies need to work together to rapidly reach out and cover the last person and therefore bring efficiency in the system.”

In the next couple of months, the following rollouts will enable the Group to focus on attracting a new set of customers into the Digital Transactions ambit.

Roll-out 01::: Finalisation of the Group Name

Roll-out 02::: A dedicated website

Roll-out 03::: Formation of sub-committees for effective delivery

Roll-out 04::: Conducting Bi-yearly competitions to attract new ideas

Roll-out 05::: Launch of yearly awards amongst various sub-categories

Roll-out 06::: Hold interactive seminars across the nation to increase the trust factor in Digital Transactions

Roll-out 07::: Live data of Digital Transactions on the group’s website i.e eTaal

                   

Hyderabad to host 2 Day Rural Innovation Conclave – RISC 2017

          Innovators specialising in Rural Development can participate in the upcoming RISC 2107.    

RISC is inspired by the vision of late Dr. A P J Abdul Kalam who championed the cause of technology innovations in rural development.

          RISC 2017 aims to provide a platform to a wide array of Ideas and start-ups to showcase their product, pitch and talk about their innovation and get an opportunity for funding and mentoring support.

          Innovators need to have a working prototype as RISC encourages ideas,  which can improve the quality of rural families.     

This is the first edition of RISC and depending on the feedback; this conclave can bloom into a yearly or bi-yearly event.

          The last date to apply online is 10^th March 2017.

The Process for the entries is as under:

1. Online Registration

2. Last Date of Online Registration 10th March 2017

3. Preliminary Jury will shortlist 90 entries

4. Shortlisted 90 entries will announced on 10th March 2017

5. For Pitching Shortlisted Participants will be given 5 minutes presentation time (3 minutes presentation and 2 minutes Q&A) on 23rd and 24th March 2017

6. Final Jury will select Nomination for 12 Participants under Idea with Prototype and Startuip Category

7. Top Idea with Prototypes and Start-ups from each Sector will be awarded on 24th March 2017

Award Categories:

1. Best Agriculture and Allied Sector Innovation and Technology

2. Best Renewable Energy Sector Innovation and Technology

3. Best Water and Health Sector Innovation and Technology

4. Best Waste Management Sector Innovation and Technology

5. Best Sustainable Housing Sector Technology

6. Best Entrepreneur

7. Best Successful Entrepreneur

8. Best Innovation / Technology

Read the complete Concept Paper here

          RISC 2017 is being organised by The National Institute of Rural Development & Panchayati Raj (NIRDPR).

Brief Introduction of NIRDPR:

The National Institute of Rural Development and Panchayati Raj (NIRD&PR), an autonomous organisation under the Union Ministry of Rural Development, is a premier national centre of excellence in rural development and Panchayati Raj.

Recognized internationally as one of the UN-ESCAP Centres of Excellence, it builds capacities of rural development functionaries, elected representatives of PRIs, bankers, NGOs and other stakeholders through inter-related activities of training, research and consultancy.

The Institute is located in the historic city of Hyderabad in Telangana state.

In addition to the main campus at Hyderabad, this Institute has North-Eastern Regional Centre at Guwahati, Assam to meet the NE-regional needs.

It would have been wonderful if there was a dedicated category for Financial Inclusion Innovators. May be future editions will have a dedicated category for Innovators/Start-ups in Financial Inclusion area.

Windows open for IDRBT Project Trainee Scheme (IPTS - Summer 2017)

          Summer is around and students in the last year of Graduation or Post Graduation are on the lookout for Summer Projects.

          Students interested in the niche area of Banking Technology have a chance to be associated with IDBRT as part of a summer project.

          Eligibility : Students, who have completed at least two years of graduation or are pursuing post graduation in highly reputed Institutions, to carry out various projects in the area of Banking Technology during the summer of 2017

          Duration: Minimum 2 months

          Scope: Banking technology

          Interested students may apply to the Institute for Project Traineeship, clearly indicating their choice of projects.

Students are advised to indicate up to two projects in their order of preference and may apply for the “IDRBT Project Trainee Scheme” (IPTS) with the following:

• A Cover Letter
• A Detailed CV including the memorandum of marks in their area of specialization
• Name of two projects, in order of preference
• Letter of Recommendation from the student’s Institution
• No Objection Certificate (NOC) from their respective Institution.

IDRBT  will scrutinize the applications received and the selected candidates shall be informed by IDRBT.

There shall be continuous monitoring of the Project by the Faculty/Project Guide and the Institute would evaluate the progress/benefits, etc., of the project

On completion of the Project, all the trainees are expected to make a presentation on the Project and also submit a report/working prototype/model to the Institute’s Library

The Project Trainees Reports are published on the Institute’s website after a year

  

     Students have an opportunity to apply for the below projects:

RESEARCH AREA: FINANCIAL NETWORKS AND APPLICATIONS

Project – 1: Tele Banking Services

Guide: Dr. V. N. Sastry, Professor

Project – 2: Multilingual Mobile Banking Services

Guide: Dr. V. N. Sastry, Professor

Project – 3: Digital Signature Based Workflow System for Office Automation

Guide: Dr. N. P. Dhavale, Associate Professor

RESEARCH AREA: SECURITY TECHNOLOGIES FOR THE FINANCIAL SECTOR

Project – 4: Authentication using Visual Cryptography

Guide: Dr. M. V. N. K. Prasad, Associate Professor

Project – 5: Biometric Cryptosystems

Guide: Dr. M. V. N. K. Prasad, Associate Professor

Project – 6: Static Analysis in Software Security

Guide: Dr. V. Radha, Assistant Professor

Project – 7: Software Defined Networks

Guide: Dr. V. Radha, Assistant Professor

Project – 8: Artificial Neural Network based Image Pixel Prediction for Reversible Data

Hiding

Guide: Dr. Rajarshi Pal, Assistant Professor

Project – 9: Design and Study of Crypto-malware

Guide: Dr. Rajarshi Pal, Assistant Professor

Project – 10: Verifiable Auditing for Outsourced Database in Cloud Computing

Guide: Dr. P. Syam Kumar, Assistant Professor

Project – 11: Exploiting Workload Characteristics and Service Diversity to Improve the

Availability of Cloud Storage Systems

Guide: Dr. P. Syam Kumar, Assistant Professor

RESEARCH AREA: FINANCIAL INFORMATION SYSTEMS AND ANALYTICS

Project – 12: Development of R-User Interface for Banking Analytics

Guide: Dr. V. Ravi, Professor

Project – 13: Evolutionary Computing for Banking Analytics

Guide: Dr. V. Ravi, Professor

Project – 14: Answering Geospatial Queries in Hadoop based Big Data Environment

Guide: Dr. Nagesh B. Sristy, Assistant Professor

Ancillary Benefits: -

• Stipend of Rs.7,000/- (Rupees Seven Thousand only) per month to the selected Project Trainees.
• Free Shared Accommodation Facility at the Institute's Quarters at Begumpet
• Free Lunch and Dinner Facility in the Institute's Canteen
• Library Facility during the working hours of the Institute.

Submission Deadline: On or before March 06, 2017.

Applications may be sent to:

IDRBT Project Trainee Scheme (IPTS)

Institute for Development and Research in Banking Technology

Castle Hills, Road No.1, Masab Tank,

Hyderabad-500 057.

Email: ipts@idrbt.ac.in

          This is only a summary of the IPTS 2017 program. Please refer to IDRBT website for the complete details.

IDRBT also offers the following Academic Programmes

v  IDRBT Post Doctoral Fellowship (IPDF)

v  IDRBT Ph.D Programme

v  Post Graduate Diploma in Banking Technology (PGDBT)

v  M.Tech Programme

v  IDRBT Research Project Scheme (IRPS)

v  IDRBT Project Trainee Scheme (IPTS)

The positive side of Demonetization in India - Bengaluru Midnight Marathon 2016 is back

              The tenth edition of ^th December 2016. This year’s marathon will take in the back ground of Demonetization 

Bengaluru Midnight Marathon 2016 will unfurl on 10 December 2016

              The effect of Demonetization on Bengaluru Midnight Marathon 2016  will be minimal as all expenses are normally routed in the Digital Mode only. However, petty expenses could be a challenge. The organisers have another couple of weeks to completely migrate their expenses to the Digital Mode.

              The receipts primarily through Registration Fees and Sponsorship Fees are through the digital mode.

              Rotary Bangalore IT Corridor has announced the X edition of the only midnight marathon in India, the ‘Bengaluru Midnight Marathon 2016’ (BMM). Race day will be on December 10 at the Karnataka Trade Promotion Organization (KTPO) venue in Whitefield. Boxing legend Mary Kom has been announced as the event ambassador for the BMM.

BMM is the main fundraising event of Rotary Bangalore IT Corridor. Funds raised from the Midnight Marathon will be used to expand the scope of the club's activities.

              All the traditional races will be part of the Race Day.

The Race Day is on 10th of December 2016.

All races will start from KTPO, Whitefield.

Event                                               Date                                                 Time

COMMUNITY RELAY                     10th Dec 2016                                5:30PM

IT CITY FUN RUN                           10th Dec 2016                                8:00PM

10K RUN                                          10th Dec 2016                                10:00PM

Full and OLA Half Marathon       10th Dec 2016                                12:00 MIDNIGHT

AIRBUS CORPORATE RELAY         11th Dec 2016                                12:15AM

Participants are advised to check website for final details closer to Race Day.

Brand Ambassador for Bm            : MC Mary Kom

Theme : Run for Happy Schools

Event Sponsors :

              Healthcare Partner for Bengaluru Midnight Marathon 2016: Sakra World Hospital

              Corporate Relay Sponsor for Bengaluru Midnight Marathon 2016: Airbus

              10K Run Sponsor for Bengaluru Midnight Marathon 2016: Akamai

              Half Marathon Sponsor & Ride Partner for Bengaluru Midnight Marathon 2016: OLA

              Connected Technology Partner for Bengaluru Midnight Marathon 2016: Harman

              Registration and Training Partner for Bengaluru Midnight Marathon 2016: mobiefit

              Venue Partner for Bengaluru Midnight Marathon 2016: K T P O

              Charged By for Bengaluru Midnight Marathon 2016: Bisleri

              Timing Partner for Bengaluru Midnight Marathon 2016: Timing Technology

              Official Sports Drink Partner for Bengaluru Midnight Marathon 2016: Gatorade

              Marketing Partner for Bengaluru Midnight Marathon 2016: Meraki

              Creative Partner for Bengaluru Midnight Marathon 2016: Webenza

              Events and More Partner for Bengaluru Midnight Marathon 2016: Magnum Opus

              Official Radio Partner for Bengaluru Midnight Marathon 2016: Radio City 91.1FM

              Security Partner for Bengaluru Midnight Marathon 2016: UNIQ

  

This year, the club has focused on three signature projects with significant social impacts.

Signature Project No 1. Adoption of 7 Government Schools: RBITC has been working with the management of 7 schools (with over 4,000 students) for interventions at multiple levels – infrastructure, science & computer labs, potable drinking water, upgrading toilet facilities, library & books, teachers’ training, conducting classes through volunteers.

Signature Project No 2. Integrated Village Development: RBITC has adopted a village near Hoskote (B. Thimmasandra) for “Integrated Village Development”. This will involve interventions in the areas of healthcare, education, water, sanitation, livelihood and skill development. RBITC have already conducted a medical camp for all the residents (108 families) of the village. It intends to extend this over 9 additional villages in the district.

              Signature Project No 3. Healthcare: In partnership with Sakra World Hospital and Sankara Eye Hospital, RBITC plans to make a difference to over 500 underprivileged bread winners in a family.

The online registration for the individual events of BMM 2016 is open and participants can register online by logging ontohttp://www.midnightmarathon.in. The key events on December 10 – 11, 2016 include: 5k IT City Fun Run, Open 10k Run, Ola Half Marathon and Full Marathon. Pet-a-thon will be held on November 27 i.e tomorrow

The initiative has created a huge platform and has been a most sought after flagship fund-raising event with scores of runners participating from over 20 countries to support the cause.