Financial Software and Systems FSS, a leading provider of integrated payment products and a payments processor, has joined forces with FSS to deliver hyperlocal banking services to financially underserved segments. Under the partnership, the plan to open 1,000 Smart Cash franchisees in semi-urban and rural areas to expand the adoption of financial services among the underserved segments.
Smart Cash will operate on a franchise model in order to bridge infrastructure gaps at the last mile and fast-track growth. With a vision of Empowering a Billion Lives by offering financial services, franchisees would be onboard with a one-time fee and need to conform to Smart Cash's business and operational guidelines for delivering a uniform services experience to customers.
A branch-in-a-box service concept, Smart Cash franchisees, equipped with a kiosk or a micro-ATM device, would offer affordable banking, investment, credit, and insurance products to target segments. The Smart Cash franchisees would be a one-stop shop for products from utility payments and domestic money transfers, as well as third party partner products, which would improve the commercial viability of the service for Smart Cash franchisees.
Smart Cash franchisees will extend their interoperable banking services to customers of any bank, backed by eFinclusiv AePS at the back end. Customers can walk into any Smart Cash franchisee to access services - using biometric verification and a social ID card Aadhaar linked to a bank account or through a debit card and associate PIN, regardless of the bank they hold an account in.
An estimated 800 million Indians are mainly living in a cash economy, and access to digital financial services can bring prodigious benefits to people, businesses and the economy, according to the head of retail banking, CSB Bank. Our vision is to build a universally available ecosystem for digital transactions to strengthen the financial capability of target segments. Our partnership with provides us with the right technology foundation to scale quality access, bring relevant products to the market and create more convenience for the customer. FSS has been at the forefront of India's digital revolution for three decades by developing enabling payments infrastructure that connects people to financial services at scale. Progress on savings, credit, and insurance in India is slow and limiting the usefulness of these accounts, even as account ownership is now universal in India. The technology infrastructure needed to process transactions must be scalable and extensible at the back end. FSS eFinclusiv AePS platform is used to process transactions originating at Smart Cash franchisees. The platform is hosted on FSSNeT, FSS secure private cloud with FSS assuming responsibility for service uptime, terminal management and monitoring, service upgrades, security and compliance with regulatory mandates. An As-a-Service model allows the bank to scale and bring new innovations to the market by eliminating capital expense associated with in-house technology models, which is a cost-efficient path to CSB Bank.