Jos Babu, Chief Information Officer, UAE Exchange receiving the Award from Radha S Chauhan, P&CEO, NeGD; Ajay Kumar, Additional Secretary, MeitY; and Sameer Kochhar, Chairman, Skoch Group

That was an era when India was gradually getting familiarised into the rhythm of mobile beeps, wherein affordability of a hand-held device was not easy, virtually all transactions happened in cash mode with hardly any facility for the common man to transact smaller amounts within the country. When UAE Exchange India started its payment operations in 2009, it took the lead by initiating an easier payment option for its customers. Company launched XPay Cash Wallet, a mobile based Semi-closed Pre-Paid Instrument, which can be used for making payment to merchants for availing products or services, utility bills, school fees, exam fees, DTH & mobile recharges, tours & travels etc, that too at the touch of a finger.

Challenges

• To convince the customers about advanced features and making them embrace this change.
• To make a change from face-to-face transaction with hard currency to a virtual space.
• Poor access to infrastructure and other online platforms.
• Concerns regarding cost for reloading and operational cost for propagating the usage of wallet.
• Lack of technological know-how and competitive personnel.

Solution

It introduced round the clock, person-to-person Domestic Money Transfer Services (DMTS) across India allowing unbanked and banked customers to remit funds to any bank instantly even during non-banking hours.

Introduction of XPay Cash Wallet gave an impetus to the whole project as the number of users increased drastically for reasons as follows:

• Loading money to Wallet using Payment Gateway and UPI instantly
• Speed, safe and secure transactions with 3 factor authentication
• Instant fund transfer to any Bank Account round the clock even on holidays
• Aadhaar and Mobile Number based money transfer facility
• Lowest charges for money transfer among other industry players
• No registration fees or Annual Charges
• Instant credit and debit confirmations in the Mobile App.
• Merchant payments with QR Code, QUICK Pay with Token and Pay with Mobile number
• Utility Bill Payments
• Mobile & DTH recharge including Landline and post-paid bill payment
• Online flight, bus, taxi and hotel booking.
• Online gifting services like flowers, bouquet and gift delivery.
• Online registration and KYC verification using Aadhaar Number and OTP or Biometric fingerprint.

Outcome

Funds transfer to any bank account is made easy with basic available details like Account Number, Beneficiary and Bank name or transferring using UPI ID alone. DMTS or any services does not restrict on KYC documentation especially if the amount is below R10,000, which gives the users a free hand for registrations and frequent usage. UPI based transaction gave a stronghold base for XPay Cash Wallet, decreasing turnaround time for transactions.

Soon, it introduced the payment solution of renowned school fees for students to help their parents in paying their fees from a convenient zone. XPay included the IMPS (Immediate Payment Service) for the agents and merchants through which an Instant Interbank Electronic Fund Transfer service was made possible through mobile phones, extending through other channels such as ATM, Internet banking, etc. Finally, with all the system essentials in place, UAE Exchange, India initiated the XPay Cash Wallet facilitating financial transaction and services all in one go.