ItzCash Blog

Hindustan Times on the new era being ushered in through the unique features of the ItzCash Freedom Prepaid Card

2012-02-12T22:53:00.000-08:00

Launch of the Freedom Prepaid Card In Delhi - News Coverage

2012-02-08T00:51:00.000-08:00

Freedom Prepaid Card Launched in Delhi today!

2012-02-07T00:39:00.000-08:00

http://www.paymentssource.com/news/India-ItzCash-Card-Launches-Prepaid-Product-3009390-1.html

2012-02-01T02:26:00.001-08:00

ItzCash ties up with BSNL

2012-01-31T00:31:00.000-08:00

New Delhi: State-run BSNL today partnered with Itz Cash Card to launch Trust Card which will facilitate making utility bill payments like electricity and telephone bills.
The Trust Card will be sold from BSNL retail outlets and ItzCash World outlets. The card will be available in denomination of Rs 250, Rs 500 and Rs 1,000.
BSNL subscribers will also be able to make payments for postpaid bills, prepaid top-ups and BSNL value added services like Hello TV Subscription, BSNL Hello Tunes (Ring Back Tune).
Besides, BSNL has also partnered with PK Online for 'Hello TV' for personal computer and data card users.
Users can also watch live TV channels, movies and videos from the best of Indian entertainment. Over 50 TV channels to choose from, including big players like Star, B4U, AajTak, UTV, TV9, Times and regional stalwarts like Raj, PTC, Sangeet Bangla and more, BSNL said.
This service shall be available for free for BSNL and GSM subscribers for first month and the free offer is valid till February 17, 2012.

Indiainfoline covers Naveen Surya, MD, ItzCash as one of the emerging business leaders

2012-01-25T03:19:00.000-08:00

Naveen Surya, Managing Director, Itz Cash Card Ltd is an associate member of the ICSI (CS). After completing his L.L.B, he did his MBA (Finance) from Mumbai University. He brings with him over nine years of global exposure and the latest in management and business practices from his stint with several domestic and international firms. Surya was associated with TCS for four years where he worked on various projects for organizations and institutions including Director General Shipping (India), ACC, GE Capital (UK) and UBS (Japan). An Innovative thinker driven by clarity of vision, Mr. Surya believes in the Maxim "Keep things simple for the customer". Under his stewardship, ItzCash has launched India’s first “Multi Purpose Prepaid Cash Card” and is the leader in this sector offering a portfolio of customized e-commerce & m-commerce solutions in the B2B & B2C space.

Itz Cash Card Ltd., India’s only “Multi Service Prepaid Card Company” and part of the Essel Group, was established in 2006 and has an annual turnover of Rs. 3000+crores. ItzCash initiated the concept of prepaid payment solutions to the Indian consumer and various business entities, heralding the beginning towards enabling a cashless transacting society. ItzCash continues to build on its innovation augmenting its product portfolio while continuing to provide robust technology driven service delivery platforms. It constantly invests in upgrading technology towards creating world class prepaid payment solutions architecture of the future. ItzCash has more than 10000 online merchants (services) and 5,00,000 POS retail merchants spread across more than 2500 locations including cities, towns and rural India. The tie-ups across service sectors facilitate the multi-utility aspect of the card. ItzCash has over 60,000 ItzCash franchisees branded as “ItzCash World” and more than 2,75,000 retail outlets branded as ‘ItzCash Points’ in 2500+ Tier I and II cities and towns.

Speaking with Yash Ved of IIFL, Naveen Surya says “We are planning to expand from 2,500 to 6,000 locations including cities, towns and rural India over the next 2-3 years”.

What are your plans in Franchisee verticals?
We are planning to double our franchise network in the next two years. The company is expecting a growth in its business with the launch of its new Freedom Prepaid Card that can be used for ATM withdrawals and in retail outlets.

Are you planning to expand new cities?
We are planning to expand from 2500 to 6,000 locations including cities, towns and rural India over the next 2-3 years.

The prepaid payment Industry will continue to grow about 30-50%.

Brief us about the launch of Freedom Prepaid Card?
Itz Cash Card Limited, Development Credit Bank Limited and Visa - the leading payments technology company launched the Freedom Prepaid Card, India’s first multi-purpose Prepaid Card. We are targeting 80% Population of the country. Today, people in India are using cash as an instrument.

The Freedom Prepaid Card is a multi-purpose card that can be issued to under-banked and unbanked individuals. The Freedom Prepaid Card can be purchased at any ItzCash World Outlet, after completing a one-time registration. Cardholders can then use the Freedom Prepaid Card to make purchases in-store, pay bills and book tickets online, as well as to withdraw cash at any ATM that accepts Visa. The Freedom Prepaid Card provides unrivalled convenience, security, and enables cardholders to better manage their cash.

Through ItzCash’s competitive leadership and by using innovative technology we aim to empower the masses and make digital transactions an everyday phenomenon heralding the drive towards a cashless economy.

Are you looking for more tie-ups?
ItzCash has already partnered with 10,000 merchants which include entertainment, energy providers, travel and tourism, telecom, DTH providers, retail, government agencies (MCGM, MCD, etc) to facilitate easy payments through ItzCash.
We are also looking for more tie-ups/partners where consumers want digitization for easy online payment solutions.

Who are the PE investors in the company?
The company, promoted by Essel Group, also promoters of the Zee network, counts as its shareholders, private equity investors like Matrix partners, Intel Capital and Lightspeed Ventures.

What’s your revenue target for FY12?
We are expecting transactions worth 40bn to be processed this year.

ItzCash Launches the Trust Card in collaboration with BSNL

2012-01-24T03:27:00.000-08:00

Link: http://www.indiainfoline.com/Markets/News/BSNL-launches-TRUST-Card-with-Itz-Cash-Card-Ltd/5336227435

India Infoline News Service / 12:46 , Jan 19, 2012

India’s pioneer “Multi Service Prepaid Card” company, to launch “TRUST Card”, a co-branded multi service prepaid card for all Citizens of India.

Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd. (BSNL) has partnered with Itz Cash Card Ltd., India’s pioneer “Multi Service Prepaid Card” company, to launch “TRUST Card”, a co-branded multi service prepaid card for all Citizens of India.

The TRUST Card is a ‘semi-closed card’ which will facilitate citizens to make their utility bill payments like bill payments of electricity, telephone, cooking gas, mobile, water, rail/air tickets booking, pay for DTH subscription, Citizen Services by Government or Government bodies etc. BSNL subscribers will also be able to make payments for Postpaid bills, Prepaid top-ups and BSNL value added services like Hello TV Subscription, BSNL Hello Tunes (Ring Back Tune) etc. apart from making payments for above mentioned utility bills. To begin with there are about more than 10000 billers. The list will be continuously enhanced.

R.K. Upadhyay, CMD, BSNL said, “These two new services are supposed to bring value and compliment the services that we provide to our customers. The fact that both these services can be used by any citizen of India adds new features to the service portfolio of BSNL.”

Naveen Surya, Managing Director, Itz Cash Card Ltd said, “The objective of the card is to provide citizens of India a convenient payment option. We are happy that our expertise and experience in the prepaid cards segment is helping BSNL create a better service platform.”

The TRUST Card will be sold from BSNL retail outlets and ItzCash World outlets. The card will be available in denomination of Rs. 250, Rs. 500 and Rs. 1000. There is option of either use & throw the card after use or reload the card using refill vouchers which will also be available at the BSNL retail outlets. The card will be launched initially in Chandigarh, Kolkata, Pune and Chennai and will be launched countrywide later on.

the sheer convenience of Freedom Prepaid Card - Hindu Business Line

2012-01-15T21:48:00.000-08:00

Business India features Naveen Surya, MD, ItzCash

2012-01-10T03:49:00.000-08:00

ItzCash to empower common man with ‘Freedom Prepaid Card’

2012-01-05T04:52:00.000-08:00

ItzCash to empower common man with ‘Freedom Prepaid Card’

Itz Cash Card Ltd. a pioneer in the prepaid payment sector in India who initiated the concept of prepaid payment solutions to the Indian consumers and various business entities heralding the beginning towards enabling a cashless society. ItzCash has empowered each and every Indian citizen with a prepaid payment instrument, thus giving the convenience to transact for digital or physical commerce transactions to avail any kind of goods and services.

ItzCash already has a strong retail presence in the form of noQ^24x7a Prepaid Cash Card for customers who prefer to do their own transactions with service providers who have partnered with ItzCash. ItzCash has partnered with more than 10,000 service providers across various sectors which includes Telecom, Entertainment, DTH, Travel and Tourism industry as well as Utility Services and Municipal Corporations to name a few.

As per market intelligence, the number of PoS terminals in India at the end of March 2011 stood at 5,76,550 which can grow, as more urban customers shift to plastic payments instead of carrying wads of cash in their wallet. Keeping the above statistics in mind, ItzCash with its expertise in prepaid cards, recently launched the “Freedom Prepaid Card”, India’s first multi-purpose prepaid card in association with Development Credit Bank Limited (DCB) and Visa Inc. The Freedom Card has been designed to provide electronic payments facility to millions of unbanked & under-banked Indians who continue to transact in cash. These cards can be purchased from ItzCash World (ICW) Outlets. Obtaining this card also is an easy process; all that a consumer has to do is walk in at any of the ItzCash World outlet and submit KYC documents such as an address proof and a photo identity and immediately the card will be handed over to the consumer. The Freedom Prepaid Card is valid for a period of 5 Years from the date of issuance and the cardholder can swipe the card in store, pay bills and book tickets online, as well as withdraw cash at any ATM that accepts Visa.

Freedom Prepaid Card brings along with it the convenience, control and security features, which allows the cardholders to pay for purchase of goods and services at over 5 lakh merchant outlets in India. This card can also be used for online transaction using the VISA payment gateway as well as at ATMs across India. Furthermore, cardholders can avail of all security features provided by Visa on their prepaid products and control that helps better cash management and controlling spends with clear track on the budget.

ItzCash Launches Freedom Card - Business Line

2011-12-23T04:52:00.001-08:00

Link: http://www.telegraphindia.com/external/display.jsp?mode=details&id=29544

ItzCash and DCB Bank in Association with Visa Launch Freedom Prepaid Card in Mumbai

21-12-2011 04:40 PM

MUMBAI, MAHARASHTRA, INDIA

-- India’s first Multi-Purpose Prepaid Card
-- Designed to provide electronic payments facility to millions of unbanked & under-banked Indians who continue to transact in cash

Itz Cash Card Limited, India’s leading Prepaid Card Company, Development Credit Bank Limited, India’s leading emerging private sector bank and Visa, the leading payments technology company launched the Freedom Prepaid Card, India’s first multi-purpose Prepaid Card, today.

The Freedom Prepaid Card is a multi-purpose card that can be issued to under-banked and unbanked individuals. The Freedom Prepaid Card can be purchased at any Itz Cash World Outlet, after completing a one-time registration. Cardholders can then use the Freedom Prepaid Card to make purchases in store, pay bills and book tickets online, as well as withdraw cash at any ATM that accepts Visa. The Freedom Prepaid Card provides unrivalled convenience, security, and enables cardholders to better manage their cash.

Expressing delight on the launch of Freedom Prepaid Card, Mr. Naveen Surya, Managing Director, Itz Cash Card Ltd. said, “We are proud to present a unique “first co-branded open loop prepaid card.” The launch of this product will provide an instrument to the common man who till today has been marginalized or completely excluded from experiencing the benefits of a ePayment instrument like debit/credit cards . Through ItzCash’s competitive leadership and by using innovative technology we aim to empower the masses and make digital transactions an everyday phenomenon heralding the drive towards a cashless economy”.

Speaking on this occasion, Mr. Murali M. Natrajan, Managing Director & CEO of DCB Bank said, “We are excited about this partnership and delivery platform as DCB Bank has a strong commitment to financial inclusion and we believe the DCB ItzCash Freedom Prepaid Card is a very innovative and powerful step towards empowering the urban unbanked segment.”

Mr. Uttam Nayak, Group Country Manager - India and South Asia, Visa, said, “We are pleased to be an integral part of this first of its kind multi-purpose prepaid card in India. Freedom Prepaid Card is extremely versatile and provides the cardholder with an easy-to-use, extremely secure and widely accepted product. Innovative products like the Freedom Prepaid Card can play a crucial role in driving inclusive growth across the country, by enabling many Indians to enter the formal financial system and benefit from the convenience and security of electronic payments, while driving more transparency and efficiency within the payments system.”

The key attributes of Freedom Prepaid Card include:

-- Convenience - simple to use and easy to pay for purchase of goods and services at over 5 lakh merchant outlets in India, including online, point of sale terminals and ATMs that accept Visa.

-- Security - enables cardholders to load the card and carry their cash in a safe manner rather than carry or store cash at homes. Furthermore, cardholders can avail of all security features provided by Visa on their prepaid products.

-- Control - helps better cash management and controlling spends with clear track on the budget.

About Itz Cash Card Ltd.:

Itz Cash Card Ltd., India’s only “Multi Service Prepaid Card Company” and part of the Essel Group, was established in 2006 and today has an annual turnover of Rs.3000+crores. A pioneer in the prepaid payment sector in India, ItzCash initiated the concept of prepaid payment solutions to the Indian consumer and various business entities, heralding the beginning towards enabling a cashless transacting society. ItzCash continues to build on its innovation augmenting its product portfolio while continuing to provide robust technology driven service delivery platforms. It constantly invests in upgrading technology towards creating world class prepaid payments solutions architecture of the future ItzCash has more than 10000 merchants and spread across more than 2500 locations including cities, towns and rural India. The tie-ups across service sectors facilitate the multi-utility aspect of the card. ItzCash has over 60000 ItzCash franchisees branded as “ItzCash World” and more than 2,75,000 retail outlets branded as ‘ItzCash Points’ in 2500+ Tier I and II cities and towns.

About Development Credit Bank Limited

DCB Bank is a modern emerging new generation private sector bank with 82 branches across 10 states and 2 union territories. It is a scheduled commercial bank regulated by the Reserve Bank of India. It is professionally managed and governed. DCB Bank has contemporary technology and infrastructure including state of the art internet banking for personal as well as business banking customers.

DCB Bank’s business segments are Retail, micro-SMEs, SMEs, mid-Corporate, Microfinance Institutions (MFI), Agriculture, Commodities, Government, Public Sector, Indian Banks, Co-operative Banks and Non Banking Finance Companies (NBFC). DCB Bank has approximately 450,000 customers.

DCB Bank has deep roots in India since its inception in 1930s. Its promoter and promoter group the Aga Khan Fund for Economic Development (AKFED) & Platinum Jubilee Investments Ltd. holds over 23% stake. AKFED is an international development enterprise. It is dedicated to promoting entrepreneurship and building economically sound companies. AKFED operates as a network of affiliates with more than 90 separate project companies and over 30,000 people. The fund is active in 16 countries in the developing world. AKFED had co-promoted HDFC in India in the late 70s.

For more details please visit www.dcbbank.com & http://www.akdn.org/akfed

About Visa

Visa is a global payments technology company that connects consumers, businesses, financial institutions and governments in more than 200 countries and territories to fast, secure and reliable digital currency. Underpinning digital currency is one of the world’s most advanced processing networks—VisaNet—that is capable of handling more than 20,000 transaction messages a second, with fraud protection for consumers and guaranteed payment for merchants. Visa is not a bank and does not issue cards, extend credit or set rates and fees for consumers. Visa’s innovations, however, enable its financial institution customers to offer consumers more choices: pay now with debit, ahead of time with prepaid or later with credit products. For more information, visit www.corporate.visa.com

Freedom Prepaid Card Features

-- The Freedom Prepaid Card is an Open Loop Card and India's first co-branded open loop prepaid card, launched by Itz Cash Card Limited, In association with DCB Bank Ltd. and powered by VISA
-- The Freedom Prepaid Card is valid for a period of 5 Years from the date of issuance.
-- The Freedom Prepaid Card can be used for online payments, withdrawals at any ATM and at over 500,000 Merchant Establishments that accept VISA /MasterCard
-- The Freedom Prepaid Card is a reloadable card with a minimum reload value is Rs. 250 and a maximum of up to Rs. 50,000
-- The Freedom Prepaid Card can be reloaded at ItzCash franchisee branded as ItzCash World (ICW)
-- The annual limits of transaction (From date of Card activation) is Rs. 2,00,000 (if PAN Card details are not provided) & Rs. 6,00,000 (If PAN Card details are provided)
-- The Freedom Prepaid Card offers Insurance Cover against Loss of Card/fraudulent use of Card ,Accident & Death Cover & Health Insurance for self & Spouse
-- The Freedom Prepaid Card can be hot listed in case of loss or theft of Card
-- The Freedom Prepaid Card holder can also open a No Frills Account with DCB Bank Ltd with zero minimum balance requirement.

ItzCash Launches Freedom Card - India Infoline

2011-12-23T04:41:00.001-08:00

Link:http://www.indiainfoline.com/Markets/News/Itz-Cash-Card-DCB-Bank-and-Visa-launches-Freedom-Prepaid-Card/5317795945

Itz Cash Card, DCB Bank and Visa launches Freedom Prepaid Card

India Infoline News Service / 15:55 , Dec 21, 2011

The Freedom Prepaid Card is a multi-purpose card that can be issued to under-banked and unbanked individuals.

Itz Cash Card Limited - India’s leading Prepaid Card Company, Development Credit Bank Limited - India’s leading emerging private sector bank and Visa - the leading payments technology company launched the Freedom Prepaid Card, India’s first multi-purpose Prepaid Card, today.

The Freedom Prepaid Card is a multi-purpose card that can be issued to under-banked and unbanked individuals. The Freedom Prepaid Card can be purchased at any Itz Cash World Outlet, after completing a one-time registration. Cardholders can then use the Freedom Prepaid Card to make purchases in store, pay bills and book tickets online, as well as withdraw cash at any ATM that accepts Visa. The Freedom Prepaid Card provides unrivalled convenience, security, and enables cardholders to better manage their cash.

Expressing delight on the launch of Freedom Prepaid Card, Naveen Surya, Managing Director, Itz Cash Card Ltd. said, “We are proud to present a unique “first co-branded open loop prepaid card.” The launch of this product will provide an instrument to the common man who till today has been marginalized or completely excluded from experiencing the benefits of a ePayment instrument like debit/credit cards . Through ItzCash’s competitive leadership and by using innovative technology we aim to empower the masses and make digital transactions an everyday phenomenon heralding the drive towards a cashless economy”.

Speaking on this occasion, Murali M. Natrajan, Managing Director & CEO of DCB Bank said, “We are excited about this partnership and delivery platform as DCB Bank has a strong commitment to financial inclusion and we believe the DCB ItzCash Freedom Prepaid Card is a very innovative and powerful step towards empowering the urban unbanked segment.”

Uttam Nayak, Group Country Manager - India and South Asia, Visa, said, “We are pleased to be an integral part of this first of its kind multi-purpose prepaid card in India. Freedom Prepaid Card is extremely versatile and provides the cardholder with an easy-to-use, extremely secure and widely accepted product. Innovative products like the Freedom Prepaid Card can play a crucial role in driving inclusive growth across the country, by enabling many Indians to enter the formal financial system and benefit from the convenience and security of electronic payments, while driving more transparency and efficiency within the payments system.”

The key attributes of Freedom Prepaid Card include:

Convenience - simple to use and easy to pay for purchase of goods and services at over 5 lakh merchant outlets in India, including online, point of sale terminals and ATMs that accept Visa.

Security - enables cardholders to load the card and carry their cash in a safe manner rather than carry or store cash at homes. Furthermore, cardholders can avail of all security features provided by Visa on their prepaid products.

Control - helps better cash management and controlling spends with clear track on the budget.

ItzCash Launches Freedom Card - Navbharat Times

2011-12-23T04:33:00.000-08:00

ItzCash Launches Freedom Card - Business Line

2011-12-23T04:31:00.001-08:00

ItzCash Launches Freedom Card - DNA

2011-12-23T04:30:00.001-08:00

ItzCash Launches Freedom Card - Times of India

2011-12-23T04:29:00.001-08:00

Videocon D2H - Easy Recharge with ItzCash

2011-11-23T02:04:00.000-08:00

ItzCash ICW’s can now renew their customers Videocon D2H subscription online through www.itzdth.com. ItzCash has made the renewing of DTH as easy as switching your channels for your customers. ICW’s can use the service and earn maximum profits on every renewal of your customers, Videocon D2H subscription. For further details ICW’s can get in touch with their SO/ASM or call 02261125757.

ItzMeriYatra.com "SUPER BONANZA" scheme

2011-09-07T05:10:00.000-07:00

ItzCash ICW owners can now earn on every passenger by doing bookings on itzmeriyatra.com through its ‘Super Bonanza’ scheme. Hurry, Super Bonanza now extended till 30th Sept’11. For detailed information on the scheme ICW’s can contact with Area Sales Manager or Sales Officer .

Itz Cash Card Ltd. presents Energy Scheme

2011-08-29T22:05:00.000-07:00

ItzCash now brings super profit scheme for all our ICW owners, now ICW’s can pay their customers electricity bill and earn upto Rs 7* incentive on every BSES, MSEB, Assam Power and NDPL electricity bill payment. And upto Rs 4* for Reliance energy bill payment of your customer.

The scheme is valid from 1st August to 30th September, 2011. For detailed information on the energy scheme the ICW’s can get in touch with your Area Sales Manager or Sales Officer.

Itz Cash Card Ltd. bags two International awards at Paybefore awards in USA

2011-03-18T06:10:00.000-07:00

ItzCash has bagged best in category award for its noQ^24x7 Prepaid Card Program in the Best Non-U.S.-Based Prepaid Program category and ICW Master Account program at the 5^th Annual 2011 Paybefore Awards in USA. The awards ceremony was held on 7th March’11 at the World Center Marriott in Orlando, USA.

Mr. Naveen Surya, MD, Itz Cash Card Ltd. says, “It is an honour for ItzCash to be recognised by Paybefore. This is the third year in succession that ItzCash has won an award at Paybefore. The awards are a testimony to the hard work and dedication of the entire ItzCash team that has made the noQ^24x7 Card and ICW Master Account program a huge success. We at ItzCash are proud that our constant efforts to initiate the change across digital platform is recognized at global level”.

For Award pictures click here

http://www.flickr.com/photos/itzcash/5537328636/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/itzcash/5537326136/

ItzCash Team at Paybefore Awards 2010-2011

http://www.flickr.com/photos/itzcash/5612994256/in/photostream

Mr. Surya, MD, ItzCash felicitated by Global Prepaid Exchange

2011-03-02T01:30:00.000-08:00

ItzCash’s Managing Director, Mr.Naveen Surya was felicitated for his Outstanding Contribution towards establishing Prepaid in India at the recently held Global Prepaid Exchange Conference by Mr. Dan Horne Co-founder and Chief Knowledge Officer at Global Prepaid Exchange.

Under his leadership, Itz Cash Card Limited has won several national and international awards including "Innovative Use of Technology" award, "Best General Purpose Spending Card Program" at PayBefore Awards - 2007 as well as "the Most Innovative Prepaid Program" of the year 2008 for the "Octroi Automation Program". His plan over the next five years is to make ItzCash as one of the biggest Financial and Payments Services Company with the largest consumer base and distribution channel for financial services in India.

The conference saw experts from India, U.S. and various sectors like Banking, Telecom and NBFC's discuss 'Prepaid the India Way' trying to map the landscape of opportunities which are available in the Indian Market.

ItzCash Card emerges as the leading payment medium for booking Rail e-tickets online at IRCTC

2010-10-27T04:44:00.000-07:00

ItzCash Card, India's largest "Multi Purpose Prepaid Cash Card" has emerged as the most preferred medium for booking rail tickets online at IRCTC. IRCTC data released for the month of September 2010 states that ItzCash card has gained and consolidated a lead position across all categories of payment options including credit cards, debit cards and cash cards, with a market share of more than 10 per cent

ItzCash card has been the leading payment option at IRCTC for rail bookings for the last two quarters in a row. Online transactions using Cash cards have been growing steadily with a larger section of the population including the unbanked graduating to online transactions.

The IRCTC data for the month of September 2010 is an indication of this with cash cards accounting for around 14 per cent of the total online rail e-tickets booked. This undoubtedly marks a growing trend in consumer behavior with people looking at digital transactions to ensure quicker and convenient purchase of their rail tickets. Among all the payment gateways available for IRCTC online booking, ItzCash card today has one of the highest numbers of successful transactions. According to the statistics published on www.irctc.co.in, ItzCash recorded a total number of 8, 74,151 successful transactions with a rate of more than 90% in the month of September.

The article can also be read at http://www.afaqs.com/news/company_briefs/?id=46629_ItzCash+Card+emerges+as+the+leading+payment+medium+for+booking+Rail+e-tickets+online+at+IRCTC

ItzCash Card – An Indian ePayment Success Story by Mr. Naveen Surya MD, Itz Cash Card Ltd

2010-10-06T11:26:00.001-07:00

The evolution of money today has led us to a “click & pay-cash” scenario through the use of internet and mobile revolution. The advent of ‘online retail’ has only accelerated the search for the more practical and true alternative for cash, giving rise to a completely new gamut of alternate payment options. The good-old Credit and Debit cards head this catalog of alternate payment option, but can economic and payment convergence be achieved with just evolution of technology and an alternative payment mode. Payment convergence should empower the user and posses the ability to use efficient and effective channels and tools to avail services which are beyond the reach of mass population who are under banked or unbanked which will ultimately lead us then to 'Economic Convergence'.

Let us look our own country as a prime example, efforts of Indian Government, Finance Ministry, the RBI, Banks and other non-banks has resulted in a very active 'Financial Inclusion' program in form of 'No Frills Account' for unbanked population, but the fact still remains that India has less than 2% Credit Card holders, less than 10% Debit Card holders and bank account penetration in India is just about 30~40%. Over 60~70% population is still completely excluded from any formal financial services this is because besides being economically divided India is also digitally divided a large share of the populace lies on the other side of the Digital Divide. These are consumers of Converging technologies but do not qualify to benefit from the innovations in the banking financial services and payments sphere. Ironically who are beneficiaries of the global advances in banking technologies are not as large or are passive to infrequent users. For a moment if one reflects on the Indian spending behavior, it is apparent that, we like to live within our means and avoid “credit” in personal finance situations. Therefore in spite of a large percentage of a population savvy on the tools of the Internet and mobile they have not realized its true potential as a transaction medium. The challenges for e-payments however are Product Innovation, Product Delivery Channel Innovation, Consumer Education and Awareness and the creation of an Industry Eco-system: which can deliver a sustainable solution and leverage synergies and strength.

ItzCash which was incepted in 2005, with a vision to not only drive the convergence of digital payments but also drive convergence of the economy, building upon the knowledge ItzCash introduced India's first multipurpose prepaid cash cards which have today found the perfect footing. This triumph has been achieved by conceptualizing around using Cash as a payment method on the digital medium. Conceived as prepaid multipurpose cards with the “cash value” stored digitally as a 16-digit number ItzCash has now made it possible to deliver in the digital medium a transaction experience and convenience like a credit/debit card but also utilization and simplicity like the rupees in your wallet.

ItzCash prepaid cards have catalyzed the concept of usage of Cash on the Net. mobile and IVRS, but what has fueled the successful adoption is the aspiration of a large net and mobile savvy audience – the “mass” in a marketers parlance to acquire a card which otherwise they could not acquire either due to geographic limitations or credit worthiness criteria (SEC C&D classified audience). Ease of availability has only hastened the adoption. Services which can be availed with the card include payments for Railway/Air E-tickets, Electricity bills, Telephone Landline bills, Mobile Postpaid, Mobile Pre-paid, DTH subscription renewal, Insurance premiums, Cooking gas, Citizen Services by Government or Government bodies and a host of other services. ItzCash Cards are easy to acquire, enabling On-line, On-mobile, IVRS & POS payment facility allowing anytime - anywhere payments, safely, securely and controlled spending. This has been possible by providing a service and product which is as simple as using cash considering the fact that India is one of the largest 'Cash based Economy', with annual spent of approximately 529 billion USD. The real challenge and opportunity is to provide a solution to get this large cash transaction volume to eCommerce using ePayments.

Summarizing, with cash cards, the true challenge in the Digital world is to actually challenge your own imagination & innovate. The payment solutions suite is ready for every Indian to choose and use. Imagine paying for the Pizza via the mobile, Imagine buying movie tickets on the mobile without rushing to the theater or imagine topping up your mobile in the middle of a desert - with ItzCash card all these are distinct realities today!

Welcome To ItzCash Blog

2010-10-06T02:07:00.001-07:00

The ItzCash blog is a representation of the super dynamic prepaid payment industry and its role in various domains of e-governance, e-payments and the overall e-world. It will take you through an expedition around the new age of digital convergence and the various innovative avenues in the world of E-commerce and M-commerce. The prepaid payment industry and the financial inclusion concept in specific has not just evolved in the India region but across the entire Asia pacific zone. Through this blog we aim to pen down experience from our zone and learning’s across the globe. This is a bulletin for the people involved in the prepaid industry, thus aiming to make it a library for the entities involved at all the level of pyramid. It is not just an expression of thoughts and business but a movement to involve all entities of the society in the prepaid eco-space.

To keep pace with the ever-evolving world of digital transactions we would request your constant participation on this platform.