Giving Oxigen to Mass Banking

Although India has come up with severalmodern banking facilities, still a majorityof the country's rural population andsignificant part of urban population do nothave an easy access to banking and relatedfinancial services, and thus, are excluded fromthe development agenda of the government.Taking into consideration the dilemma ofthis stratum of population, who are deprivedof the banking facilities in an advancingeconomic scenario, the State Bank of India (SBI)has made a conscious effort to enable thismass, to join the financial mainstream. But,indeed it has become a herculean taskfor the bank to find the best deal,which meets the requirements. Andfor this initiative, the bank has optedfor Oxigen Services India, an IT-enabled transactions and paymentsprocessing platform for electronicdelivery of prepaid and postpaidservices, in a seamlessly networked environment.

As for the bank itself, Sunil Pant,CGM-Delhi, SBI, said, “With the helpof Oxigen, we can make transactions,including savings, a regular part ofeveryone's life. The Web-enabledretailers will have SBI Kiosk Bankingcustomer service center signs, whichwill enable them to do banking services formasses. In the first phase, the activity will berolled out initially in Delhi-NCR and Mumbaiand will be taken nationwide in due course.”

Discussing about the company portfolio,Pramod Saxena, Founder and Chairman, Oxigensaid, “We are the pioneers in the field weoperate in. Oxigen aggregates all the services,that can be delivered over an electronicdistribution network, and this includes prepaidrecharges, bill payments, utility payments, tollbridge recharges, cash cards and more.Currently, the consumer avails all of theseservices at a retail counter. We provide eithera PoS terminal that looks very similar to a creditcard terminal or a PC that links into ourtransaction portal or a simple mobile phone.”

OxiCash is an innovative prepaid offeringof Oxigen, that enables the consumer to buywhatever he or she wishes for, just by clickinga few buttons on OxiCash or partner websites.It is a prepaid, stored value closed wallet, thatis accessible through all mediums, that is, PCor mobile. It allows the consumer to makepayments towards a host of services likeprepaid mobile and TV recharges, bill payments,travel, online shopping, mobile videos, music,games and other utilities. With OxiCash Wallet,the consumer's mobile phone number becomesthe unique identity of the respective user. Thisfurther implies, that a user does not need abank account or credit/debit card to makepurchases on the Internet. Consumers usingOxiCash can access the services from the Webusing PC or mobile.

Not only OxiCash, but also Oxigen's CSPkiosk-based banking model provides thenecessary ease and comfort to the masses, toopen and operate bank accounts and utilizeother banking services at neighborhood grocerystores. One of the principal features of theWeb-based no-frill kiosk banking is that it canreach out to the unbanked masses across Indiaand help them open accounts with minimumdocumentation. As part of the service,biometric readers will be used, to record userfingerprints for banking transactions, which caninclude cash deposits, withdrawals and moneytransfers to other SBI accounts.

Customers can also avail auto loans, homeloans, loans against property and gold loans,besides being able to get NSC and KVPcertificates, invest in mutual funds, and openterm deposits and recurring deposits at theselocations. Talking about the transaction fee,which varies for various services, Saxenaexplained, “This service fee will be sharedbetween the CSP retailer, distributor andOxigen. Bank account holder will add to therevenues of Oxigen from other services suchas payment for mobile/DTH recharges, billpayments, travel, insurance and many other services.”

Bouncing high in the market with its robustsolutions, Oxigen has furthered its presence inalmost all parts of India with overseas partners,including US-based Microsoft Corporation,and Blue Label Telecom of South Africa. Oxigenexpects to expand its business rapidly inthe virtual payments and distribution spaceusing Microsoft's Web and Mobile-based technologies.

However, it was never an easy expeditionfor Saxena to bring the company from initialstage to such a convincing position in themarket. Oxigen's business model is based onvirtualization of the entire chain of servicedelivery, from service provider right up to thecustomer. Hitherto, this process wasfragmented and by and large, physical. Themajor hurdle was for the retailers to acceptthe concept of doing away with a physical wayconducting business and getting them to usea machine with online delivery, transaction and settlement.

Overcoming the challenges, today thecompany has its plans well-mapped to leverageon the opportunities ahead. Oxigen has beenenjoying a healthy streak of growth, but nowwith the expanding global footprint, thecompany hopes to grow by at least three timeson a YoY basis.

“By 2011, Oxigen's pan-India retail networkof approximately 75,000 touch points, isexpected to expand to the figure of 2,00,000.We aim to be an instrument of financialinclusion for the bottom of pyramid (BOP)people of India,” envisioned Saxena.

SIKTA SAMANTARAY(siktas@cybermedia.co.in)