Infosys looks to take payments bank solution global

Finacle offers what it calls frictionless banking that allows users to use their smartphones to open bank accounts

Infosys, which has built its Finacle solution customised for small banks and payments in India is planning to take the platform to its global customers.

The Bengaluru-based software exporter, whose core banking solution powers the operations of organisations such as ICICI Bank and Union Bank, offers what it calls frictionless banking that allows users to use their smartphones to open bank accounts. To this effect, Infosys Finacle has tied up with smartphone maker Samsung and mobile app security platform Onegini, so that the on-boarding process is secure.

“Under frictionless banking, our effort is to make sure that an Uberification of core banking can happen; just like you log in to Uber, you should be able to create a bank account using your mobile,” said Rajashekara V Maiya, head of Finacle product strategy at Infosys, in an interview.

Infosys Finacle has already won its first major customer in Paytm, whose payments bank it would power and is in talks with others who have won licences.

“We realised the fact that an Uber can be used by everyone without much training has in a way helped it sharply increase valuation. Banks need to offer the same experience. To help them (banks) do that, we have launched solutions in the past six months, taking into account four key things — frictionless experience, ecosystem, analytics and insights, and automation,” Maiya said.

Infosys plans to generate revenue of more than $2 billion in three years from its EdgeVerve unit, whose main component is Finacle, which offers customised solutions for banks to run their operations. The software firm has already begun engagements where it offers solutions on a pay-per-use basis on transactions that the banks do on its platform, as against the traditional mode of selling licences and implementing the solution on the bank’s premises.

Infosys Finacle is also building an ecosystem between banks and other service providers, where its API (application programming interface) would facilitate synchronisation of a credit or debit card with a payment wallet for booking a cab or movie ticket.