Blog

Übank partners with CleverTap to offer world class omnichannel customer experience  

CleverTap, SaaS-based customer engagement and retention platform, on Wednesday announced its partnership with Übank, the digital banking application from VPBank. Through this partnership, CleverTap plans to optimise Übank’s user experience, accelerate user engagement, and drive financial inclusivity.

Übank’s mission “Bank less, Get more” aims to remotely address financial needs of customers, especially the low and middle-income segments by automating banking processes. By integrating CleverTap’s solution into its digital banking platform, Übank can now drive user engagement more efficiently through the three major journeys — payment, deposit and spending, and shorten the average period time of deposit. 

CleverTap enables Übank to personalise their user experience using real-time behavioral data with precise predictive recommendations, leading to engagement opportunities based on each user’s exact needs.

Gunneet Singh Bally, Head of Products, Customer Engagement, and Partnerships Übank said,

“We, at Ubank, wanted a marketing automation tool with five distinct strengths: high on personalisation, unbeatable on data security, consistent new feature development in the pipeline, deep on the use of AI and ML for customer profiling and segmentation, and multiple ways of notification display on the app. We’ve met these requirements at CleverTap with the support of the local business team and development centre; CleverTap has delivered what we have asked for in our customer engagement plan.”

Marc-Antoine Hager, Regional Vice President, Sales at CleverTap added,

“We are excited to support Übank in their digital journey to serve millions of users in Vietnam. Powered by our AI driven and automated marketing capabilities, Übank can optimise their digital campaigns and achieve higher user engagement.”

Edtech startup Safalta onboards Virendra Sehwag as its goodwill ambassador

In a bid to promote its messaging of providing accessible education and bridging the employability gap, Safalta — an edtech platform announced that it has joined hands with Indian cricketing legend, Virendra Sehwag. Coming on board as Safalta’s goodwill ambassador, Sehwag has expressed his trust in the platform’s teaching quality and its mission to provide affordable education to the Indian masses. 

Catering to semi-urban and rural India, Safalta is a bridgital startup that synergises digital innovation with socio-economic sensitivities and helps its students leap over the hurdles of accessibility, Affordability and accountability by offering “destiny-changing education”. As a part of its multi-pronged approach, Safalta focuses on soft skills, Classes IX-XII competitive and government exams along with vocational courses and upskilling initiatives.

Himanshu Gautam, CEO and Co-founder of Safalta said, 

“Our efforts are directed towards providing affordable and high-quality education to kids from semi-urban and rural backgrounds as there is a vast untapped bank of resources and skills that is waiting to be utilised. Our core is exam-preparation where we prepare students for different competitive Government exams like NDA, Banking, Teaching etc.”

Virendra Sehwag said,

“Being an educator, I can understand the significance of quality teachers and the need to provide accessible education to the masses. I must appreciate the commitment of Safalta and their team that have not compromised on the quality and have provided courses at unbeatably affordable prices. Kudos to team Safalta for their commitment and drive and their courses that make students job-ready and successful.”  

Anuj Khanna Sohum joins the board of OSlabs Pte Ltd 

Singapore-based Affle Global Pte Ltd on Wednesday announced that it has nominated Anuj Khanna Sohum to be a Non-Executive Director on the Board of OSlabs Pte Ltd, the app and content discovery platform which operates IndusOS. His appointment as a Non-Executive Director effective April 22, 2022 was confirmed by unanimous vote of all the investor directors and founder directors of Indus OS.

As per the official release, based on filings with ACRA, AGPL owns about 40 percent of Indus OS issued preference shares, a class of shares owned by various investors. AGPL holds the highest percentage of the investors’ votes in that class of shares.

AGPL will continue to emphasise enhanced corporate governance, transparency and good corporate hygiene in all spheres of functions and operations for the benefit of all stakeholders. AGPL believes that Sohum’s appointment as a Non-Executive Director of Indus OS is a significant milestone in its journey and it looks forward to contributing to Indus OS scaling greater heights.

Cashfree Payments continues to lead bulk disbursals in India with over 50 pc market share

Payments and API banking solutions startup, Cashfree Payments, on Wednesday announced that it continues leading the payments disbursal in the country with over 50 percent market share. Its bulk disbursal product, Payouts, surged over 100 percent in FY22 compared to FY21. The ease of onboarding, seamless integration, quick turnaround time, better user experience, and customer-centric support systems have helped the company to serve its customers while leading disbursals. 

Cashfree Payments helps businesses make payouts instantly via multiple methods: bank accounts, UPI ID, IMPS, NEFT, Paytm, Amazon Pay, cards and native wallets, 24X7 even on bank holidays. The system verifies the new beneficiaries, instantaneously adds as well as activates them, enabling them to make accurate payouts everytime.

The startup claims that it is highly reliable, scalable and resilient with risk mitigation features such as fraud detection and API level security. The company’s Payouts suite is designed to address all needs and issues of the businesses through its product innovations like Cashgram and Global Payouts.  

At present, Cashfree Payments has been doing peak processing of 1000 payouts per second. Cashfree Payments’ disbursal platform is helping thousands of merchants in making over 2 million disbursals a day to beneficiaries. 

As per the startup, payouts to UPI handles has grown over 562 percent in FY22 compared to the same period a year ago while IMPS has grown consistently at 91.3 percent in FY22 over FY21.

Akash Sinha, CEO and Co-founder, Cashfree Payments said,

“We believe that the Indian economy has leaped into a new phase of growth where it calls for an increased adoption of digital payments. Through Payouts, we are ensuring seamless disbursals of payments, wages, rewards and refunds, among others, for the convenience of businesses and users alike. Payouts suite is significant for businesses looking to expand and grow as it offers a wide range of solutions for varying needs of the customers. Our products range from collecting and disbursing payments to a verification suite, softPOS and banking APIs covering the entire array of payments solutions needs of companies. Cashfree Payments aims to solve critical business problems using technology and innovation. With a future ready mindset, we look ahead for greater achievements, growth and value for all stakeholders.”

Cashfree Payments claims that it works closely with all leading banks to build the core payments and banking infrastructure that powers the company’s products and is also integrated with major platforms such as Shopify, Wix, Paypal, Amazon Pay, Paytm and Google Pay. Apart from India, Cashfree Payments products are used in eight other countries including the USA, Canada, and the UAE.

Upstox strengthens leadership team with key appointments 

Investment platforms Upstox on Wednesday announced the appointment of three senior executives to the leadership team. The company has hired Sudeep Ralhan as Chief Human Resources Officer, Manoj Agarwal as Head of Compliance and Sriram Krishnan as Vice President – Information Security. 

Shrini Viswanath, Co-founder, Upstox said, “We are thrilled to welcome Sudeep Ralhan, Manoj Agarwal and Sriram Krishnan to the Upstox family. With their unparalleled leadership, expertise and knowledge, they will play pivotal roles that will position Upstox for the next phase of growth.” 

As per the official release, Sudeep Ralhan, joining as Chief Human Resources Officer at Upstox, will lead the company’s human resource strategy, driving the scope for expansion, talent acquisition and resource allocation. Under his leadership, Upstox aims to fuel growth through progressive people practices, creating better employee experiences and building a high-performance and inclusive culture. He will be based in Bangalore and will be leading all teams across talent acquisition and human resources.

Sudeep has over 20 years of experience across all facets of Human Resources, is passionate about diversity and believes in the power of leadership. He has worked with organisations including Accenture, GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Healthcare and Walmart. In his previous stint, he was the Vice President – People at Walmart Global Tech, India, where he led the company’s growth and established a strong talent footprint and brand.

Manoj Agarwal, joining as Head of Compliance and Legal at Upstox, will oversee adherence to all business protocols in addition to liaising between the company and regulatory authorities on all legal matters. He will help build a collaborative and robust business relationship with key policymakers and government agencies to ensure a smooth and ethical business journey. Manoj is a seasoned professional with over 20 years of experience in the industry. 

Before joining Upstox, he was the Head of Internal Audit, Legal, Secretarial, and Compliance at Kotak Securities for 18 years and served as the Senior Executive Vice President. Earlier in his career, Manoj has also been associated with Tata Consultancy Services and HDFC Securities.

Sriram Krishnan, joining Upstox as Vice President- Information Security, will be heading the information security portfolio. He will be responsible for developing and implementing a strategic long-term information security roadmap. Sriram  has been in the information security domain for more than 16 years and has expertise in strategising, leading, and implementing security initiatives across technology, consulting, and banking industries. He has focused on building solutions and programmes tailored to business needs through a data-driven approach. Prior to joining Upstox, Sriram was the Director – Information Security at Freshworks, leading cybersecurity initiatives in the organisation. 

Upstox currently caters to a customer base of over 9.5 million. As a leading digital investment platform, Upstox offers a number of new features and an intuitive interface that enhances customer experience and promises to make investing simple, stable, seamless and secure.