Displaying items by tag: india

Profit at China's Big Five banks is declining as the popularity of internet banks such as WeBank grows. Can China's banks find their place in the new fintech world?

With the craze surrounding Bitcoin, many are concerned that the crypotcurrency’s price is over valued and a result of too much hype. However, Blockchain, the technology behind Bitcoin, is captivating the attention of many and is widely regarded as the future of technology. So much so in fact, many countries have already launched or begun looking into the possibility of creating their own Blockchain based, state sponsored cryptocurrencies.

With Bitcoin recently hitting an all- time high of $14,000 USD on December 7^th 2017, many have been asking questions about whether the cryptocurrency’s price will continue to rise in the future or if it is simply a speculative bubble waiting to burst. The currency has risen by over $13,000 USD since the 1^st of January 2017, a remarkable, and for some unfathomable surge considering it has no tangible assets or value at its core.

The Financial services sector is integrating AI (artificial intelligence), machine learning and predictive analytics at a remarkable rate for both customer-facing and back-end operations. One element commonly associated with AI, but one that has not yet made a strong impact, are ‘chatbots,’ computer programs designed to simulate conversation with human users. However, this could be about to change, with large financial institutions starting to experiment and launch products leveraging AI technology.

The Indian central bank, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is considering the possibility of introducing a fiat cryptocurrency in the country.

Anti-money laundering activities are taking the center stage in Indian financial markets. The recent crackdown on shell companies, and brokerages helping them, by the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) is part of a concerted effort by the Government to clean up the financial markets in India.

Hike messenger, a popular phone messaging service app in India, has recently decided to introduce payment services on its platform. 

Government reforms have had contrasting effect on the securitization and corporate debt markets in India. Significant issues such as the high level of bad loans at public sector banks, bankruptcy laws which were not conducive to recovery of non-performing assets (NPAs), securitization of debt and the need to boost the corporate debt market, go hand in hand in India.

The digital payments space in India had been evolving steadily in the last couple of years. However, the economy had a big bang moment when Prime Minister Modi announced the Demonetization drive on November 8, 2016. The stated intention was to reduce the level of money laundering and counterfeit currency in the economy, and to raise the level of transparency to ensure that the number of people paying income tax increased in line with rising incomes. It was indeed a commendable move for the Indian economy which exhibits high levels of corruption, money laundering and tax evasion. 

As the Indian economy grows rapidly, there is an opportunity to bring ever larger number of Indians into the banking mainstream through both public and private banks.