Infosys arm to take Indian start-up tech to global financial clients

EdgeVerve Systems is planning to make use of ToneTag's near-field communications, payments and location-based services

EdgeVerve Systems, the financial product unit of Infosys, the information technology major, is tapping into the expertise of Indian start-ups to step up its digital offering as part of its Finacle platform to financial service customers globally.

In September, the company (a fully owned subsidiary of Infosys) firmed two partnerships with local start-ups to take their solutions to customers globally. On Friday, it said it would take near-field communications, payments and location-based services of ToneTag, a Bengaluru start-up that is backed by former Infosys director T V Mohandas Pai, to its customers as part of Finacle.

ToneTag also counts among its investors Facebook Product director Anand Chandrasekaran; co-founder of i-Flex Solutions Deepak Ghasias; and former Wipro chief executive T K Kurien.

Last week, Infosys Finacle joined hands with Ratan Tata's Unilazer Venture-backed Niki.ai to build a joint solution and provide a "smart-purchasing chatbot by using natural language processing and machine learning to speak with customers and perform online transactions". Niki.ai can also deliver personalised suggestions for customers of Infosys' banking and other financial service client analysis.

ToneTag will offer flexible payment solutions at banks using contactless technology, with the help of biometrics authentication capabilities at Infosys Finacle. This combination will help consumers approve a transaction on their phone without sharing the card or account information with the merchant, said Infosys.

These start-ups were recognised at Finacle FinTech Connect, an initiative that focuses on alliances and uses the Infosys Innovation Fund programme to identify promising financial technology start-ups.

Such partnerships, analysts say, will primarily help Infosys build smart offerings for financial service sectors at a lesser cost, using expertise from start-ups that is already available.

Customers of IT service companies across the globe are seeking Artificial Intelligence, machine learning and other digital technology-based offerings that can bring down the cost of operations and ensure better customer experience. This has resulted is small deal sizes for these IT companies, long dependent on large and long-term software service deals.

The Niki.ai chatbot solution should help banks to enhance their revenues and improve customer stickiness, said Sanat Rao, chief business officer at Infosys Finacle. The services offered using ToneTag would provide banks a significant opportunity to gain control of the 'last mile payment experience', without making a substantial capital investment.

Nitin Babel, co-founder of Niki.ai, said he'd gradually go global with the Infosys client base, once use of its chatbot becomes popular at Indian banks.

"The utility of the Niki chatbot is multifold. It can support any digital transaction, be it a banking one or an e-commerce payment. Hence, it can be adopted in different markets. First, our focus is to gain significant foothold in the domestic (India) market and with this partnership, we can plan to go global within a year," he said.

Fintech catch

• EdgeVerve Systems, an Infosys subsidiary, has said it would offer near-field communications, payments and location-based services of ToneTag, a Bengaluru start-up backed by former Infy director T V Mohandas Pai, to its customers
• Earlier, Infosys Finacle joined hands with Ratan Tata’s Unilazer Venture-backed Niki.ai to build a joint solution and provide a ‘smart-purchasing chatbot to speak to customers and perform online transactions’
• The firms were recognised at Finacle FinTech Connect, an initiative that focuses on alliances and uses the Infosys Innovation Fund programme to identify promising fintech start-ups