FSS and India Post Payments Bank AePS Partnership Advances Financial Inclusion in India

FSS (Financial Software and Systems), a leading global payment processor and provider of integrated payment products, today announced partnering with India Post Payments Bank (IPPB) to promote financial inclusion among underserved and unbanked segments. As part of the collaboration, IPPB will use FSS’ Aadhaar Enabled Payment System (AePS) to deliver interoperable and affordable doorstep banking services to customers across India.

FSS’ AePS solution combines the low-cost structure of a branchless business model, digital distribution, and micro-targeting that lowers acquisition costs and improves reach. This strategic partnership offers significant opportunities to bring millions of unbanked customers into the financial mainstream. Currently, there are nearly 410 million Jan Dhan accounts in India. A primary reason for low usage of banking and payment services is the challenge of accessibility in rural areas and the cost of maintaining active accounts — including transaction and transport— outweigh the benefits. In rural and peri-urban areas, the average time to reach a banking access point potentially ranges between 1.5 and 5 hours, compared with the average of 30 minutes in urban areas.

Leveraging its vast network of over 136,000 post offices, and 300,000 postal workers, IPPB has been setup with the vision to build the most accessible, affordable, and trusted bank for the common man in India to deliver banking at the customer’s doorstep. With the launch of AePS services, IPPB now has the ability to serve all customer segments, including nearly 410 million Jan Dhan account holders, giving a fresh impetus to the inclusion of customers facing accessibility challenges in the traditional banking ecosystem.

Speaking on the tie-up, Mr. Krishnan Srinivasan, Global Chief Revenue Officer, FSS said, “We are proud to be IPPB’s technology partner in this monumental nation-building exercise. The collaboration is evidence of FSS’ deep payments technology expertise and commitment to bringing viable, market-leading innovations that promote financial deepening. FSS’ AePS solution combined with IPPB’s expansive last mile distribution reach empowers citizens of the country with a range of digital payment products and advances India’s vision towards a less-cash economy.”   

“Through the vast reach of Department of Posts network along with the advent of the interoperable payment systems to drive adoption, IPPB is uniquely positioned to offer a range of products and services to fulfil the financial needs of the unbanked and the underbanked at the last mile. Having launched AePS services, the Bank has become the single largest platform in the country for providing interoperable banking services to customers of any bank. The strategic partnership with FSS provides us with an opportunity to expand the portfolio of financial services and improve customer experience whilst maintaining operational efficiency, thus building a digitally inclusive society,” said Mr. J. Venkatramu, MD & CEO, India Post Payments Bank.

The infrastructure created by IPPB addresses the accessibility challenges faced by customers in the traditional banking ecosystem. It fulfils the Government’s objective of having an interoperable banking access point within 5 KM of any household and creating alternate accessibility for customers of any bank.

The operation of FSS’ AePS solution is based on agents performing transactions on behalf of customers using a tablet, micro-ATM or a POS device. The system is device agnostic and can accept transactions originating from any terminal. Customers of any bank can access their Aadhaar-linked bank account by simply using their fingerprint for cash withdrawal, balance enquiry and transfer of funds into an operating IPPB account, right at their doorstep. FSS’ AePS exposes APIs to third parties to develop an expansive services ecosystem and extend a broad suite of financial products and tools including micro-insurance, micro-savings, micro-finance, mutual fund investments, enabling the bank to further services adoption among low and moderate-income consumers.

FSS and Airpay to Onboard MSMEs Onto Digital Payments

FSS (Financial Software and Systems), a globally leading provider of payment products and a payment processor and Airpay, a leading omnichannel financial services platform, announced a strategic collaboration to accelerate electronic payments acceptance by micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs). The alliance is a part of the company’s global strategy to bring banks and payment aggregators onto FSS Embark – its omni-channel acquirer platform - to build an inclusive digital payment services ecosystem that efficiently caters to the MSME segment.

Access to cost-efficient digital payments is a fundamental need for businesses today. MSMEs, however, remain underserved due to the diverse and fragmented nature of the market segment as well low profitability in relation to costs of acquiring and servicing these merchants. Under the umbrella of this partnership, FSS and Airpay bring complementary strengths to improve MSME access to digital services. Airpay would be responsible for first-mile enablement – for acquiring, onboarding, technology enablement and providing ongoing support to MSMEs – whilst FSS would be responsible for last-mile single window transaction processing.

Speaking on the alliance, Krishnan Srinivasan, Global Chief Revenue Officer, FSS said: “The COVID-19 pandemic has made digital the new normal and the ability to participate in digital commerce is crucial for MSME survival and growth. We are excited to partner with Airpay for FSS Embark to bring reliable digital payment services to MSMEs. The collaboration helps us gain immediate access to an extensive MSME network and we would benefit from Airpay’s strong technology tools and merchant support network on the field, enabling us to rapidly scale our footprint.”

Speaking on the partnership, Kunal Jhunjhunwala CEO, Airpay, said: “MSMEs are at the heart of India’s economy, and are the hardest hit by the pandemic, as they lack, technology and tools that will help them sell in the digital marketplace. Our partnership with FSS helps make the entire transaction processing more reliable and efficient. It would enable us to expand services to a large base of merchants by offering them a range of innovative digital payment acceptance services -- online, instore and mobile -- to participate and compete in a digital-first economy.”

MSMEs represent 90 per cent of businesses in India and play a crucial role in India’s economy --contributing 30 per cent to the county’s total GDP and employing an approximate 28 per cent of the country’s workforce. A B2B omni-channel acquiring service, FSS Embark partners with banks and merchant aggregators and helps them leverage its reliable, and scalable technology platform to transform the economics of servicing MSMEs.