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The rise of the FinTech ecosystem has revolutionised our lives. Going cashless has introduced an unprecedented degree of seamlessness, convenience, transparency and accountability to our transactions.

But for all its benefits, it comes with its fair share of risks. The finance industry has always been the target of scams and fraud. In pre-digital times it was forged documents and signatures or just straight up bank robberies. Today, with transactions moving online, fraud is committed digitally in the form of phishing, hacking and data theft making it imperative for the industry to utilize secure payment processing systems and infrastructure.

That is why, while the benefits of a cashless economy far, far outweigh the risks, it is the responsibility of every FinTech company to prioritise security.

India’s leading mobile wallet service provider, Bharat Interface for Money (BHIM), has over 160 million users. In fact the interface — and by extension cashless transactions — proved to be so popular that it was downloaded more than 17 million times in less than two months since its launch.

Digital payment frauds, meanwhile, account for about half of all bank frauds in India. There were 1,477 reported frauds related to ATM/debit card, credit card and internet banking transactions of more than ₹1 lakh each in in FY 2018-19, according to a report presented to the Rajya Sabha.

Now consider the fact that the RBI expects UPI and IMPS transactions to double annually and that gives you an idea of why cyber attacks on the financial ecosystem are only going to increase.

Cyber criminals are always going to look for an edge. But that doesn’t mean the threat they pose cannot be contained.

For a long time, even as FinTechs turned to the cloud to scale up their businesses, they were reluctant to adopt cloud-based security.

Attackers typically target sensitive customer details like login information, bank account, card and Aadhaar numbers, or other personal information such as names and addresses.

Also at risk could be confidential documents resting on the FinTech company’s servers that could include confidential design and trade data pertaining to their own upcoming service offering.

Cloud-based security can mitigate the risks of attackers gaining access to such information and digital payment frauds in India by offering the right systems and infrastructure for the security of online payments.

But simply getting cloud-based security isn’t going to help. It is incumbent upon every FinTech company to thoroughly vet the sort of cloud-based security they are getting.

Not all cloud-based security service providers (CSP) provide the same depth and quality of security. So every FinTech company must conduct its own due diligence. Beyond that, they then must turn to a Qualified Security Assessor (QSA) whose job it is to validate and certify the competence of a CSP’s security offering. Lastly, the FinTech should then corroborate the assessment provided by the QSA before taking a final call on signing up to a CSP’s services.

The unfortunate truth is that no system, regardless of the level of security, can be completely, totally impenetrable. But the only way FinTechs can stay two steps ahead of cyber attackers is to keep relentlessly chasing perfection in terms of standards of cybersecurity for digital payments.

Ultimately, it is in the interests of a FinTech company’s own business to protect its customers’ data. It is also their responsibility. The push towards that, therefore, should be relentless.    

The government is making a concerted effort to make India, an emerging economy, one of the world’s leading nations. The tax that the government collects from citizens is a major factor that helps support the government’s developmental activities to boost the economy. The government’s new taxation policies including the implementation of a single indirect tax, GST, for the entire country has helped India become a unified market, and has been seen as a definite step towards better understanding of technology supporting and growing the transformative power of taxation. 

Another memorable reform the government introduced was in 2016, when, recognizing the importance of moving away from the time-consuming and labour-intensive paper filing, it made a positive shift towards the adoption of tax technology. The Equalisation Levy was introduced for the first time in the world. This demonstrated a positive attitude towards what we now refer to as ‘tax technology and transformation’, as well as an activity that has made the process of filing taxes simple, easy, and something one can do on the go. 

Tax Technology and Transformation  

The digital economy was created as a result of billions of transactions amongst people, businesses, governments, and so on. As a result of the ever-changing economy, the old taxation policies had to change because they applied to a very different business/cultural environment, making way for a highly-sophisticated and closely-monitored online tax filing system. The adoption of technology in the business tax function has been minimal, but tax payers and authorities continue to seek innovation in technology for transformation of tax filing methods. 

Leaders, people, and businesses are all important, but teams that include automation such as Artificial Intelligence and others in technology act as agents that hold everything together. Teams preparing for the future of taxation should harness the power of technology to foster a collaborative environment in which humans and machines complement each other’s efforts. With the introduction of automation, time-consuming manual tasks performed by tax professionals have been automated, demonstrating the advancement of tax technology to help enable and empower the transformation of India’s economy. 

This blog will walk you through some simple steps that one can take to ensure they’re making secure online transactions whether it is online shopping or a money transfer.

Financial technology (fintech) companies are now a necessity, offering vital services that have become much more critical during the ongoing pandemic. The use of digital payment devices, utilities, and banking products has increased exponentially, bringing tremendous ease and convenience to consumers’ lives.

Although fintech companies are embracing the cloud for growth and scale, challenges such as data protection, security, and regulatory compliance will continue to exist in the near future, according to PwC’s Financial Technology 2020 and Beyond report.

We live in a fast-paced world where people are less conscious of their environment and are more likely to fall into traps that cost them a lot of money. This has become commonplace, and the fact that most activities have migrated online due to Covid-19 has played a significant role in the rise of such fraudulent activities.

In the first half of 2020, the number of fraud attacks was 1.1 billion — twice that of the second half of 2019. The Federal Trade Commission reports that Americans have lost $145 million to COVID-19 fraud. As a result, proving the argument that I want to make, online transactions have certainly made payments easier, but fraudsters have also become more comfortable with different ways to perform fraudulent activities.

With the growth of online sales of goods, we, as responsible people, must be aware of these threats and take effective action.

How do you know if an online transaction is secure?

So, here are a few suggestions that will help you in making secure online transactions.

1.            Prefer credit cards to using your net banking account

Today’s generation is a huge fan of shopping on the internet. The popularity of online payments has skyrocketed, and many people prefer them to physically transact money. While doing so one must ensure one uses credit cards, as credit cards aren’t linked to an individual’s bank account. Rather, a credit card comes with a bill paid by the customer at the end of the month to the bank, and there is a spending limit depending on your credit score.

A debit card, on the other hand, is directly linked to one’s bank account, so if a scammer obtains the information, they can clean out the  entire sum, leaving nothing behind. Thus, when making any online transaction, one should practise using a credit card rather than a debit card to minimise the chances of a big blunder.

2.            Anti-Malware Program

Install one on your computer; it will protect your computer and other digital devices from both — classified and unclassified attacks. You need to ensure that it the program is up to date as these programs detect the virus in your devices in the first instance and warn you or help eradicate the problem from the source, by not letting your device get hacked.

An Anti-Malware program will always act like a safety window between you and the various websites that access your information. Therefore, installing one is essential, as, too, is keeping it updated at all times on a live, auto-update basis, with all updates that come over the air.

3.            Website Reputation

If you don’t know about a website, don’t pay it directly. Payment processing is been provided by various fintechs, which help with safe and secure transactions along with customised solutions towards the modes through which one should make the payment. Thus, checking the credibility of the website along with getting some financial help from some expert can surely help you perform safe transactions. Furthermore, if you practice steps one and two, together, they should help provide a safer outlook towards transactions even when the website isn’t reputed. But stay on guard.

4.            Devices

Another thing that plays a major effect is the device we use to conduct such transactions. You must conduct all transactions through your own devices and not through any third-party or public computers to make sure you’re making a secure online transaction. Because there is no guarantee your information will not get leaked because security protocols and measures might not be completely up to date and adequate on a third-party device. Paying through someone else’s device is nothing short of risky and irresponsible behaviour. It is a healthy habit to not store any details after the transaction, and even on your own device, you must must log out of the banking website and clear passwords; even temp files, if you wish to. One must not let the device remember passwords as it would be an easy ticket to Treasure Island for anyone who comes across the details.

5.            Incase Scenario

If you believe that your credit card has been used fraudulently, you can contact your bank right away & inform them about any online transaction security issues. It is preferable if you report as soon as possible. If the deal is too good to be true, your alarm bells should go off and you should recall any of the points above. Always purchase from a trustworthy seller and always double-check. To secure your credit rating and bank accounts, take online financial transactions and online security seriously. This will give you a leg up on those that don’t put in the same amount of work when it comes to online protection.

I’m writing this for both — the youth of our nation and those people of around our age, who haven’t yet started making smart money choices. This is an attempt to inform and inspire individuals to make better investing decisions, and to share my considered belief that that while even at a later age there is only an upside to starting to invest, it is always better to start early; in fact, the earlier, the better.

Anyone who begins to invest at an early age can stand to reap greater benefit. By investing early, you are part of the financial world, and begin viewing it more broadly. And that awareness and orientation always brings with it a lot of benefits. So if parents or guardians can inculcate in children the excellent practice of saving from an early age, it could lead to a better and more stable future. Because it is parents and guardians of children who are responsible for teaching them about investments and savings. Inexplicably, the education system too does not help instil the savings habit amongst school children at a young age. So it is left to us parents to help every youngster and I’d be delighted if you can take back something from here that that would you empower your child with the importance of having a savings habit, well, that will help have a better, safer future.

So here are five ways you can help educate your dear young ones about how to make better investment decisions at an early stage in life.

1. Roadmap –

First, map out a plan and what you want to accomplish by participating in this activity. Calculate how much risk you’re willing to take when investing, and since it is money-related, you should always make a calm rather than a hasty decision. One must invest one’s money wisely so that whatever the risk, the investments will reap rewards due to the careful planning.

2. Risk –

When it comes to money, one must obviously be very cautious as there is always an element of risk involved. Risk is an unavoidable and even integral part of investing — the higher the risk, the greater the return on investment. So, after calculating the amount of risk you’re prepared to take — an while setting an example for your young ones, less of risk is the best way to move ahead with your investment strategy.

3. Pick out the Mix of Investments –

As that old adage goes, it is important not to put all the eggs in one basket. One must actively practise dividing one’s money across various investments. As a result, one must be knowledgeable about all types of investments and ensure that the money is not concentrated in a single investment but distributed among many investments based on favourable factors. If anyone is not aware of the risks and needs assistance, they must contact a financial advisor who can assist them in making the best decisions based, of course, on their risk appetite.

4. The Savings Mindset –

The only active way for an individual to make investments is to have a savings mindset. Savings fuelinvestment. Everybody earns an income from whatever they do. However, whether a person spends all their money or spends some and maintains a good savings habit, will determine the extent and quality of investment decisions. Investments help make money with the idle cash that an individual possesses in the form of savings. As a result, each person must develop the habit of first saving, and then using that money to make wise investment decisions.

5. Beware –

Since this whole concept revolves around money and financial matters, please make informed decisions. You, and you alone, are entirely responsible for the whole procedure. Any damages or losses you incur are entirely your responsibility, and not of the mediator or the company concerned. As a result, be wary of frauds, risks, or scams. Keep yourself informed and forewarned about such practises, and also about the business, plus other factors that can impact the business conditions and environment around you.

Today’s entrepreneurs are building start up’s with various motives. A few are starting their own venture to get fame and money, whereas a few are working towards filling a need gap. But the one thing that drives them is an Idea, an Idea that they feel can change the way people perform a certain activity or help improve an already existing product.

We at Aquapay had been through this cycle and know how difficult it is to set up an entrepreneurial venture. Entrepreneurs today come from different backgrounds, age, experience, drive to work, financial capacity, idea generation, etc. Today no two entrepreneurs are going to be the same, even though they might be working towards solving a similar issue. According to me only one concept can help them and that is mentorship.

A few tips to why mentorship is important for start-ups

1. Knowledge- A mentor upholds great knowledge of the sector in which they help impart their experience. Entrepreneurs can learn from the mistakes that the mentor has made and not repeat them, this helps to form away more informed community.
2. Knowledge- A mentor upholds great knowledge of the sector in which they help impart their experience. Entrepreneurs can learn from the mistakes that the mentor has made and not repeat them, this helps to form away more informed community.
3. Knowledge- A mentor upholds great knowledge of the sector in which they help impart their experience. Entrepreneurs can learn from the mistakes that the mentor has made and not repeat them, this helps to form away more informed community.
4. Knowledge- A mentor upholds great knowledge of the sector in which they help impart their experience. Entrepreneurs can learn from the mistakes that the mentor has made and not repeat them, this helps to form away more informed community.
5. Knowledge- A mentor upholds great knowledge of the sector in which they help impart their experience. Entrepreneurs can learn from the mistakes that the mentor has made and not repeat them, this helps to form away more informed community.

I have had over 20 years of experience in financial and payment services, working with companies such as ICICI, PineLabs and American Express across positions and roles as team leader, strategic sales, and more.

Nitin and I have always been close friends since our American Express days; we have been talking, strategizing and working together on a very regular basis. There after he worked for over 7 years with Axis bank and one fine day he told me that he wanted to take a risk by joining a start-up which was still in its premature stage. He expressed his opinions towards Aquapay, a start-up which has been around for 3 year at the time and he saw a great opportunity to explore and grow himself. Slowly, I too began to connect to the vision at a deeper level and felt that it was time to take the risk and try something new.

I’m glad I did so. Sure, the journey could have gone either way, and I had a tiny bit of doubt about the decision, because it had come from a point slightly more south of the mind and closer to the heart, but then, what sealed it for me was Nitin’s belief in, and his presence and leadership of Aquapay. Which had convinced me, and it was an excellent initiative that offered well to people and would help organizations to grow.

Well, having worked with this organization for just over two months now, I have nothing but praise for the atmosphere, work culture and work ethic. And of course, for me, kudos for taking the perfect decision. I’ve never felt out of place, and there’s something new to learn here every day.

Let me tick off five important things that working at Aqauapay involves, and what everyone subconsciously does. These are five verbs we work and live by

1. Collaborate

There is a great deal of collaboration between the team and the other teams. Each and every individual fits perfectly seamlessly as a positive and complementary link that strengthens the rest of the chain. At Aquapay, we work with each other to complement each other. We conduct team calls almost every day, and we have a structured and systematic way to carry out our daily tasks. In a truly collaborative spirit, with an individual responsibility.

2. Stretch

Stretch out your role. Don’t put it in your KRAs straitjacket of points. Sure, working to achieve those in a focused way, but what I’ve seen happening to a great overall advantage at Aquapay is a work culture that someone like me from a corporate background has learned from a start-up work culture: your role is not only defined by what your title is, but each and every individual works hard together, and it’s this team effort that pays off in the long run. Be prepared to go beyond the job description, to stretch it in such a way that the true value of having a smaller team of skilled professionals helps everyone to be closer and more responsible for their tasks, while helping others.

3. Solve

Yes, this, too, sounds like a basic job description mandate, and yes, when I was part of a company, too, we’d set out to find ways to provide solutions to our customers. But at Aquapay, for each and every customer, there can and will be a customized solution to their specific problems or needs. And the Aquapay DNA that is intertwined with that of every worker here is – to try to offer specific, customized solutions, so that the solution you offer is the best there can be.

4. Process

At Aquapay, the fundamentals remain the same, but the implementation of a solution for each customer varies depending on the customized – or, more precisely, the individual specific – problem they face. This has led me to learn how to proceed with the evaluation and processing of new alternatives and ways of doing things, using new processes every day. Fintech as a sector is truly amoeba-like – it changes every month, and working with Aquapay helped me learn everything firsthand. Process the options and processes, and create your own, and move forward positively and effectively.

5. Love

I know this might sound like a plug, but hey, that’s true. I love working here, and I see that as a result of teamwork, having one-and-one backs of capable and effective teammates, all equally driven by a belief in Aquapay and one another, and a combined vision. What else could that evoke but love? I see the love of the company, of teammates, the concern and love of our customers and partners, in never-ending abundance.

So, yes, I am very grateful to be part of this change, and I love having the opportunity to grow and continue my efforts in this field.

Change is the only constant, and now that we have lived through what’s undoubtedly been the most unpredictable year of our lives. I would say it is imperative that from our experiences in 2020, we learn, unlearn and relearn to be stronger individuals in 2021.

Demand for Fintech solutions has intensified as it has brought comfort and ease to everyone. This makes the Fintech space crucial to all, and moreoever, it has a promising future to look forward to.

So, what will the industry look like in 2021? Here are a few things to look out for in the Fintech ecosystem:

Focus on People – The best Customer Experience in Fintech is the most powerful factor for customer acquisition. Fintech are making moves towards modes through which customers can easily control their transactions with just a click — for example, by opening digital accounts and completing the entire process over the internet. Hence giving rise to digital banks all across the nation. The Fintech industry in 2021 will cut the distance between people and technology. Even more than ever before.

Open Banking – Banks under this can share information of their clients securely to a third party. This will help banks approach more Fintechs to help digitize their processes. Going ahead with these partnerships would lead customers to avail of a more systemized and seamless digital banking experience, thereby promoting a more creative economy and carving a path towards a more financially inclusive India through digital. Cooperation between banks and Fintech companies will intensify. Traditional financial establishments need agility and technology. The two worlds will collide, and to my mind, this Fintech outlook for 2021 is amongst the momentous ones.

Payment Innovations – During the pandemic, a lot of enterprises engaged in product and process innovations to achieve both — greater customer-centricity and ability to handle huge disruptions. Payment innovations in Fintech have multiple mechanisms. These are mobile payments, contactless payments, mobile wallets, smart speaker systems, etcetera. There is likely to be high adoption of these, which in turn should result in a significant number of innovations in the payments space. Indeed, Global Market Insights, Inc., estimates that contactless payment market size will cross USD 100 billion by 2026. This change will likely occur mainly because of the Gen Z’s who are more accepting of and who favour digital transformation, technology and drive innovation in payments. Gen Zs are on top of this technology-driven change as they are earlier adopters of this change and the future too.

Security– Transactions are moving online and consumers are using their smartphones. This helps add greater security to both, transactions and online banking, with the help of biometrics. We log onto our phones securely through a fingerprint scanner or faceID; these concepts have given rise to added security for your account, and help reduce susceptibility to fraud or hackers. This helps Fintech companies integrate added security,  and therefore, one looks forward to 2021 enabling even secure transactions between parties.

Disruptive Technology – The most important aspect to look out for in 2021 would be disruptive technology undertaken by various organisations in the sector — in the form of Neo banking, AI, IoT, Machine learning, etcetera. This, because there is a constant demand for innovative ways to conduct activities. We, as an organisation, are moving towards Neo banking; we believe it will disrupt the market this year due to the increased demand of technology-driven banking. The entrance of Blockchain Technology will make further noise all over the world. The global Blockchain market is expected to grow from USD 3.0 billion in 2020 to USD 39.7 billion by 2025 — at an effective Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 67.3% during 2020–2025.

Above everything else, the Fintech industry for 2021 will focus on people and on the needs of the customers. We are likely to see massive adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) and a data-driven approach. I believe Fintech is set to transform the financial sector in multiple ways by easier account setups and no-fuzz transactions, and should also provide a strong boost to eCommerce everywhere.

The economic impact of the pandemic has created a need for new and frictionless payment gateways for businesses to keep running. Small businesses, given the economic slump, have been hit the hardest because of disruption in cash flow. Very few have the resources to endure and keep running without an operating cash flow. Such businesses need prompt payments from their clients to continue functioning smoothly. However, traditional methods like paper checks can take several days/ weeks to arrive by mail.

The complexity of the current environment has seen B2B payments gain a substantial leeway. With technological advancements, banks are too trying to develop consistent and reliable means of transactions that are instant, real- time, safe and ubiquitous, in order to keep businesses running.

Companies are on a steady path to abandoning traditional paper-bound methods and embracing simplified digital transactions. Easy, technology-driven payments apps and gateways, are streamlining fund transfers to businesses and vendors. Real-time payment methods that can fast-track the flow of funds are valuable to vendors that need to get compensated in a timelier manner.

Not to mention, a business, to continue running their day to day operation, needs to be remunerated even for small variable costs, whether the amount is big or small. Avoiding small remittances can prove to be harmful for the day to day of a business. Small value transactions,  is what keeps the economy of a business running. However, the point of friction here is higher charges and geographical barriers. The buyer comes to a standstill because to make a small value remittance, one may need to incur an unexplainable high-cost, also facing the hindrance of a minimum threshold each money transfer services sets for transfer of money. A working solution needs to be in place for small value remittances, considering the digital shift caused by the pandemic.

The frictions associated with paper checks and cash-based transactions have put some businesses under added stress during the pandemic, but digital tools can help turn that around. Payers and payees that have become accustomed to a more rapid pace of transactions are not likely to give up on the convenience and ease and go back to older, slower means, thus leaving the day to day of a business entirely up to ubiquitous B2B payment platforms.

Leadership is a very subjective concept. Ask a hundred people about what leadership is, and you’ll receive a hundred different answers. Many define leadership as possessing a business acumen, like setting goals for the organization and achieving them. A lot of people also think of leadership as having human qualities like humility and empathy. There can be no wrong answers. Each leader differs in their style of leading and influencing, which also greatly determines the culture and the overall direction of the company.

In all of my years of being a leader myself, there a few dos and don’ts of being a leader that I’ve learnt from experience. For me, a leader is someone who can see how things can move forward and who rallies people to strive towards a better vision. Having said that I also believe that leaders can work toward making their vision a reality while putting his/ her people first. Just being able to motivate people isn’t enough — leaders need to be empathetic and connect with people to be successful. Here are some leadership mantras I swear by to lead to success:

• Motivation: A leader must know how to motivate better than anyone else; it is one of the primary functions of a people’s manager. A leader must channel his/her employee’s creative energy and professional potential in order to achieve organizational objectives. I make it a point to talk to my team, ask them questions, let them talk, listen, and understand what they need. Leading is not giving orders, it is about listening and creating a seamless environment for your employees.

• Taking risks: A leader is responsible for taking risks that no one will be willing to take to achieve his/ her vision. In the process, one may end up making mistakes, but a leader must take this in his/ her stride and move forward, thus making it as a learning experience.

• Learning agility: Learning agility is the ability to know what to do when you don’t know what to do. A leader must be able to learn new skills and concepts and should not be dated. Being a learner is an important part of being able to lead effectively and without any hindrance.

• Communication: A leader must also be able to communicate effortlessly. One needs to be able to communicate well on various levels, from conveying information to educating your employees. The quality and effectiveness of communication directly affect the success of your organization.

• Be yourself: The foremost quality of a leader is to be unique and not follow the footsteps of another. There is no set formula for being a leader. One must have faith in their skills and the ability to be a good leader.

As a parent, you may want the finest of things for your child- best of clothes, toys gadgets and even education. Education, however teaches your child the math and importance of money, but in theory. Some lessons are best ingrained when learnt in real life. That is why, it is important to instil in your children the value of money from a very young age, to help them prepare and make sound decisions as adults.

It is very important for parents to early on have these conversations or make an even more liberal choice of giving financial independence to their kids from a very young age. Children otherwise, don’t take very long to pick up on habits that don’t necessarily prove beneficial when they grow up. Therefore, start inculcating financial literacy in your child for him/ her to be a successful, independent adult. Some of the very simple ways to this are:

Start with the basics: 

The most basic habit would be to save. A piggy bank would be an ideal way to ingrain in them the value of saving. Your child’s early interaction with money, is watching you spend it on daily needs. It is important to teach them that money is not only for spending. That’s when a piggy bank comes handy to make them aware of the concept of savings.

Teach them the value of giving:

Giving is an essential trait that can help shape the character of your child. Teach them to support a cause or an NGO early on. This habit can help in creating humility and empathy in them. 

Pocket money:

Pocket money instils a sense of value in them. Giving pocket money to spend every month can teach children to budget their spending and even save some in order to purchase something that they’ve been wanting. This teaches them to value things and delayed gratification, thus avoiding impulse purchases.

Create opportunities to earn money:

Creating opportunities to earn can be an excellent way to create discipline and self-awareness in them. This habit has multiple benefits. Firstly, it teaches them the importance of contributing to household chores, irrespective of gender. Secondly, they also learn how decide to spend the money that they have earned. 

Teach them to make wise spending decisions:

This can be done by defining earning, spending and saving to them. Teaching them the importance of hard earned money and saving some of it at the end of the month, will automatically help them decide where they need to spend and where they can save. Also, as an adult it is essential that you set an example by displaying good financial behaviour for them.

It is correctly said, ‘Practise what you preach’ however, do it with consistency. Inculcating new habits is a process that takes time. However, in order for your kids to be responsible adults, it is important for you to put in consistent efforts and communicate with them.