Mint

Banking on your mobile phone

Purchasing an airline ticket with Rs30 in the wallet at 2am was considered nigh impossible a few years back. But it is now a distinct reality made possible by mobile phones. Is cash on the brink of extinction? Well, not yet.

Mint

No congesting the toll gates

What’s the common factor that binds Oyster and Octopus with London and Hong Kong? Both are, of course, delicacies available at some of the finest restaurants in the two cities, but are also two of the world’s leading transit payment systems. Both have provided efficient scalable payment platforms that together address the transaction needs of more than 20 million passengers daily.

Mint

The case for social lending

The quest for lower rates and easier repayment norms continues for customers grappling with interest rates as high as 36% on their credit cards and personal loans. The traditional busi,ness model for banks has been that of collecting low-cost retail deposits and lending them at much higher rates. The rates o,ffered are a function of the administrative and risk-related costs associated with the customer and his funding requirements.

Mint

How can firms manage ideas?

As organizations attempt to grow rapidly and create business value, employees are required to constantly find solutions to challenges and situations that have not been encountered earlier. Charting unfamiliar territory is the norm and rarely the exception these days. The challenge is even greater for professionals who have assumed new roles or have come in from other organizations, in weaving their way through hierarchical layers and departmental silos looking for value collaborators. In large- matrixed organizations the challenge gets exponential in nature.

Mint

When there’s no telecalling

The recent introduction of the Do Not Call service and the registration of more than six million customers in a short span of time has posed quite a challenge for the outbound telecalling channels across India. Outbound telecalling, perhaps to the chagrin of some of us, has been a significant driver of new customer acquisition and revenues exceeding billions of dollars annually. But with the consumer privacy movement gaining momentum and more regulatory measures likely to make unsolicited customer contact even tougher, marketers need to reinvent their search for that ever-elusive customer sale!

Mint

The fingerprint of loyalty

Imagine walking into a shopping mall on a bright Sunday afternoon, checking out the latest personalized offers available at your favourite stores, buying clothes and leveraging your gold loyalty membership, indulging in a beer and a sumptuous Thai lunch at your happy hours hangout, and ending the day with a new movie at the multiplex. Quite a pleasant afternoon. Now imagine this without your wallet. No cash in hand, none of your eight debit and credit cards or 15 loyalty cards.

Mint

Having a cellphone can pay

Aburgeoning middle class, double-digit growth rates, and the emergence of organized retail have resulted in an explosion in retail spends by Indian consumers. But with well under 5% of retail payments being electronic, most retail payments continue to be in cash. At the same time, the parallel economy is estimated at over $500 billion. Clearly, there’s need to enhance the share of electronic payments.