FINO Adopts Gemalto Smartcards to Accelerate Microbanking Deployment in India
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AMSTERDAM and MUMBAI, India, June 25/ / -
- Smartcard for Microbanking Promises to Simplify Access to Funds and Facilitate Trade Amongst Under-Banked in India
Gemalto (Euronext NL0000400653 GTO), the world leader in
digital security, today announced the successful introduction of smartcard
technology with biometric authentication for Financial Information Network &
Operations Ltd. (FINO) in India. The Gemalto solution conveniently and
securely stores transaction records inside the smart card to enable
microbanking and simplifies access to financial services for the under-banked
population in rural India.
FINO provides end-to-end core banking technology solutions
including smart cards to microfinance partners, banks and Non-Governmental
Organisations (NGO) involved in serving low-income households in the urban
and rural regions in India as business correspondents of large institutions.
Currently, an estimated 500 million people in these areas are either not
served or are underserved by the finance sector (source: Ananth Bindu, et. al
- A blueprint for the delivery of Comprehensive Financial Service to the poor
in India, icicisocialinitiatives.org, Dec 2004).
Each FINO card developed by Gemalto can hold up to 15
different types of secure applications that facilitate financial services
such as deposit remittances, savings, loans, insurance and e-purses.
In addition, the card acts as an electronic statement to log
all transactions with the ability to store the last 150 transactions (up to
10 transactions per service). Transactions are validated using biometric
authentication, which provides one of the highest degree of digital security
available today. End-user transaction is approved after fingerprint
information is read using low-cost readers and then verified by the card
microcomputer at business correspondents facilities and at selected retail
outlets and partner premises.
"One of the biggest challenges in the microbanking industry is
the huge amount of paperwork and human effort traditionally involved in
supporting micro-transactions and credit-scoring potential customers. High
costs coupled with low returns did not make microfinance viable beyond a
certain threshold, thus hampering growth," said Manish Khera, chief executive
officer of FINO. "This one-card-does-all solution resolves these barriers to
growth by providing end-users with an easy-to-use and highly secure mode to
conduct financial transactions, and for us to supervise transactions
electronically."
"Digital security is usually associated with developed
markets," added Dr Martin McCourt, President, South Asia, Gemalto. "This FINO
deployment is a great example of how smart card technology can be used to
bring banking services to the world's unbanked, helping them to help
themselves. We are proud at Gemalto to be part of this initiative that will
effectively contribute towards developing poorer urban and rural areas in
India."
About Gemalto
Gemalto (Euronext NL 0000400653 GTO) is a leader in digital security
with pro forma 2006 annual revenues of EUR1.7 billion, operations in about
100 countries and more than 10,000 employees including 1,500 R&D engineers.
In a world where the digital revolution is increasingly transforming our
lives, Gemalto's solutions are designed to make personal digital interactions
more convenient, secure and enjoyable.
Gemalto provides end-to-end digital security solutions, from the
development of software applications through design and production of secure
personal devices such as smart cards, SIMs, e-passports, and tokens to the
management of deployment services for its customers.
More than a billion people worldwide use the company's products and
services for telecommunications, financial services, e-government, identity
management, multimedia content, digital rights management, IT security, mass
transit and many other applications.
As the use of Gemalto's software and secure devices increases with the
number of people interacting in the digital and wireless world, the company
is poised to thrive over the coming years. Gemalto was formed in June 2006 by
the combination of Axalto and Gemplus. For more information please visit
www.gemalto.com
About Financial Information Network & Operations Ltd. (FINO)
Financial Information Network & Operations (FINO), a multi bank promoted
company is a pioneering company providing cutting edge smart card based multi
application solutions to "unbanked" in Banking,Microfinance,Insurance and
Government sectors primarily located in rural & semi urban areas of India.
FINO ethos is becoming a sectoral venture for serving the rural masses.FINO
executes end to end turnkey solutions for LFI's including hardware/software,
system integration, transaction network, operations, maintenance & training.
FINO helps organizations improve efficiencies considerably reducing overall
project cost. In fact, FINO's concept is to take banking and the banking
technology to un-banked masses in the country.
www.fino.co.in
Source: Gemalto
Contact: Marcos Fernandes, Tel: +852-6051-6425, Mob: +86-135-0126-8613, marcos.fernandes@gemalto.com
