Tag: banking

Best AI Tools for Fraud Detection in Banking: Protecting Transactions and Customers

Fraud detection in banking has gained immense acceptance as an AI tool, bringing advanced security to bear with the machine learning algorithms that examine huge amounts of transaction data in real time by rapidly spotting patterns and anomalies that are characteristic of fraudulent activity. The main features of fraud detection AI tools include predictive analytics, behavioral profiling, automated alerting mechanisms, and adaptive learning, enabling banks to prevent threats much quicker than could be achieved by older systems. These tools’ high rates of false-positive detection integrate seamlessly into existing core banking platforms, thus applying correct technology to provide a scalable approach to continuous monitoring that minimizes human interaction.

Tool	Deployment Style	Key Differentiator / Unique Feature	Target Focus / Niche
Feedzai	On-premise / Cloud (customizable)	Generative AI agent (ScamAlert) for scam notifications	Retail & commercial banks, PSPs, gov. orgs
Sift	Cloud-based (SaaS)	Clearbox Decisioning (transparent AI logic)	E-commerce & high-volume transactions
ComplyAdvantage	Cloud-native, rapid deploy	Identity clustering + graph network analysis	AML-heavy institutions, fintechs
Hawk AI	SaaS / Private cloud	Up to 70% reduction in false positives with explainable AI	AML + Fraud compliance modernization
Abrigo	Cloud-based	Strong check fraud image analysis + one of the largest check fraud databases	Credit unions & mid-size banks
FICO Falcon Fraud Manager	On-premise / Cloud / Hybrid	Consortium of 10,000+ FIs feeding predictive models	Global banks needing deep portfolio analytics
Forter	Cloud-native	Performance-based pricing + global merchant network effect	E-commerce & banks with chargeback exposure
ThreatMetrix	Cloud-based	Global digital identity network + behavioral biometrics	Large, multi-channel banks needing identity intelligence
Finscore	SaaS (regional)	Leverages telco + social data for fraud/credit scoring	Banks & fintechs in Philippines (localized)
Kount	Cloud + API integrations	250 ms real-time automated risk decisions	Broad banks & businesses needing chargeback + identity trust

Feedzai

WEBSITE	feedzai.com
Rating	4.5
Free Trial	No
Best For	Banks, fintechs, and enterprises needing AI-driven fraud detection, AML, and risk management solutions.

Feedzai is the world leader in AI for fraud detection for banking and is known to secure billions of consumers and trillions of dollars in payment transactions on a yearly basis by doing real-time transaction scoring using behavioral analytics and adaptive risk profiling. From account opening to transaction monitoring to AML compliance and even generative AI capabilities for proactive scam alerting, the end-to-end platform amplifies detection rates on a scale while minimizing false positives. Feedzai’s architecture is highly customizable for integration with core banking systems for retail banks, commercial banks, and payment service providers, as well as government organizations. Pricing is customized based on the size of deployment and choice of risk modules.

Pros

safeguards over 1 billion consumers.
Real-time, multi-channel fraud prevention that provides a 62% improvement in detection
Generative AI agent (ScamAlert) for instant scam notifications

Cons

Advanced features would need technical integration
More enterprise-centric

Pricing

Feedzai offers custom pricing; contact them for a quote.

Sift

WEBSITE	sift.com
Rating	4.4
Free Trial	No
Best For	E-commerce platforms and marketplaces needing AI-powered fraud prevention and trust & safety management.

Sift, an AI-based fraud detection solution, is very popular in banking due to its extensive global data network, real-time anomaly detection, and behavioral analytics, enabling proactive identification of payment scams, account takeovers, and policy abuse. The platform also delivers Clearbox Decisioning to promote transparency in AI logic, easy integration with other systems, and a no-code interface for creating custom workflows for quick deployment. Designed for scale, Sift can handle high transaction volumes while providing industry-specific workflow templates that make it easy to operate. The transaction fees begin at $0.06, but custom quotes for enterprises are available based on the volume and features selected.

Pros

No-code dashboard for rapid rule customization.
International identity search and pre-built fraud workflow templates for banks.
Very scalable in high transaction volumes.

Cons

Steep learning curve.
Support team is slow to address customer problems.

Pricing

Sift offers custom pricing; contact them for a quote.

ComplyAdvantage

WEBSITE	complyadvantage.com
Rating	4.6
Free Trial	Yes
Best For	Financial institutions and fintechs needing AI-driven AML screening, transaction monitoring, and risk management.

ComplyAdvantage, an AI-based fraud detection tool developed for banks and payment providers, leverages machine learning, clustering of identities, and graph network analysis to track over fifty types of fraud that include account takeover, push payments, and, more recently, synthetic identities. The system generates lucid and explainable alerts and operates in real time, along with money and non-money events. The platform is unified and easy to deploy, going live in less than two weeks. ComplyAdvantage also adapts quickly to new payment methods and criminal tricks. With comprehensive customization and transparent decisions, it helps institutions stay ahead of fraud without breaking their stride for uninterrupted processes.

Pros

The fraud alerts are explainable and actionable
Detection occurs in real-time across login, profile changes, and transactions.
Rapid implementation and flexible data integration.

Cons

Bugs in usability and user experience.
Custom and enterprise plans will require negotiation.

Pricing

Plan	Pricing
Starter Plan	$119.99 / month
Enterprise	Custom

Hawk AI

WEBSITE	hawk.ai
Rating	4.5
Free Trial	No
Best For	Banks, payment providers, and fintechs seeking real-time, AI-powered AML and fraud detection with transparent monitoring.

Hawk AI is an extremely useful and intelligible AI-empowered platform for banking fraud detection and AML compliance, which gives very real-time transaction monitoring, automated fraud anomaly detection, and possible up to 70% false-positive reductions. Customized AI models and super-fast deployment methods—mostly in under three days—enable banks to tailor and apply self-service rule management and create transparent reports for compliance audits unique defenses to scout for a wide range of threats. Hawk AI provides for scalable, modular integration as SaaS or private cloud, and easily onto older systems. Its platform spans payment screening, transaction fraud, and entity risk detection, hence making it particularly ideal for modernizing and future-proofing anti-fraud strategies in any financial institution.

Pros

Comprehensible AI that supports regulatory compliance.
More than 70 percent reduction in false positives
Quick deployment of models and self-service customizations of rules.

Cons

Additional resources and some configuration effort may be needed
Not as many third-party integrations as some of the other solutions.

Pricing

Hawk AI offers custom pricing; contact them for a quote.

Abrigo

WEBSITE	abrigo.com
Rating	4.4
Free Trial	No
Best For	Financial institutions needing AML compliance,

Abrigo gives banks and credit unions a powerful fraud detection system based on AI and made to scale. It is an online orchestration engine that works in conjunction with clear machine learning models, adding trust and transparency to the process. In essence, the system combines AI image analysis with one of the largest check fraud data networks and the flexibility of rule setups to catch fraud-related activities across checks, wire transfers, ACH, debit cards, and even new accounts. Complete automation, adjustable modules, and intelligent case management reduce manual effort while providing a structure to make faster and data-driven decisions. The early pilots proved their worth with over 90 percent detection of fraudulent checks.

Pros

Explainable AI and advanced check image analysis
Timely onboarding and collaborative case management
One suite covers wire, ACH, new account, and debit card fraud.

Cons

Initial setup could take some technical know-how
Tailored solutions may take longer for implementation

Pricing

Abrigo offers custom pricing; contact them for a quote.

FICO Falcon Fraud Manager

WEBSITE	fico.com/en/products/falcon-fraud-manager
Rating	4.5
Free Trial	No
Best For	Banks, credit unions, and financial institutions needing advanced fraud detection and prevention

FICO Falcon Fraud Manager uses its advanced AI and machine learning system to monitor billions of transactions in real-time across card, digital, wire, and payment channels for banks worldwide. This neural network and adaptive analytics unearth approximately 50% more fraud than rules-based systems, while portfolio-specific models leverage predictive insights from a consortium of over 10,000 financial institutions. Highly customizable rule engines, exhaustive case management, and around-the-clock global support boost detection accuracy and operational efficacy for institutions of all sizes in either an on-premise or cloud deployment model. Reporting meets global compliance requirements such as PCI and provides rapid alerts to ensure minimum customer impact.

Pros

50% more fraud detection compared to standard rules-based systems.
Adaptive neural network with access to global consortium data for predictive insights.
Flexible and Modularity deployment options including cloud and hybrid.

Cons

6 to 12 months for deployment and integration.
May be too complicated and expensive for smaller banks compared with targeted tools.

Pricing

FICO Falcon Fraud Manager offers custom pricing; contact them for a quote.

Forter

WEBSITE	forter.com
Rating	4.6
Free Trial	No
Best For	E-commerce businesses and online merchants seeking real-time fraud prevention and chargeback protection

As a service used by banks and payment providers, Forter is completely automatic for AI detecting fraud, providing instant real-time decisions on identity, account takeovers, and chargebacks, as well as abuses of policy. Billions of global transaction data points feed into Forter’s continuous training in machine learning and behavioral analytics to combat developing fraud patterns, while improving approval rates and decreasing false declines. The performance-based and transparent pricing model guarantees chargeback and approval rates. Its networked effect gives predictive models across clients. Forter’s policy builder and instant dashboard reduce friction, build trust with customers, and streamline end to end management of fraud.

Pros

Real-time, fully automated fraud prevention without manual review.
Chargebacks can be reduced up to 72 percent and false declines by 46 percent.
A scalable identity-based protection and abuse policy builder for quick adaptability.

Cons

Occassional bugs
Less flexible to those that want hybrid automation / manual review models.

Pricing

Forter offers custom pricing; contact them for a quote.

ThreatMetrix

WEBSITE	lexisnexisrisk.com/products/threatmetrix
Rating	4.5
Free Trial	No
Best For	Banks, fintechs, and enterprises needing digital identity intelligence to detect fraud and reduce risk

ThreatMetrix is a cloud AI platform for fraud detection that enables banks to provide real-time risk authentication, device intelligence, behavioral biometrics, and access to a global digital identity network. It assesses billions of transactions so that account takeovers, synthetic identities, and payment fraud can be detected rapidly and accurately. Using advanced machine learning and shared consortium data, ThreatMetrix lowers false positives while leaving customer friction at an absolute minimum. Adapts well to smooth and easy integration into compliance with global standards like PCI DSS, GDPR, and PSD2. The platform further permits dynamic policy management, excellent case management, and fast investigation tools ones that would be ideal for large, multi-channel banks looking for protection without impeding the customer experience.

Pros

One of the critical pros is that it has its
global intelligence network covering real-time sharing of fraud insights.
powerful device, behavioral, and identity analytics.

Cons

Sometimes initial setups with all the data integrations tend to be tricky.
Depends on the quality and diversity of the input data.

Pricing

ThreatMetrix offers custom pricing; contact them for a quote.

Finscore

WEBSITE	finscore.ph
Rating	4
Free Trial	No
Best For	Financial institutions in the Philippines using AI/machine learning and telco data for alternative credit scoring and fraud detection services.

Finscore is an AI-powered fraud detection solution for banks that employs combination telco, alternative and behavioral data to accurately identify risky behaviors and respond to cyber threats in realtime. It features machine learning models that can continuously learn new fraud patterns-in summation, reducing false positives with fewer manual workloads for instant background checks and full integration with the KYC system. Finscore adopts modular dynamics where flexible configuration fits with automated alerts and seamless onboarding for the regulation side and operations side. It’s targeting both fintechs and banks that require deploying quick, customizable dashboards, and minimal operational disturbance; however, effectiveness relies on data quality and regional market knowledge.

Pros

capitalizes on the telco and social data for very high efficiency in fraud detection.
Live validation of identity and real-time automated background checks.
Fully integrated KYC Base Check module for easy onboarding.

Cons

Effectiveness highly depends on local data availability and partnerships with telcos.
Very few advanced analytics in comparison with global tier-1 platforms.

Pricing

Finscore offers custom pricing; contact them for a quote.

Kount

WEBSITE	kount.com
Rating	4.6
Free Trial	No
Best For	Businesses needing AI-powered fraud prevention, chargeback management, identity trust, and regulatory compliance tools.

Kount is an advanced artificial intelligence fraud-detection platform that has been designed for banks to protect account opening, payments, chargebacks, and digital identity checks. It uses decades of global interaction data with adaptive machine learning combining supervised and unsupervised models for detecting fraud with high precision. The platform performs risk assessments in real time and makes automated decisions of less than 250 milliseconds, allowing banks to act quickly and keep their customers moving. Its modular setup allows easy integration with core-banking systems, while the clear dashboards present transparent analytics and flexible strategic action tools. With fewer manual reviews, fewer false positives, and layered protection stretched over the entire customer journey.

Pros

Adaptive AI with supervised and unsupervised ML has more detections and less false positives.
Easily customizable strategies and modular solutions for unique banking needs.
Decades worth of historical data for solid accuracy.

Cons

Inaccuracy might be caused at the start of AI learning curve.
To reduce accuracy, one needs transaction data of good quality.

Pricing

Kount offers custom pricing; contact them for a quote.

Conclusion

Altering fraudulent detection paradigms with the help of AI tools has made real-time, adaptive protection the industry’s standard future of banking security. While arresting even the very sophisticated cyber threats, these platforms also protect customer trust and regulatory compliance through advanced machine learning progpredactived analytics and behavioral profiling. Their architectures are highly scalable and rapidly deployable, allowing conversion of transaction environments across institutions of any size to respond immediately to changing fraud patterns with minimized losses and low operational burdens. As threats become more sophisticated, banks will gain strategic advantage with solutions that include artificial intelligence by converting risk management from a reactive task to a proactive shield.

FAQs

What are Best AI Tools for Fraud Detection in Banking?

Best AI Tools for Fraud Detection in Banking are:

Feedzai
Sift
ComplyAdvantage
Hawk AI
Abrigo
FICO Falcon Fraud Manager
Forter
ThreatMetrix
Finscore
Kount

How does AI detect fraud in real-time transactions?

AI fraud detection tools analyze large volumes of transaction data using behavioral profiling, predictive analytics, and anomaly detection to instantly spot suspicious patterns and trigger alerts before fraud occurs.

What are the key benefits of AI fraud detection tools for banks?

Key benefits include reduced false positives, faster fraud prevention, real-time monitoring, compliance with AML regulations, automated alerting, and improved customer trust with minimal friction.

September 2, 2025

Uday Kotak: The Maverick Banker Who Redefined India’s Financial Future

From a simple bill discounting business and with a mere banking license, he advanced to become the founder of the Kotak Mahindra Bank, which is among the leading financial institutions in India today. His ability to recognise the areas that have the potential to change the face of businesses and convert them into value-creating business ventures puts him in a league of his own when it comes to the most celebrated Indian business gurus. Starting with a seed capital of less than $80000, Kotak has managed to raise assets of over $6.8 billion—a story that must be told and read.

In this StartupTalky biography, we will discuss Uday Kotak’s key achievements, challenges, and ideas that defined his path to starting one of the largest private banks in India.

Uday Kotak – Biography

Name	Uday Suresh Kotak
Born	March 15, 1959
Birthplace	Mumbai
Age	65 years
Education	Hindi Vidya Bhavan, Mumbai Sydenham College, Mumbai Jamnalal Bajaj Institute of Management Studies, Mumbai
Occupation	Founder, former MD and CEO of Kotak Mahindra Bank
Known For	Founder of Kotak Mahindra Bank
Net Worth	$13.3 Billion
Wife	Pallavi Kotak
Children	Jay Kotak and Dhawal Kotak
Parents	Mother: Indira Kotak Father: Suresh Kotak
Siblings	Sister: Aarti Suresh Kotak

Uday Kotak – Early Life
Uday Kotak – Career
Uday Kotak – Kotak Mahindra Bank
Uday Kotak – Controversies
Uday Kotak – Awards and Recognizations
Uday Kotak – Interesting Facts

Uday Kotak – Early Life

Uday Suresh Kotak was born on March 15, 1995, into an upper-middle-class Gujarati-Lohana family. His family has long been involved in cotton trading, which helped him gain entrepreneurial and financial understanding early in his life. Uday Kotak’s upbringing balanced capitalism at work and socialism at home, as he had a joint family consisting of 60 members under one roof.

Uday Kotak has always been interested in mathematics and analytical thinking. Moreover, his passion for numbers was complemented by his interest in cricket and music, as he used to play sitar during his early school days. Cricket has always excited him more than music, and he admitted to leaving Sitar behind cricket when he grew up.

Uday Kotak laid the foundation of his career in finance after receiving a degree in commerce from Syndham College. He was committed to gaining deep insights into business and therefore joined the Jamnal Bajaj Institute of Management Studies to pursue his postgraduate in management studies. During his college days, Uday Kotak was able to hone his skills while shaping his vision to provide revolutionary banking and financial services.

This solid educational foundation of Uday Kotak laid the groundwork for his remarkable journey in the financial services industry, establishing him as one of India’s most respected bankers.

Uday Kotak – Career

It takes a visionary leader and an entrepreneur to build an organisation from the ground up, and that is exactly what Uday Kotak did. Following his MBA, Uday Kotak embarked on an ambitious journey by founding Kotak Capital Management Finance Ltd. in 1985, which transformed into Kotak Mahindra Finance Ltd.

Starting from a seed capital of less than $80,000 borrowed from families and friends, he transformed a simple bill-discounting business into a financial service giant. As of March 2022, Kotak Mahindra Bank has assets of more than $68 billion and is among the top three largest private sector banks in India in terms of market capitalisation with a strong network of over 1752 branches.

One of the biggest strengths of Uday Kotak has been his ability to foresee growth avenues. He continued to venture into unknown territories, from becoming the first to introduce car financing services to partnering with some of the leading international companies. One of the most significant events was the acquisition of ING Vysya Bank by Kotak Mahindra Bank in 2014 for $2.4 billion, which not only raised the market value of the bank by almost twofold but also established a strong foothold for the bank in the Indian financial system.

During his tenure, the Kotak Mahindra Bank forayed into various segments, including general insurance in the same year, as well as a small payments bank in partnership with Bharti Airtel. These strategic moves not only helped the bank to develop new services and widen its range of products but also contributed to the bank’s flexibility in the constantly developing financial environment.

Uday Kotak was able to cut his stake in the bank to 30% as per the regulatory norms, proving that he is willing to follow the rules and regulations to ensure sustainable growth of the company. His corporate achievements are supplemented by the fact that he is one of the highest-paid banking CEOs in India, earning INR 27 lakh ($32,000) monthly as of 2019.

In addition to his corporate accomplishments, Uday Kotak also has an impact on industry leadership. He was the President of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) for the year 2020-21 and was actively supporting the structural changes in the economy and industries.

In March 2023, he again strengthened Kotak’s presence in the asset management division by integrating Kotak’s alternate fund management and investment advisory divisions into Kotak Alternate Asset Managers (KAAM). KAAM is a firm that manages $18 billion in assets, making it the largest alternate asset management firm in India.

The journey of Uday Kotak from a small-scale businessman to the founder of Kotak Mahindra Bank Limited and changing the banking landscape of India is a classic case of hard work, innovation, and determination.

Uday Kotak – Kotak Mahindra Bank

The history of Kotak Mahindra starts in 1985, when Uday Kotak started Kotak Mahindra Finance, a small finance and bill discounting company in a 300-square-foot office in Mumbai. Initially, he secured a loan from family and friends, and among them, Anand Mahindra, his close friend, invested a handsome amount. The early years observed the firm targeting to provide low-interest financial services to various commercial organisations such as Tata’s Nelco to counter other banks and financial institutions. This strategy was instrumental in the success of the firm, which was later known as Kotak Mahindra Bank.

In the early 1990s, Kotak Mahindra Finance diversified its services into investment banking, bill discounting, stock broking, life insurance, auto finance, and mutual funds. Such diversification formed the foundation for the firm’s future growth because it enabled the firm to expand its customer base and markets.

The year 2003 was a landmark for Kotak Mahindra when it got the banking license from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), thus actually turning into a proper private sector bank. This decision strategically placed Kotak Mahindra Bank among the major banks in the emerging financial sector of India.

Apart from banking and financial services, the Kotak Mahindra group also set up an asset management firm and an investment business, which collectively invested in $18 billion worth of assets.

The general management style of Uday Kotak has always been prudent, simple, and humble. These values have always been close to his heart, especially while addressing the issues that characterise the contemporary global financial system. Indeed, Uday Kotak’s prudential approach to business, especially regarding the issue of leverage and the need to exercise caution, has placed the bank in a position to withstand even the worst of the global financial storms.

Apart from prudence, Uday Kotak has been supporting simplicity in the banking sector. He has continuously encouraged banks to desist from the creation of complex financial instruments that may mislead customers and create unnecessary risks. Another leadership principle that he has adopted has been his humility, saying that bankers are managers of public funds.

Uday Kotak has steered Kotak Mahindra Bank from a three-member company to a giant of financial services with over one lakh employees. Today the bank has a large number of branches and offices not only in India but also in five other countries, providing millions of people with a multitude of financial services.

On September 1, 2024, Uday Kotak took the big decision to resign from his position as CEO of Kotak Mahindra Bank, even before the expiration of his contract, which was still valid for some months.

This has been a rather unexpected shift, as Uday Kotak has been a very engaged and productive member of the bank for almost forty years. However, Uday Kotak’s decision to step down is an indication of how much he trusts the leadership that he has cultivated in the organization. It is the end of an era for the company but also a new beginning for Kotak Mahindra Bank as a whole.

Uday Kotak – Controversies

Uday Kotak, the billionaire owner of Kotak Mahindra Bank, has faced various controversies in his career that affected him and the bank he founded. Here’s a look at the major controversies surrounding him:

Regulatory Issues and RBI’s Ban

Another relatively fresh and perhaps more sensational example can be traced back to April 2024, when the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) prohibited Kotak Mahindra Bank from sourcing new customers via its online platform or extending new credit cards to its customers. This move was driven by concerns over governance and risk issues within the bank’s technology systems. The RBI indicated serious compliance issues in the bank’s data protection, leakage prevention measures, and vendor risk management for two years.

The repercussions of this ban were dire. Shares of Kotak Mahindra Bank fell by up to 13%, which was the biggest single-day decline since 2015.

With a stake of almost 26%, this market selldown most affected its largest shareholder, Uday Kotak, who saw his fortune decline by $1.3 billion. The crisis also cut Uday Kotak’s wealth to $14.4bn, and for the first time since 2016, Axis Bank topped Kotak Mahindra Bank in market capitalisation. In response to the ban, Uday Kotak said that the bank was currently focusing on enhancing its IT capabilities and would ensure that the RBI receives a prompt resolution to the problems.

This was not the first time that Uday Kotak had a tussle with India’s central bank. In 2020, he had a legal dispute with the RBI regarding the percentage of his holding in Kotak Mahindra Bank. The RBI had restricted the promoter’s stake in private sector banks, and Uday Kotak had to abide by this decree by diluting his majority. The issue was resolved when Uday Kotak agreed to reduce his holding, but the showdown was a public one between the banker and the regulator.

Hindenburg Research and Allegations

Another controversy emerged in 2024 when operating in the USA short-seller Hindenburg Research accused Kotak Mahindra Bank in connection with Indian market regulations. The report accused Kotak Bank of having close connections with offshore fund structures that enabled investors to place bets against the Adani Group, thus raising concerns about the part played by the bank in these financial operations.

Uday Kotak – Awards and Recognizations

Named Ernest and young world entrepreneur of the year in June 2014
Won Business Leader of the Year award by the Economic Times in the year 2015
Featured in Money Master: The Most Powerful People in the Financial World by Forbes Magazine, US in May 2016
Ranked 8th by India Today magazine in India’s 50 most powerful people of 2017
Won the USIBC global leadership award in 2018
Lifetime Achievement Award by Financial Express in 2016
Businessman of the Year Awards 2016
Lifetime Achievement Award at Businessworld organized by Magna Awards in 2019
India business leader of the year 2021 CNBC-TV18

Uday Kotak – Interesting Facts

Uday Kotak had to take a one-year leave from his MBA when he sustained an injury in the forehead playing cricket. He was forced to join his family’s trading business before he could finally start his finance career.
After completing his education, Uday received a job offer from Hindustan Unilever but chose to follow his passion for finance instead. He refused it and told his father that he did not wish to work in a family business-type setting. His father stood by him, and Uday managed to set up his financial consultation.
The first breakthrough in the life of Uday Kotak was when he met Anand Mahindra, the then-general manager at Mahindra & Mahindra.
Uday Kotak made a deal in 1995 with Goldman Sachs to expand into investment banking and brokering.

FAQs

Who is owner of Kotak Mahindra bank?

Uday Kotak is the owner of Kotak Mahindra bank.

When was Kotak Mahindra Bank founded?

Kotak Mahindra bank was founded in February 2003.

What is Uday Kotak’s education?

Uday Kotak holds a bachelor’s degree from Sydenham College in Mumbai and an MBA degree from Jamnalal Bajaj Institute of Management Studies.

March 27, 2025

List of All the Subsidiaries of LIC – Life Insurance Corporation of India

In India, there is hardly anyone who hasn’t heard about LIC. The line ‘Zindagi Ke Saath Bhi, Zindagi Ke Baad Bhi’ is a part of our childhood as well as adulthood. From radio to television, to newspapers, and the internet, it is anywhere and everywhere, and honestly, with its presence on every media platform, it is quite hard to not get noticed.

Life Insurance Corporation owns LIC and comes under the Ministry of Finance. It is India’s biggest life insurance company and has over 70% of the market share.

LIC was founded in the year 1956 and since then has played the role of a constant supporter for most of the people seeking life insurance in India. The importance of life insurance is growing throughout the country.

LIC can grow at a faster rate if the organizational and operational efficiency of LIC can be improved, new kinds of insurance covers are introduced, its services are extended to smaller lesser-known places and the general price level is kept stable. LIC’s assets under management (AUM) have increased by 16.48% year-on-year, reaching INR 51,21,887 crore by the end of March, up from INR 43,97,205 crore at the end of FY23.

Now LIC is not just an insurance company anymore, it has many subsidiaries that serve different sectors. In this article, we will find out about the subsidiaries of LIC. So let’s get started with it.

LIC Housing Finance
LIC International
LIC Cards Services
LIC Mutual Fund
LIC Pension Fund
IDBI Bank
IDBI Bank Limited Step Down Subsidiaries:

IDBI Capital Markets and Securities Limited (ICMS)
IDBI Intech Limited (IIL)
IDBI Asset Management Limited (IAML)
IDBI Trusteeship Services Ltd (ITSL)
IDBI Federal Life Insurance Company Limited (IDBI Federal)

LIC Housing Finance

LIC Subsidiary	LIC Housing Finance
Established	1989
Headquarters	Mumbai
Revenue	INR 200 billion (2023)

This subsidiary of LIC was established in the year 1989 and is said to be one of the biggest Housing Finance Companies in the country. They provide long-term financial services to their consumers so that they can purchase or construct their choice of residence. The headquarters is situated in Mumbai and it has over 2103 people working under it as of 2019.

Apart from that, the company also provides finance to the people who want to renovate and repair their residential places. LIC Housing Finance went public in the year 1994 and has over 450 centers across the country. As of 2023, LIC Housing Finance revenue is 200 billion INR.

LIC International

LIC Subsidiary	LIC International
Established	1989
Headquarters	Manama, Bahrain
Revenue	–

Established in the year 1989 on the 23^rd of July in Bahrain, the main objective of this subsidiary of LIC is to provide life insurance to the Indian people living in the GCC countries. As of now, LIC International is operated in four countries, that is Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, and UAE.

Apart from this, LIC also has a license to sell life insurance to people from any other country in some selected markets. As of 2016, LIC International is said to be a billion-dollar company that ruled the Kingdom of Bahrain for several years. Such is the impact that it has won several awards amongst them, it has won the MEIF 2012 award from the Central Bank of Bahrain.

LIC Cards Services

LIC Subsidiary	LIC Cards Services Limited
Established	2008
Headquarters	New Delhi
Revenue	INR 8.2 trillion (2023)

LIC Subsidiaries - LIC Cards — LIC Subsidiaries – LIC Cards

This subsidiary was established in the year 2008 on the 11th of November. LIC launched its Credit cards in the market. Four different types of credit cards are offered here with some common features and some distinct features that make them unique. It is mainly suited for those who pay a large LIC premium. The cards offer lots of unique features to its users and attract users by providing reward points and cashback.

The headquarters is situated in New Delhi, India, and the total revenue as of the company is INR 8.2 trillion (2023).

The types of LIC cards are:

LIC Gold Credit Cards (for regular users)
LIC Platinum Credit Cards (for shopping and rewards)
LIC Titanium Credit Cards ( for travel and hotel booking)
LIC Signature Credit Card (for premium services)

Fee/Charge	Amount/rate
Finance Charges on Revolving Credit and Cash Advance	3.25% p.m. (46.78% annual)
Free Credit Period	Free Credit Period Up to 50 days
Cash Withdrawal Fee	2.5% of the amount withdrawn (min. Rs. 500)
Cash Payment Fee	Rs. 100
Over Limit Fee	3% of the amount (min. Rs. 500)
Foreign Currency Mark-up Fee	3.5% of the transaction amount

There are certain criteria that the financial institution looks into before accepting your credit card application. Your credit score, age, monthly income, location, etc. are some of the parameters that you should keep in mind before you apply for a credit card. To apply for an LIC credit card, you should be over 18 years old and should either be an LIC agent or an LIC policyholder. The documents required to apply for an LIC credit card are:

Proof of Identity: PAN Card, Aadhaar card, Driver’s License, Passport, Voter’s ID, Overseas Citizen of India Card, Person of Indian Origin Card, Job card issued by NREGA, Letters issued by the UIDAI.
Proof of Address: Aadhaar card, Driver’s License, Passport, Utility Bill not more than 3 months old, Ration Card, Property Registration Document, Person of Indian Origin Card, Bank Account Statement.
Proof of Income: Latest one or 2 salary slips (not more than 3 months old), Latest Form 16, Last 3 months’ bank statement.

LIC Mutual Fund

LIC Subsidiary	LIC Mutual Fund
Established	1989
Headquarters	Mumbai
Revenue	INR 59.88 crore (2022)

LIC Mutual Fund Ltd. started its journey in April 1989; it is a direct subsidiary of LIC and is one of the premium brands that provide financial security services to its customers. It is said to be managed over INR 15002.38 crore worth of assets. It offers a total 25 numbers of schemes. The Headquarters is situated in Mumbai, India and the company’s revenue was INR 59.88 crore (2022). Dinesh Pangtey is the CEO of LIC Mutual Fund Ltd.

LIC Pension Fund

LIC Subsidiary	LIC Pension Fund
Established	2007
Headquarters	Mumbai
Revenue	–

LIC Pension Fund Limited is India’s first pension fund. Established in the year 2007 on November LIC Pension Fund is the Subsidiary of LIC and is considered India’s first pension fund. This fund is to secure the future related to the finances of the people after their retirement. LIC is one of India’s three public sector pension fund managers and has a one-third share in all investments made through Central and State Government NPS. It is also open to the private sector as a fund manager. LIC Pension Fund is the first Pension Fund Company in India to be incorporated and to receive a commencement of business certificate.

These four schemes are provided by the LIC Pension Fund. There is Jeevan Shanti, LIC Jeevan Akshay-VII, Pradhan Mantri Vaya Vandana Yojana, and Saral pension. Its headquarters is situated in Mumbai, India. Smt. Priti Panwar is the current CEO of LIC Pension Fund Ltd.

The government of India introduced the New Pension System (NPS), with effect from 2004. Pension Fund Regulatory And Development Authority (PFRDA) through a process of competitive bidding, has appointed Life Insurance Corporation (LIC), State Bank of India (SBI), UTI Asset Management Company (UTI –AMC), and as The Pension Fund under the NPS. “NPS-Lite Model” is designed to ensure ultra-low administrative and transactional costs, to make such small investments viable.

National Pension System NPS Lite makes pensions possible for small investors. It is an initiative of the Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA), the apex body established by the Government of India to regulate and develop the pension sector in India. NPS extends help to the weaker and economically disadvantaged sections of society with their limited investment potential. This is why PFRDA has launched NPS Lite to specifically target marginal investors and promote small savings during their productive lives. It also aims at building up a corpus sufficient enough to buy an annuity for their old age.

IDBI Bank

LIC Subsidiary	IDBI Bank
Established	1964
Headquarters	Mumbai
Revenue	INR 303.7 billion (2024)

IDBI Bank was established in the year 1964 and has been providing banking and financial services since then. Apart from that, they are constantly offering digital services to their customers and have a wide range of ATM networks all across the country. In 2019, RBI has categorized it as a private bank.

As of September 2023, IDBI Bank has over 18,283 employees working for it and the bank has 2005 branches and 3353 ATMs all across the country as on 26th April 2024. Apart from that, it also has one overseas branch in Dubai. Since 2018, Rakesh Sharma has been the CEO of IDBI Bank.

IDBI Bank Ltd., as a full-service universal bank provides a wide amount of financial products and services encompassing deposits, loan payment services, and investment solutions. The Bank also has an established presence in associated financial sector businesses including capital market, investment banking, and mutual fund business. IDBI’s very business philosophy is to provide relevant financial solutions and ensure maximum customer convenience through easy access to branches and ATMs as well as digital offerings and excellence in customer service.

The vision is to be the most preferred and trusted bank enhancing value for all stakeholders defining and shaping our day-to-day business, helping us to build long-lasting relationships. IDBI Bank Limited has been categorized as a ‘Private Sector Bank’ for regulatory purposes by the Reserve Bank Of India with effect from January 21, 2019, consequent upon Life Insurance Corporation Of India acquiring 49.24% of the total paid-up equity share capital of the bank. To cater to its ever-expanding needs, IDBI Bank has formed subsidiaries and joint ventures across diverse areas of the Banking and Financial System.

Some of its subsidiaries are:

IDBI Capital Markets and Securities Limited (ICMS)

Its businesses include Merchant Banking, Stock Broking, Distribution of Financial Products, Corporate Advisory Services, Debt Arranging and undertaking, Portfolio management of pension, and Research Services.

IDBI Intech Limited (IIL)

The major business activities of the company are Information technology services, information security practices, a national contact center, and an outbound sales team.

IDBI Asset Management Limited (IAML)

IAML is the investment manager of schemes launched by IDBI Mutual Fund. The Fund offers a bouquet of product inequity and risk profiles of investors.

IDBI Trusteeship Services Ltd (ITSL)

The company operations are acting as trustees to securitization transactions, acting as Bond/Debenture trustees, Security trusteeship assignments, Share pledge Trustee, Venture Capital Fund, Safe Keeping, and other trusteeship services.

IDBI Federal Life Insurance Company Limited (IDBI Federal)

The Company’s life insurance business comprises individual life and pension and group life, including non-participating, health, and linked segments.

Conclusion

LIC has established itself as a brand in India, with so many subsidiaries; it has been trying to keep up with its name of being one of the biggest companies in India. It is doing everything, from providing mutual fund services to banking services to pensions as well. LIC is taking every chance to serve its customers in the biggest and best way possible and take the company to the top.

FAQ

When was LIC established?

LIC was established in the year 1956.

Is LIC government or private?

LIC is a government organization and the government of India owns a 100% stake in the insurance company.

What is the subsidiary of LIC?

IDBI Bank, LIC Mutual Fund, LIC Pension Fund, LIC Housing Finance, LIC Cards Services, and LIC International are some of the subsidiaries of LIC.

How many types of Cards does LIC provide?

LIC provides 4 types of cards as below:

LIC Gold Credit Cards (for regular users)
LIC Platinum Credit Cards (for shopping and rewards)
LIC Titanium Credit Cards ( for travel and hotel booking)
LIC Signature Credit Card (for premium services)

July 15, 2024

Amount: Leading the Banking Revolution

Company Profile is an initiative by StartupTalky to publish verified information on different startups and organizations. The content in this post has been approved by Amount.

Meeting the consumers’ and small business banking customers’ evolving needs and expectations is imperative for financial institutions to remain competitive in today’s increasingly crowded marketplace. However, most financial institutions struggle to adapt and evolve with customer demand since they feel constrained by monolithic, inflexible platforms and overwhelmed by multiple-point solutions.

It is when Amount comes into the picture. This private fintech company is recognized for accelerating seamless omnichannel customer experiences by offering a full suite of end-to-end retail banking and point-of-sale solutions.

In this article, let’s explore the story of Amount, its founders, business model, funding and growth details, partners, and more.

Amount – Company Highlights

Company Name	Amount
Headquarters	Chicago, Illinois, United States
Sector	Fintech
Founders	Albert Goldstein
Founded In	2020
Revenue	$1B (2022)
Website	Amount.com

Amount – About
Amount – Industry
Amount – Founders and Team
Amount – Startup Story
Amount – Mission and Vision
Amount – Business Model
Amount – Products and Services
Amount – Challenges Faced
Amount – Funding and Investors
Amount – Mergers and Acquisitions
Amount – Patents and Trademarks
Amount – Growth
Amount – Partners
Amount – Awards and Achievements
Amount – Competitors
Amount – Future Plans

Amount – About

Headquartered in the United States, Amount is a digital technology company that accelerates digital transformation for financial institutions. It builds software that re-engineers consumer, small companies, and embedded finance solutions to provide simpler, safer, and more convenient banking solutions to today’s digital-first customers.

10 leading banks, including HSBC, Regions, Banco Popular, T.D. Bank, and Avant, use Amount’s technology to simplify their transition to digital financial services.

Amount – Industry

Amount belongs to the financial technology industry as it leverages products and services to help financial institutions transform digitally. Financial technology (Fintech) can be defined as the application of the latest technological advancements to the financial industry’s products and services and aims to automate and improve the delivery and use of financial services.

The global market size of fintech technologies was valued at $110.57 in 2020 and is estimated to grow to $698.48 billion by 2030, at a CAGR of 20.3% from 2023 to 2030. With Fintech allowing providing more convenient, simple, and transparent financial services, more and more people prefer using digitalized and innovative Fintech solutions.

Fintech sector revenue worldwide in 2017 and 2018, with a forecast until 2024

The pandemic significantly accelerated the financial products and services being purchased online, prompting the need for digitalized banking experience. In addition to Amount, Blend, nCino, Divido, Plexian, and Personetics are some companies providing technology to banks and financial institutions.

Amount – Founders and Team

Albert Goldstein is the Founder and Executive Chairman of Amount. He completed his graduation from Gies College of Business at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign with a B.S. in Finance, Math.

Avant’s Founder and Executive Chairman, Albert, is also the Founding Board Member at Spring Labs, Board Member at U.S. Wrestling Foundation, and Co-Founder, Chairman & CEO at StoicLane.

Albert Goldstein - Founder and Executive Chairman, Amount — Albert Goldstein – Founder and Executive Chairman, Amount

Adam Hughes is the Amount’s CEO, and Raj Kolluri is the CTO. Talking about the team size, Amount is currently working with 400 employees.

Amount – Startup Story

Amount was spun out of Avant in February 2020 as a new financial technology business. Initially, this tech business was named ‘Powered by Avant.’ Two or three years ago, Avant realized that there was a gigantic opportunity to build a standalone technology business that was completely different from its vision and goals in terms of serving partners and banks.

Moreover, Albert Goldstein considered establishing Amount as a separate brand to avoid confusion between Amount as the technology provider and Avant. The company was initially started as a business providing technology around personal loans- helping banks deal with fraud and understanding how to host credit policies and service loans digitally.

After some time, the company’s vision expanded to help banks digitize their financial services.

Amount – Mission and Vision

Amount aims to help financial institutions’ go digital in months – not years,’ enabling them better compete with fintech rivals.

Amount – Business Model

Amount partners with several banks and financial institutions to help them rapidly digitize their financial infrastructure providing a competitive edge in the retail lending and buy now, pay later sectors.

Its ‘battle-tested’ retail banking and point-of-sale technology provides those financial institutions a way to offer a secure and seamless digital customer and merchant experience by leveraging Amount’s analytics and verification capabilities.

Amount – Products and Services

Amount offers point-of-sale financing products with multiple features, including applicant sourcing, application capture, fraud prevention, verification, decisioning engines, and account management.

Amount – Challenges Faced

As the company grid for economic turbulence in 2022, it laid off 18% of its staff, i.e., more than 100 employees.

Amount – Funding and Investors

Amount has undertaken 4 funding rounds and raised $283 million. Its latest funding round – Private Equity Round, was conducted on May 19, 2022, and raised a total of $40 million. 10 investors back the company, and Hanaco Venture Capital and WestCap are the recent ones.

Date	Round	Number of Investors	Money Raised	Lead Investor
May 19, 2022	Private Equity	2	$40 million	–
May 17, 2021	Series D	6	$99 million	WestCap
December 2, 2020	Series C	5	$86 million	GS Growth
March 17, 2020	Series B	2	$58 million	QED Investors

Amount – Mergers and Acquisitions

Amount acquired Linear Financial Technologies on February 1, 2023.

Amount – Patents and Trademarks

Amount is registered with 3 trademarks, categorized into the ‘Insurance; Financial Affairs’ class.

Amount – Growth

In 2022, the estimated annual revenue of Amount was $55.1 million per year ($173,407 per employee), with a $1 billion current valuation. Moreover, the monthly web visits grew by -89.75%, with 7,936 visits. And its employee count elevated by -4% last year.

Amount | Accelerating the World’s Transition to Digital Financial Services

Amount – Partners

Amount has partnered with:

Mastercard Engage Partner Network
PSCU
Marqeta
Barclays

Amount – Awards and Achievements

Some of the awards Amount garnered are:

Won the Best Workplaces in Chicago award in 2020
Adam Hughes recognized among Top 50 Financial Technology CEOs of 2020

Amount – Competitors

Some of Amount’s main competitors are:

Credi2
equipifi
Jifiti
Blend
Figure Technologies Inc
Plexian
Personetics
TelosTouch

Amount – Future Plans

Amount plans to invest its capital in its technology and products to further accelerate R&D. Moreover, the company will be acquiring some.

FAQs

Who is the founder of Amount?

Albert Goldstein founded Amount in 2020.

Who is the CEO of Amount?

Adam Hughes is Amount’s CEO.

What does Amount do?

Amount accelerates seamless omnichannel customer experiences by offering a full suite of end-to-end retail banking and point-of-sale solutions.

Who are the main competitors of Amount?

Some of Amount’s main competitors are:

Credi2
equipifi
Jifiti
Blend
Figure Technologies Inc
Plexian
Personetics
TelosTouch

April 28, 2023

Chime Success Story – Making Banking Easier Than Ever

Company Profile is an initiative by StartupTalky to publish verified information on different startups and organizations. The content in this post has been approved by Chime.

Businesses in the banking and financial sectors are increasingly focusing on mobile devices as a means of increasing consumer engagement and streamlining processes. The extensive use of mobile devices and the quick acceptance of mobile banking as a practical substitute for the expensive cost of completing transactions in physical branches is a big appeal for financial executives. As a result, the banking industry has been actively incorporating mobility into its client interaction strategy.

Mobile banking is the concept of doing monetary operations via a smartphone. Some financial organizations, particularly banks, provide this service. Customers and users of mobile banking can complete a variety of transactions, which may differ depending on the financial institution.

Chime is a company that creates mobile financial and banking platforms to provide banking services on the move. Users may avoid costs, save money, and lead better financial lives thanks to the company’s platform, which sets a predefined amount of funds away in savings following a payment and generates income from transaction fees paid by the merchants.

Chime – Company Highlights

Company Name	Chime Financial, Inc.
Headquarters	San Francisco, California, United States
Industry	Financial Services
Founders	Chris Britt, Ryan King
Founded	2013
Total Funding Raised	$2.3 billion
Valuation	$25 billion (2021)
Revenue	$950 million (2021)
Website	chime.com

Chime – About
Chime – Industry
Chime – Founders and Team
Chime – Startup Story
Chime – Name, Logo, and Tagline
Chime – Mission, and Vision Statement
Chime – Business Model
Chime – Funding, and Investors
Chime – Acquisitions
Chime – Competitors
Chime – Future Plans

Chime – About

Chime Financial, Inc. is a financial technology business based in the United States that offers fee-free mobile banking services through The Bancorp Bank or Stride Bank, Visa debit or credit cards are provided to N.A. account holders, who also have access to secure online banking platform through the business’ website or smartphone apps.

Chime is not a bank, and its customers do not have any banking relationships. Chime may and does deactivate user accounts with no warning; it is not obligated to give the client a cause for the termination or even have one. Customers cannot file a complaint with banking regulators to get their deposits back since they might not be paid out right away.

Chime doesn’t have any physical branches, doesn’t impose overdraft or monthly payments, and doesn’t ask for an initial deposit or a minimum amount to start a free bank account. At present the accounts are only accessible to persons with private accounts; all money received must be in the name of the personal account holder.

The following are some features of the app:

A thorough dashboard snapshot of their expenditures and account balance.
Automatic savings account contributions.
Early payments via direct deposits.
Zero overdraft charges
There are approximately 60,000 ATMs in the US, yet none charge fees for withdrawals.
Instantaneous payments to other Chime users.

Chime – Industry

The term “financial services” refers to the monetary services provided by the banking sector, which comprises a wide range of companies that balance a budget, which includes credit unions, financial institutions, individual asset managers, card companies, insurance providers, accounting firms, consumer finance firms, brokerage firms, investment funds, and some govt-sponsored entities. Several other businesses that depend on credit and loans to function are supported by financial services. Despite mixed findings, the majority of estimates place the financial services industry at 20–25% of the global GDP.

With a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 9.7%, the worldwide financial services market increased from $23,319.52 billion in 2021 to $25,588.3 billion in 2022. Economic sanctions on many nations, a rise in commodity prices, and disruptions in the supply chain as a result of the conflict between these two nations have all had an impact on several markets throughout the world. At a CAGR of 6.9%, the financial services industry is anticipated to reach $33,358.77 billion in 2026.

Chime – Founders and Team

Chime was founded by Chris Britt and Ryan King in the year 2013.

Chris Britt

Chime is a San Francisco-based firm that Chris Britt co-founded in 2013 as a no-fee mobile banking app and debit card. Chris attended Tulane University to earn his degree. At Visa, Inc., he held the position of senior product leader. Before establishing Chime, he previously worked for a company called Green Dot Corporation.

Ryan King

Ryan is Chime’s Co-Founder and Cheif Technological Officer. Ryan was previously the VP of Engineering at Plaxo, an early professional social networking pioneer bought by Comcast Interactive Media. Ryan formerly previously served at Microsoft and Liberate Technologies. Ryan has bachelor’s and master’s degrees in computer science and engineering from UCLA and Stanford University, respectively.

Some other team members include :

Dennis Yu – Chief of Staff
Jeff Trudeau – Chief Information Security Officer
Russ Branzell – CEO/President
Adam Burde – Sr. IT Systems Engineer
Amine Asmerom – VP, Controller
Arkadiy Tetelman – Head of Application & Infrastructure Security
Beth Steinberg – Vice President, People & Talent
Jay Parekh – VP, Business Development & Partnerships
Ori Dugary – Vice President of Operations, Member Experience

Chime – Startup Story

Regardless of its importance, the covid outbreak and quarantine had an impact on every aspect of society as it turned our existence upside down. In spite of the fact that it is a huge aid, most individuals became hesitant to visit bank offices. Despite the fact that banks were open during the lockdown, people started switching to other options. In the field of online transactions, the majority of banks have noticed a noticeable improvement of about 40%. With the help of various banking and UPI applications, people were increasingly using the internet to exchange money and pay their bills. Many banks have been inspired to adopt this shift by the US-based banking company Chime.

Chris Britt and Ryan King founded Chime in 2013, and the company is based in San Francisco. The formal debut was on the Dr. Phil Show on April 15, 2014. Chime stands out since it was founded in the era of smartphones. As a result, they were able to launch an app right away for the convenience of the user. It is simple for clients to use for monitoring their financial standings. They can manage their credit cards and get their questions answered by customer service representatives.

The environment that Chime has developed for its customers is actually establishing new standards for banking services. The company’s absence of branches is quite intriguing and sets them apart from its opponents. They provide Visa debit cards and access to an online banking platform through chime.com for account holders. The clients have the option of doing their business using an Android or iOS mobile application.

Chime – Name, Logo, and Tagline

Chime Logo

Chime’s tagline says “It’s your money. It’s your life. Chime in.”

Chime – Mission, and Vision Statement

Chime’s mission statement says, “We created Chime because we believe everyone deserves financial peace of mind. We’re building a new online bank account that helps members get ahead by making managing money easy. It’s your money. It’s your life. Chime in.”

Chime – Business Model

By charging its customers’ interchange fees on transactions they complete through the Visa payment gateway, Chime generates revenue. ATM fees and interest on cash are other revenue sources for Chime.

Exchange charges – The interchange fee model is where Chimes makes the most money. This stream covers the costs that Chime’s affiliate retailers incur while using its network to process transactions. The business is responsible for paying a processing charge to Chime each time a Chime user swipes their Visa card.

Chime receives a portion of the 1.5% cost that merchants pay to Visa, which is far less than the processing fees charged by other legitimate credit card providers like Amex. Chime generates a sizable amount of revenue from the roughly 40 transactions every month that its millions of customers perform.

Chime leverages its merchant revenues to give customers a better experience by doing elimination of account fees, ATM fees, and other expenses connected to traditional banking.

Interest on money – Chime users may use the app to invest in savings accounts and other financial instruments.

Users’ money is transferred into a high-yield savings account through the automated savings option. Chime makes short-term loans of this money to banks and other financial organizations. Chime earns interest on the cash as payment for the loan at an interbank rate that is far higher than the 0.5% APY that users receive on cash balances in their accounts.

ATM fees – VPA and MoneyPass are two of Chime’s ATM networks. Consumer pays $2.50 for each ATM withdrawal if they use an ATM outside of this 38,000-location network.

Additionally, ATM providers may impose additional fees at their discretion. Up to 20% of Chimes’ earnings come from ATM revenue.

Chime – Funding, and Investors

Date	Round	Amount	Investors
Aug 13, 2021	Series G	$750M	Sequoia Capital Global Equities
Sep 18, 2020	Series F	$533.8M	–
Dec 5, 2019	Series E	$700M	DST Global
Mar 5, 2019	Series D	$200M	DST Global
May 31, 2018	Series C	$70M	Menlo Ventures
Sep 27, 2017	Series B	$18M	Cathay Innovation
May 19, 2016	Series A	$9M	Aspect Ventures
Nov 5, 2014	Series A	$8M	Crosslink Capital
Aug 30, 2013	Seed Round	$3.8M	–

Chime – Acquisitions

Acquiree Name	About Acquiree	Date	Amount
Charlie Finance Co.	Charlie Finance is a financial services company that helps ordinary Americans worry less about money and get out of debt faster	Aug 16, 2021	–
Pinch	Pinch makes it easy to build its clients’ credit history just by paying their rent.	Sep 17, 2018	–

Chime – Competitors

Chime is a market leader in fintech, but it faces stiff competition from other companies that operate in the same industry.

The company’s main rivals as a digital bank include Dave, Marcus, Ally Bank, and Varo Bank. Chime relies on its partner banks, Stride Bank and The Bancorp Bank, as each of them does have a charter. Chime may provide FDIC-insured deposits to its clients on all balances and assets kept with the new bank, just like its rivals.

Chime – Future Plans

Chime’s bank accounts are guaranteed up to the typical maximum deposit amount of $250,000. The Bancorp Bank or Central National Bank, which changed its name to Stride Bank, N.A. in 2019, is their main collaborator. The accounts on Chime are also managed by Stride Bank or Bancorp Bank. Chime does not seek to push credit on its clients, in contrast to conventional banks that encourage customers to acquire overdraft assurance and advances. Additionally, they are not required to maintain a base balance, incur monthly costs, or pay overdraft fees. The business provides customers with discounts or money back at the time of purchase through its money-back rewards program.

Chime has become one of the most popular and effective digital banking apps in the United States over the years. The organization has so far raised 2.3 billion dollars of funding and is currently valued at $25 billion (2021). It reported an estimated profit of close to $200 million in 2019. In order to maintain its leadership position among challenger banks, Chime also plans to expand into Visa and trading services.

According to Chime’s CEO, the firm bases its products on four fundamental aspects of sound monetary planning: spending, saving, managing credit, and investing. In order to help people with little to no credit manage their finances better, Chime will continue to create programs that offer tools and information.

FAQs

Who is the CEO of Chime?

Chris Britt is the CEO of Chime.

Is Chime owned by Amazon?

No, Amazon doesn’t own Chime.

How much is Chime valued?

Chime has raised a total of $2.3 Billion and is valued at $25 Billion.

January 7, 2023

How State Bank of India became one of the largest Banks in the World? – SBI Success Story

Company Profile is an initiative by StartupTalky to publish verified information on different startups and organizations. The content in this post has been approved by the State Bank of India.

Ever thought, if there were no banks how would the economy of the country develop? Banks have existed as old as any civilization and in different forms. The banking sector undoubtedly plays a very key in shaping the economy of our country.

Banking sectors over the years have bought various changes in the monetary policies to technological advancements. Right from the pre-independence phase during the 1770s to liberalization during the 1990s, this sector has come a long way.

State Bank of India is the world’s 43rd largest banking sector, and ranked as 221st Fortune Global 500 list of the world’s biggest corporations of 2020, is the only Indian bank to make the list. Commonly called SBI by many fellow Indians, the State Bank of India is an Indian Multinational, Public Sector Banking and Financial services statutory body.

In this article, learn all about State Bank Of India, how it started, its growth, business and revenue, competitors, the challenges faced, and much more.

State Bank of India – Company Highlights

Headquarters	Mumbai, India
Sector	Banking, financial services
Founded	1955
Previously known as	Imperial Bank of India
Area Served	Worldwide
Key People	Dinesh Kumar Khara (26th Chairperson of SBI)
Revenue	₹406,973 crores (2022)
Parent Organisation	Government
Website	bank.sbi

State Bank of India – About

State Bank of India has a 23% market share by assets and a 25% share of the entire loan and deposit market. It is a public sector bank and the biggest bank in India, with approximately 250,000 workers. It is also India’s fifth-largest employer.

With a quarter of the market share, it serves over 45 crore customers through a vast network of over 22,000 branches, 62617 ATMs or ADWMs, and 71,968 branch outlets. The bank’s core values of service, transparency, ethics, politeness and sustainability drive its unwavering focus on innovation and customer-centricity.

Through its several subsidiaries, including SBI General Insurance, SBI Life Insurance, SBI Mutual Fund, SBI Card and Payment Services, etc., the Bank has successfully diversified its commercial operations. It has a widespread presence around the world and employs 229 offices in 31 different foreign nations to function across time zones.

SBI is the earliest commercial bank in the Indian Subcontinent and came from the Bank of Calcutta, incorporated in 1806 through the Imperial Bank of India. The Bank of Madras merged with the Bank of Calcutta and the Bank of Bombay, the other two presidential banks in British India, to form the Imperial Bank of India, which later changed its name to the State Bank of India in 1955. Throughout its 200-year history, the bank has been primarily formed through the acquisition and merger of over twenty banks. In 1955, the Indian government took over the Imperial Bank of India, rebranding it State Bank of India and granting the Reserve Bank of India (India’s central bank) a 60% shareholding.

State Bank of India – Industry

In today’s times, it is recorded that the Indian Banking system consists of around 22 private sector banks, 12 public sectors, 56 regional rural banks, 46 foreign banks with 1485 urban cooperative banks, and 96,000 rural cooperative banks.

Many banks’ credit grew at a CAGR of 0.29 percent between FY16 and FY21. Total credit extended as of FY21 increased to US$ 1,487.60 billion. Deposits increased at a CAGR of 12.38 percent between FY16 and FY21, reaching US$ 2.06 trillion by FY21. As of May 20, 2022, bank deposits totaled Rs. 165.74 trillion.

State Bank of India – Key People

State Bank of India is a public sector bank, which is directed under Dinesh Kumar Khara, who is the Chairman of the bank.

Dinesh Kumar Khara

Dinesh Kumar Khara is the Chairman of the State Bank of India (SBI). He started in 1984 by joining SBI as a Probationary Officer. He has held a number of important roles, including that of Chief General Manager – Bhopal Circle, MD (Global Banking & Subsidiaries), MD (Associates & Subsidiaries), and MD & CEO (SBI Mutual Funds).

Dinesh Kumar Khara has an MBA from the Faculty of Management Studies in New Delhi and a postgraduate degree in commerce from the Delhi School of Economics. He is also an Indian Institute of Bankers Certified Associate (CAIIB). Alongside extensive roles, he has also carried out the merger of SBI and Bhartiya Mahila Bank with its five subsidiary banks. At various times, he also served as the bank’s head of risk, information technology, and compliance.

State Bank of India – Startup Story

If we talk about the startup story of SBI, then it goes back to the 19th century. The evolution of the bank started when the Bank of Calcutta, subsequently known as the Bank of Bengal, was founded in 1806. The Bank of Bengal and the Bank of Bombay, both of which were established in 1840, were the other two Presidency banks (incorporated after three years). Royal charters led to the formation of all three Presidency banks as joint stock companies. Prior to 1861, when the Paper Currency Act gave the Indian government control of the privilege, these three banks had the only authority to print money. On January 27, 1921, the Presidency banks merged, and the newly formed banking organization adopted the name Imperial Bank of India. Even without government support, the Imperial Bank of India remained a joint-stock business.

The Reserve Bank of India, the country’s central bank, obtained a majority stake in the Imperial Bank of India in conformity with the provisions of the State Bank of India Act of 1955. The Imperial Bank of India changed its name to the State Bank of India on July 1st, 1955. Since the Reserve Bank of India regulates the nation’s banking industry, the Government of India purchased the RBI’s holding in SBI in 2008 to avoid any potential conflicts of interest.

State Bank of India – Mission and Vision

State Bank of India Vision says, “Be the Bank of Choice For A Transforming India”

State Bank of India’s mission is, “Committed to Providing Simple, Responsive and Innovative Financial Solutions”

The bank also has five values upon which it serves its customers. The values are; Service, Transparency, Ethics, Politeness, and Sustainability.

State Bank of India – Name, Logo, and Tagline

The State Bank of India has multiple taglines. Some of the popular taglines of SBI are:

“PURE BANKING, NOTHING ELSE”
WITH YOU – ALL THE WAY”
“THE BANKER TO EVERY INDIAN”
“A BANK OF THE COMMON MAN”
“THE NATION BANKS ON US”

The logo of SBI can be seen as a blue circle with a cut that is white in color depicting the shape of a common man, which is the bank’s main motto for doing business. The logo was designed in 1971 by the National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad.

State Bank of India – Business Model

The business model of the State Bank of India is based on a wide variety of business models. Treasury, Corporate or Wholesale Banking, Retail Banking, and Other Banking businesses are the four business elements in which the bank works.

Besides providing services to its customers, SBI is also engaged in providing financial services through its multiple subsidiaries including, mutual funds, credit cards, life insurance, merchant banking, security trading, pension fund management, and primary dealership. The subsidiaries of SBI are as follows:

SBI Life Insurance Ltd.
SBI Cards and Payment Services Ltd.
SBI General Insurance
Jio Payments Bank
Andhra Pradesh Grameena
Vikas Bank
Kaveri Grameena Bank

The reach of SBI doesn’t end here. The bank serves its services worldwide. It has its business spread with 57 zonal offices across significant cities in India, along with 16 regional centers.

It has 22,219 Branches with 62,617 ATMs in India, and in International, it has 229 Branches in 31 countries. The main target audience of SBI overseas is the NRIs. It has branches in countries like London, Colombo, Hong Kong, Johannesburg, Frankfurt, Osaka, Dhaka, Los Angeles, New York, Sydney, Bhutan, Singapore, and Tokyo.

The Key Services & Products of SBI are:

Smart Cards Products

VISA Foreign Travel Card
MasterCard Foreign Travel Card
Gift Card
Smart Pay-out Card
State Bank Virtual Card
State Bank Achiever Card
State Bank eZ Pay Card

2. Transfer or Payment Services

Funds Transfer
Intra-Bank Transfer
RTGS/NEFT
Credit Card (Visa)
IMPS Payments (Immediate Payment Service)
NRI eZ Trade Funds Transfer

3. E- Deposits Services

SBI Flexi Deposit
TDR/e-STDR
TDR/e-STDR under income tax savings scheme
Annunity Deposit Scheme
Recurring Deposits

4. Loans Against Shares

5. Other Services

YONO stands as You Only Need One – an integrated digital banking platform launched by SBI in 2017. It allows users to gain access to a number of banking services as well as other services like online shopping, paying medical bills, movie ticket booking, travel planning, and booking flights, trains, buses, and taxis. Both Android and iOS users can download the YONO app to their smartphones. The app was developed by IBM. The cost of the development of the app is anticipated somewhere around Rs 4,000 crores. Additionally, YONO provides standard mobile banking services like loans, financial transfers, cashless bill payments, and bank account opening. The highlight of using YONO is that you can withdraw money from an ATM using the smartphone app without using an ATM card.

State Bank of India – Revenue Growth

SBI earns its money through its various products and services. But, to say in a precise manner, SBI generates its revenue mainly through interest payment services from its customers.

As of 2022, the revenue of SBI is Rs 406,973 crores with a net income of Rs 43,774 crores. The operating income of SBI stands at Rs 78,898 crores.

State Bank of India – Employees

According to sources, SBI had 245,652 employees, ranking it one of the largest employers in the world in 2021. The representation of female employees in the workforce is close to 26%.

In the same year, there were 44.28% of officers, 41.03% of associates, and 14.69% of subordinate employees, respectively. During FY 2020–21, each employee contributed a net profit of Rs 828,350 (US$10,000).

State Bank of India – Challenges Faced

The outbreak of Covid in 2020 had a crucial impact on SBI. It was the time when the overall economy had shrunk affecting many households and businesses. During that time, the corporate sector, which makes up the majority of the bank’s clients, was already using liquidity management to reduce costs and outperform CAPEX.

The previous Chairperson of the State Bank of India, Rajnish Kumar had shared, “FY21 will be challenging as the full impact of the Covid-19 outbreak will be felt in this financial year. For instance, likely job cuts and salary reductions will have a relatively low level of stress on account of a higher proportion of Govt/ Quasi-Govt sector customers (in SBI’s loan portfolio). As of now, only 21.8% of the customers have availed the benefit of a moratorium.”

State Bank of India – Investments

State Bank of India has made 21 investments so far. Their most recent investment was on 5 July 2022, when Rivulis Irrigation raised $250 million. Some of the recent investments made by SBI are listed below.

Date	Company Name	Funding Round	Amount Invested
7/5/2022	Rivulis Irrigation	Debt Financing	$250 million
6/30/2022	Indiabulls Housing Finance	Post-IPO Debt	$100 million
3/25/2022	National Asset Reconstruction Company	Corporate Round	₹15 billion
1/4/2022	Pine Labs	Corporate Round	₹1.5 billion
12/21/2021	JWS Cement	Private Equity Round	₹1 billion
11/20/2021	Biryani By Kilo	SERIES B	$35 million
6/7/2021	Cashfree Payments	Funding Round
10/18/2020	DLF Cyber City Developers	Debt Financing	₹24 billion
9/8/2020	Cube Highways and Infrastructures	Debt Financing	₹35 billion
2/6/2020	Leap India Food Logistics	SERIES B	$23 million

State Bank of India – Shareholdings

The government of India owned about 61.23 % of the equity shares in SBI as of March 31, 2017. With 8.82% of the company’s shares, the state-owned Life Insurance Corporation of India is the largest non-promoter shareholder.

The equity shares of SBI are traded on the National Stock Exchange of India and the Bombay Stock Exchange, where they are included in the CNX Nifty and the BSE SENSEX index, respectively. The London Stock Exchange has Global Depository Receipts (GDRs).

State Bank of India – Mergers, and Acquisitions

SBI has acquired seven banks in 1960 by prefixing them with ‘State Bank of.’ These were the seven regional banks of the former princely states of India. These are;

State Bank of Bikaner and Jaipur (SBBJ)
State Bank of Hyderabad (SBH)
State Bank of Indore (SBN)
State Bank of Mysore (SBM)
State Bank of Patiala (SBP)
State Bank of Saurashtra (SBS)
State Bank of Travancore (SBT)

SBS merged with SBI in September of the same year with plans to combine the partner banks into a single, and the extremely large bank was initiated in 2008. State Bank of Indore (SBN) also merged the very following year.

The State Bank of Bank has made five mergers since 2017, which is the largest merger in the history of the Indian Banking Industry.

The banks with which SBI has merged are:

State Bank of Bikaner and Jaipur (SBBJ)
State Bank of Hyderabad (SBH)
State Bank of Mysore(SBM)
State Bank of Patiala(SBP)
State Bank of Travancore(SBT)
Bharatiya Mahila Bank

State Bank of India – Online and Social Media Presence

It is amusing to know what makes SBI the largest bank in the country. The bank clearly knows how to target its target audience through various social media platforms. Here’s the number of followers the bank has on different social media channels:

LinkedIn – 2,413,368 followers
Facebook – 17,891,102 followers
Pinterest – 8.1 thousand followers
Twitter – 4.4 million followers
Instagram – 2.1 million followers
YouTube – 415K subscribers

State Bank of India – Advertisement and Social Media Campaigns

In 2021, SBI started a campaign on social media #KindnessIsCool campaign. It was Kreativ Street, an integrated marketing firm with offices in Gurgaon, who created the campaign. “Why isn’t there enough kindness on the internet?” was the question that the campaign set out to answer. The main objective was to make an effort to address the negativity and trolling that are common on social media sites. The impact of the ad was that 9.8 million people saw the advertisement as a whole throughout the Twitter-first campaign across Promoted Trend Spotlight and Promoted Tweets.

The campaign garnered 232K engagements and 15 million impressions across timelines. According to the survey by Twitter, it was found that brand awareness increased by 18%, favorability by 12%, and ad recall by 20%. Additionally, compared to two weeks prior to the campaign, positive opinions about SBI increased by 92% during the campaign period.

It doesn’t take much to be kind. If you are empathetic offline then let that reflect in the virtual social place, too. Let’s create a kinder ecosystem for everyone on social media. #KindnessIsCool pic.twitter.com/2IiVePE3XW

— State Bank of India (@TheOfficialSBI) March 1, 2021

State Bank of India – Awards

The giant, SBI has won many accolades. Here’s taking you to the list of awards received by SBI:

ICONIC BRAND OF INDIA 2021 BY THE ECONOMIC TIMES.
OUTSTANDING PSU OF THE YEAR (2021) AT 11Th MANAGING INDIA AWARDS BY ALL INDIA MANAGEMENT ASSOCIATION.
Brandon Hall Awards, Excellence in Learning 2020 for “Nayi Disha
Technology Excellence Award 2020 for e-RBC
Brandon Hall Awards, 2020 for Learning initiatives benefitting 2 lakh Employees
State Bank Bhavan was awarded the Performance Challenge Award 2020 by Indian Green Building Council (IGBC).
Gold winner for Digital marketing Excellence in Content Marketing (Banking)
Gold winner for Digital Marketing Excellence in Video (Banking)
“Most Innovative Project” category for CHAPDEX (Customer Happiness Index) (2020)
Winner of the “Best Financial Inclusion Initiatives” category (2020)

State Bank of India – Competitors

Some of the major competitors of SBI are:

HDFC
ICICI Bank
Bank Of India
Bank of Baroda
Canara Bank
Punjab National Bank
Union Bank
Central Bank
Indian Bank
UCO Bank

FAQs

When was SBI founded?

On 1st July 1955, the State Bank of India was founded.

Who is the current Chairman of SBI?

Dinesh Kumar Khara became the 26th Chairman of SBI in 2020.

Is SBI a government bank or private?

State Bank of India is a multinational public sector bank headquartered in Mumbai, India.

Is YONO owned by SBI?

Yes. YONO is the digital banking platform offered by the State Bank of India.

September 19, 2022

What is Neobank and How it is Simplifying Banking? The 5 Best Neobanks of India
The world we live in is called digital for a reason, from Artificial Intelligence to social media; everything is possible because of Technological Advancement. These technologies have created such a way that there is hardly anyone who is not connected to them.

With new technologies getting invented every day, digital means of payment have become the new normal in this decade. Now, banking is a very significant part of our life. Thanks to banking we are enabled to have our money saved in a bank account and it provides safety to that amount. Plus we get our salary credited there. Not only that, banks also lent money to individuals and businesses.

A couple of years ago, using a virtual bank seemed like a scene from a sci-fi movie but now, it’s a reality. The definition of payment has changed; with the help of technology transferring money from one account to another is possible through the internet itself. Thus, the way of banking has also changed; we can get the facility of a bank without a requirement of one. In India, Fintech platforms are now setting their eyes on a certain industry and that is called the Neobanks.

“Banking is Necessary, Banks are Not.”

― Bill Gates

In this article we will find out about the Neobank industry in India and its future, So let’s dive in.

What Is Neobank?
Advantages Of Neobanking
Top 5 Neobanks In India
Future Of Neobank Industry In India
FAQ

What Is Neobank?

Neobank is a bank that is digital and doesn’t have any branches physically. It is completely online and they entirely focus on providing every facility of a bank like money transfers, financial solutions, and money lending through mobile phones.

In India, Neobanks doesn’t own bank licenses and hence rely on bank partners for providing banking services to its customers.

With the increase in the process of online banking and the acceptance of digital payments, Neobank is becoming a new trend in the country. These new-age banks provide good customer service and are very much customer-centric. Neobanks strive to offer a personalized banking experience to their customers based on analysis of customer data and behavior.

Being fully digital, Neobanks saves the costs of maintaining physical branches which lets them invest more in enhancing customer experience, and helps them maintain better margins.

Not just retail customers, Neobanks also has a lot on offer for small and medium businesses. From payment gateways to billing software, Neo Banks helps businesses manage their finances better.

Advantages Of Neobanking

People prefer Neobanking for various reasons. Some significant advantages of neo bank are –
- Creating an account in neobank is much easier than creating a physical bank account. Just following some simple steps one can create their account from anywhere and anytime through their mobile.
- International payments are possible through neobank card, while a traditional bank debit card doesn’t provide that service initially, we have to request an international debit card for global transactions.
- Neobanks are user-friendly and are designed to fulfill the demands of the customers. Neobank apps are very easy to use for customers
- Every transaction made through Neobanks is updated immediately on the app.
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Top 5 Neobanks In India

Covid-19 played a huge role in intensifying the digital banking methods amongst the customers. As per Statista, the number of users in the Indian Neobanking segment is expected to grow to 17.11 million by 2026. The increasing popularity has caused an increased number of neobanks in the country. Currently, there are around 27 neobanks in India. We have listed below the top 5 Neobanks of India.

InstantPay
FamPay
Jupiter
Open
Razorpay

InstantPay

Instantpay website

It is considered one of the largest neo banking platforms. From small to big businesses and individuals enjoy Instantpay’s neobank service. Founded by Shailendra Agarwal, this neobank process millions of transaction per day. It is easy to use and can be operated from mobile and the web. Instantpay’s partners are ICICI Bank, Axis Bank, IndusInd Bank, and Yes Bank.

FamPay

FamPay Website

This neo banking app is specially made for teenagers. Of course, supervision from their guardians is to be done. Their main aim is to make teenagers empowered and independent by encouraging them to make decisions regarding their spending. Fampay offers a numberless prepaid card that lets teenagers and minors make payments both online and offline.

This app is founded by Kush Taneja and Sambhav Jain in the year 2019 and is used for basic payment for Zomato, Netflix, Swiggy Amazon, and many more. Its banking partner is IDFC Bank.

Jupiter

Jupiter Website

This neobank service was founded in the year 2019 by Jitendra Gupta and Vishnu Jerome. This neobank provides the customer with an option to monitor their money spending pattern and doesn’t have any hidden fees. It does have a calculator that lets the customers watch on their financial health. Plus it gives out lots of rewards as well. Jupiter’s banking partner is Federal Bank.

Open

Open Website

This neobank helps businesses say goodbye to all those hassles while opening a bank account. This was founded by Ajeesh Axhuthan, Anish Achuthan, Deena Jacon, and Mabel Chacko in the year 2017. Open helps startups and businesses with banking, payments, and accounting. It also gives out a business credit card.

Razorpay

Razorpay Website

Razorpay is the first neobank to enter the club of Unicorn. Razorpay is designed for businesses. It was founded in 2014 by Harshil Mathur and Shashank Kumar and has served over 10 thousand businesses.

Razorpay’s product suite makes accepting, processing, and disbursing payments easy for businesses. Razorpay offers RazorpayX, a service through which registered businesses can not only easily open current accounts, but can also automate bank transfers, get quick access to capital, do payroll automation, share invoices with customers, and pay taxes and also view financial reports from a single dashboard. Razorpay’s current account gives out features like chequebooks, debit cards, and account statements. Razorpay’s banking partner is RBL Bank.

However, one can take the Razorpay advantage even if his business is unregistered. Razorpay lets its users access all the payment modes like credit and debit cards, net banking, UPI, and Mobile Wallet. Freelancers, small businesses, and individual service providers can easily collect payment via Razorpay by integrating Razorpay into their website or app. They can also create payment pages, payment links, payment buttons, QR codes, collect recurring payments, make vendor payments, generate invoices and do much more with Razorpay.

Simplify Business Banking with Razorpay

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Future Of Neobank Industry In India

In 2019 Neobanks raised $90 million in India. People are getting more familiar with digital financial services and with all those facilities prefer them over others as well. Although RBI doesn’t provide licenses to virtual banks, they collaborate with physical banks and let the customers use their services. In the last three years, India witnessed a steep rise of neobanks and with the trend, it is only going to rise in the coming years.

Conclusion

The world is witnessing a change that is revolutionary, everything is turning digitalized. It wouldn’t be wrong to say that the entire world is being ruled by the devices that we carry in our pockets.

With almost every service available digitally, the tech-savvy generation is indulging themselves in it enthusiastically plus the older generation is being a part of this change.

Banking, which is one of the most important parts of our lives, is now available without physical branches, thus this boon of technological advancement is making life a lot easier.

FAQ

What is neobank?

A neobank is a virtual bank that operates entirely online from customer onboarding, to availing the simplest banking services.

Which is the best neobank in India?

RazorpayX, Fampay, Jupiter and Instantpay are some of the top neobanks in India.

How many neobanks are available in India?

There are a total of 27 Neobanks in India.
May 26, 2022

Prepare for Government and Competitive Exams With Ixambee

Company Profile is an initiative by StartupTalky to publish verified information on different startups and organizations. The content in this post has been approved by ixamBee.

A Government job is the first preference of many-educated young adults in India. Every year millions of graduate and undergraduate students appear for competitive exams to secure jobs in the public sector. As shown by surveys conducted by the Lokniti research program at the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies (CSDS) in 2016, 65% of the Indian youth preferred a Government job. Again, a huge chunk of these Government job aspirants belong to the rural areas and a lot comes from financially weaker sections.

However, this section residing in backward areas and having a low income does not get adequate opportunities to prepare for competitive exams, owing to lack of infrastructure or money. Considering this scenario, ixamBee, a New Delhi based startup is offering free mock tests on its online platform so that all the govt job aspirants can prepare well for their dream job, irrespective of economic status, and from anywhere.
StartupTalky interviewed ixamBee CEO Chandraprakash Joshi to understand the startup better.

Startup Name	ixamBee
Headquarter	New Delhi
Founders	Chandraprakash Joshi, Arunima Sinha & Sandeep Singh
Sector	EdTech
Founded	2016
Website	www.ixambee.com
Parent Organization	ATOZLEARN EDUTECH Pvt. Ltd.

About ixamBee and How It Works
Online Education and Ed-Tech in India
Founders of ixamBee and Team
How Was ixamBee Started?
ixamBee – Name and Logo
ixamBee – Revenue Model
ixamBee – User Acquisition
ixamBee – Startup Challenges
ixamBee – Advisors and Mentors
ixamBee – Growth
ixamBee – Future Plans

About ixamBee and How It Works

ixamBee is a platform that lets Government job aspirants prepare for various competitive exams online. ixamBee is the only website where all the mock tests are available for free to the users to practice and prepare for various competitive exams and that is their USP.
ixamBee makes a large number of questions at a very low cost. These questions are made in-house, after thorough research and analysis of past trends, matching the difficulty level of the exam and following the same exam patterns as the real exams. The platform offers mock tests for more than 50 exams in Banking, Insurance Teaching, Railways, SSC and other categories.

ixamBee also provides comprehensive online learning courses for exam preparation. These learning modules are a package of short video lessons, study notes, practice questions and live sessions with the expert faculty. Besides online practice tests and speed tests offered in the platform helps the users be better prepared to face the exam. Here, you can find over 500 video lessons to learn from and over 10000 practice questions. With paid subscriptions to these online courses, students can learn from anywhere and anytime convenient to them.

Some highlights of ixamBee courses are–

Users get exam preparation tips from exam toppers and subject experts.
Offers career guidance by successful professionals.
Exam focused on comprehensive and concise study materials.
Content is available in vernacular languages too.
Extensive question banks that help students prepare better.
Video lessons for difficult topics.
‘Adaptive Practice’ tests, where difficulty level of questions are adjusted as per performance.
ixamBee also offers topic wise and section wise performance accelerating analytics.

Online Education and Ed-Tech in India

There are 300 million students in India and a large majority of them live in villages and small towns where quality learning material is not easily accessible. Online learning provides an equal opportunity for anyone to learn from anywhere. As per reports, the size of the Online Education market is expected to reach $325.48 billion by 2026.

EdTech market is very competitive, probably due to the low entry barriers. However, considering the large market, we have always been confident to make our own space. Today ixamBee is growing fast because of its focus on the quality of content that helps students in clearing the exam. In the time of information overload, our crisp and to the point content which is created by Subject Matter Experts is helping students get success.

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Founders of ixamBee and Team

ixamBee was founded by the trio, Arunima Sinha, Sandeep Singh and Chandraprakash Joshi in 2016.

Chandraprakash Joshi is the CEO of ixamBee. He received his formal education in the field of agriculture and finance. He held reputed positions in RBI as Manager (Hyderabad) and Assistant General Manager(Lucknow). He also held various positions in esteemed organizations like Oriental Bank of Commerce, Regional Rural Bank and Yes Bank before starting ixamBee.

Arunima Sinha, a born teacher, quit her government job (as Manager–SIDBI) and started Stratagem – a coaching institute for the preparation of competitive exams. She being an educator was very keen to work on a project for the betterment of society, combining the benefit of her teaching with tech skills, which made her join the founding team of ixamBee.

Sandeep Singh has extensive technical experience as he used to manage various technical departments in brands like Make My Trip, Carnation Auto India Pvt. Ltd and Sirez Ltd. Sandeep also co-founded an E-commerce site ‘Babyhugs.com’ which dealt in baby care products.

ixamBee has a team of qualified and dedicated professionals having diverse skillsets which have helped it get established as a known name amongst students.

How Was ixamBee Started?

Chandraprakash Joshi did his schooling from a village and had no proper awareness and guidance to choose the right career. While travelling to different parts of the country during his field visits for YES Bank, he interacted with a large number of people living in small towns. The observation made him realize, that the people were willing to invest in education, however, there were hardly any options that made quality education accessible. Increased access to internet services in rural areas has created an opportunity for online education so Chandraprakash grabbed the opportunity with both hands. He always wanted to do something beneficial for the youth of the country, and his experiences during personal and work-life turned into a passion to teach, that finally led to the conviction of starting up ixamBee.

ixamBee – Name and Logo

“We wanted a name that is related to education and exam preparation and also wanted to include an element of nature in it,” said Chandraprakash explaining the idea behind the name ‘ixamBee’.

Bees are the most social, systematic and intelligent insects having a crucial place in the cycle of life by helping plants grow, breed and produce food. Therefore, the word ‘exam’ is clubbed with ‘bee’. The ‘e’ of the exam is replaced with ‘i’ as the company name starting with ‘I’ makes it personalized for every user and every team member of ixamBee.

ixamBee – Revenue Model

ixamBee provides free mock tests for more than 50 exams and it is the only platform where students get mock tests without paying anything for that. ixamBee’s revenue comes from the comprehensive online learning courses that students subscribe to for the preparation of competitive exams such as Bank PO, SSC, RBI, NABARD, SEBI, LIC, and others.

ixamBee – User Acquisition

ixamBee launched the mock tests in April 2017 and reached customers using social media such as Quora, Facebook, and Youtube. Students visit the website to attempt mock tests because of the quality of questions, answer explanations and personalized feedback analytics that helps them in improving their performance. More than 300 million questions have been attempted by 750K plus users on the website.

For a B2C player in the online space, it is tough to reach customers, and one needs to spend much on digital marketing. However, social media did the magic for ixamBee, in getting its first 1000 registrations in the first month itself. Due to good content quality, very quickly the word spread among the online student communities across various social media.

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ixamBee – Startup Challenges

“I always believe, What doesn’t kill you, makes you stronger”-Chandrapraksh says.

At ixamBee, there was a big challenge to get qualified and experienced professionals on board when the company has little money to pay them. Again, there was a challenge to make students realize the quality of the content.

To some extent selection of students in the first year of the course launch and appreciation by users about the ixamBee experience has helped us grow at a good pace. We are continuously learning how to manage these challenges in a better way and are also preparing for the bigger challenges we are going to face in the coming years.

ixamBee – Advisors and Mentors

Keyur Joshi, Co-Founder of MakeMyTrip is mentoring ixamBee since the beginning. Sandeep (co-founder and CTO) has earlier worked with Keyur in MakeMyTrip. Keyur’s continuous guidance has been extremely valuable for crafting the differentiation strategy and growth plan for ixamBee.

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ixamBee – Growth

ixamBee is growing very fast and becoming popular among students because of the value they are getting. Today the company has 1 million-plus monthly visits on the website and the number is growing constantly. There are more than 45 million page views on the websites and students have spent a total of 800,000 plus study hours at ixamBee.com. These numbers are growing at the rate of 80-100% month on month.

The average ticket size for each course ranges from INR 3,000 to INR 60,000 per course. The company claims to have about 1,500 paid users.

ixamBee – Future Plans

iexambee plans to keep investing the profits into the business to launch more courses, they have already launched a mobile app and added more languages on the platform.

“We have still not reached even 1% of the student in the market. We have lots to be achieved and we are preparing in the right direction.” Chandraprakash says.

ixamBee’s aims to reach 100 million students by 2025. Recently, in 2021, it has raised $300,000 in seed funding.

FAQs

When was ixamBee was founded?

ixamBee was founded in the year 2016.

Who founded ixamBee?

ixamBee was founded by Chandraprakash Joshi, Arunima Sinha and Sandeep Singh.

What is ixamBee?

ixamBee is an online platform that helps in learning and preparing for competitive exams for like Banking, SSC, Railways and others.

April 19, 2022

Top 6 Online Business Banking Solutions for Small and Medium Businesses
‌‌Each business requires several services for its easy working. Some of the services are achieved by the traditional method, whereas some services get fulfilled by outsourcing facilities.

Apart from these, there can be few leniencies provided by modern technology to accomplish a work. The best example of this is to achieve business banking solutions by the medium of the internet.

Online business banking solutions are a great way of using banking solutions with additional advantages such as convenience, ease to use, better-maintained record, etc. Multiple platforms are providing different services in the online business banking industry. Some of the most famous and well-known platforms are:

1. BlueVine
2. Axos Bank
3. Novo
4. Lending Club Bank
5. Mercury
6. NorthOne

1. BlueVine

BlueVine is a California-based Fintech company popularly known to provide online banking solutions to small and medium-sized businesses. BlueVine works with the mission of empowering small businesses with innovative banking specially designed for them.

They work towards easing the pain point of every small business owner by providing them with solutions that can help them with acknowledging their cash flow, capital access, etc. There are several services provided by them,

Popular services provided by BlueVine:
- Account basics.
- Vender services and transactions.
- Paycheck protection loan programs.
- A business line of credit, etc.
Why should you consider BlueVine:
- Best for small business owners or newly opened businesses.
- Allows unlimited transactions.
- Provides a better competitive interest rate.
2. Axos Bank

Axos Bank Website

Axos Bank is an American-based chartered Bank with the mission of building a secure financial future for those who look out for convenient online banking solutions. Axos Bank is a well-known bank for providing complete online-based business solutions to its customers.

Popular services provided by Axon Bank:
- Small business banking solutions.
- Commercial business banking solutions.
- Commercial lending solutions.
- Personal banking solutions, etc.
Why should you consider Axon Bank:
- Axos Bank does only limit its services to online business banking solutions, it also provides complete services to personal banking services.
- Axos Bank provides both mobile applications as well as desktop versions for the easy use of customers.
- It is also given the tag of one of the best banks in America by Forbes.
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3. Novo

Novo Website

Novo bank is a United States-based online banking solution provider. Novo bank works with the ethics of empowering their customers with financial data along with the most compelling banking experience. Novo bank works with the simple aim of keeping no hidden fees for small businesses.

Popular services provided by Novo:
- Helps in creating and managing an unlimited number of invoices.
- Refunds at all ATMs.
- Allows domestic and foreign wire exchange.
Why should you consider Novo Bank:
- Novo bank works with a negligible amount of fees as compared to other places.
- Novo bank is the simplest online banking solution provider platform. It’s easy to use and maintain.
- Novo bank is perfect for new users as well as new startups to manage their business activities.
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4. Lending Club Bank

LendingClub Website

Lending Club is a California-based-to-peer platform enabling its users to keep a track of their financial expenses. Lending Club works on different facilities with the mission of transforming the banking industry to make credit more affordable and investing more rewarding.

Popular services provided by Lending Club:
- Easy lending loans for business.
- Easy lending loans for personnel.
- Facility to check and keep a check on a business account.
Why should you consider Lending Club:
- A business account can be opened within a few minutes.
- Provides excellent customer service.
- Provides the service of mobile applications as well as web platforms.
5. Mercury

Mercury Website

Mercury is a United States-based banking solution provider platform especially popular for its support to newly born startups. Mercury can be considered as the first platform for providing easy access to early building startups and fintech companies. The aim of mercury is to power the next generation of companies that can build the shape of American industry.

Popular services provided by Mercury:
- Allows the creation of virtual debit cards.
- Keep a track of cash flow.
- Allows the customers to sign in from anywhere in the world.
Why should you consider Mercury:
- The whole process right from the start of creating the account till managing it with different facilities is available through the online method. Mercury completely eliminates the possibility of stepping into the bank.
- Avails the customers with the facility of issuing virtual as well as physical banking cards by reposting each transaction to the head.
- It is the perfect stop for startups to indulge in online business banking solutions.
6. NorthOne

NorthOne Website

NorthOne is a United States-based online banking solution. It combines online banking solutions with in-built tools for easy and safe business banking solutions. NorthOne works with the mission of eliminating the financial administration for business owners so that they can eventually focus on developing their business.

Some of the popular services of NorthOne are:
- Allows smart and digital banking tools.
- Allows the facility of depositing checks at a simple pace.
- Provides business banking cards.
Why should you consider NorthOne:
- NorthOne is the perfect platform for new users.
- It is a mobile-based application, hence more accepted and favoured by typical mobile users.
- Provides one in all solutions with a single step.
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Conclusion

Technology is grasping the world in its hand with each passing day. The businesses earlier needed visiting banks for taking up their needed services. However, now one can easily select needed online business banking solutions for their firm and can work with them without the need of actually stepping into the bank. There are several online platforms providing business banking solutions to customers.

FAQs

What is the best business banking app?

Some of the best banking apps one can consider using are Revolut, Monzo, Barclays, etc.

Which bank has the most secure online banking?

Citibank and Bank of America are the most secure banks for online banking

Which is the best online bank for business?

Santander is considered the best bank for online businesses.

What are the advantages of using an online business banking platform?

There are several advantages associated with the use of online business banking platforms. Online business banking platforms are low-cost to maintain, allow instant money transfer, is convenient to use, etc.
March 14, 2022
6 Ways Artificial Intelligence Is Transforming the Finance Industry?
Artificial intelligence is the capability of computers or technology controlled by computers to perform a duty that is mostly done by humans. AI is used in different innovative ways by the banking sector and other finance organizations by utilizing time properly and making sure that there is an increase in revenue and decrease in cost. It helps in providing better and fast services by efficient and improved performance through AI applications in financial institutions.

Artificial intelligence helps financial organizations to know more about the customer through the data based on the experience of customer behaviour. It is mostly used in the banking sector, investment sector, insurance sector, and other financial institutions.

The banking sector has been one of the sectors which have gained the most benefit from AI in the finance field, It has benefited investment by automated data and other applications and also helped insurance by providing an Anti-fraud system, data related to customers and risk management.

How is AI used in Finance?
Can AI Give You a Competetive Edge Over Your Non-AI Competitors?
Advantages of AI in Finance
Disadvantages of AI in Finance

How is AI used in Finance?

Personalized Banking

AI makes it easy to interact with the customers and provides them services like mobile banking, smart wallet, and providing AI applications for customer support and lending decision-making advice on their savings and expenses.

Anti-Fraud System

It helps to prevent fraud, as AI is all about studying and reviewing data and the growth of financial institutes. Fraud investigator works efficiently to detect fraud and take corrective measures to take precautions at right time.

Credit rating

Ai helps get all the data related to a persons credit reliability by examining the person’s data. It helps to know whether the debtor data should be increased or not and what should be the amount that has to be credited to him.

Risk Management

It helps to detect theft and take effective measures against it. It helps to improve data quality. It helps to know about credit risk by the system which gives warning whenever there is a risk.

Customer service

It makes it easy to provide service to the customers through different AI tools that are used for customers so that customers are satisfied. It helps in making interaction with customers easy as for every financial organization it is important to have good relations with customers.

Saving and loan management-

It helps to know about the saving and expenses done by customers’ behaviour on their spending pattern and loan borrowing. AI helps in debt management using the data collected properly for the repayment.

A customer who has borrowed money can also use AI technology like apps provided by the bank or any other financial institute as it helps to keep track of the history and analyze data related to the loan provided.

AI helps to know about loan applicants’ behaviour and makes it easier for banks and apps of a financial institute to know whether the loan applicant is eligible or not for the loan.

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Can AI Give You a Competetive Edge Over Your Non-AI Competitors?

It helps to know the customer wants through the data that is based on the current information provided and helps to get a competitive advantage over competitors mostly in the organization. It helps to know customers’ wants by studying customer behaviour.

All companies need to install all types of technology and artificial intelligence. As our country is heading towards being more digital and sophisticated, companies need to use artificial technology and advanced technologies. If a company fails to accept the dynamic technologies it will not be able to survive and therefore, it will lose its existence.

As everything is done through artificial intelligence it makes the company increase its ability to coordinate its activities regionally, nationally, and globally. Artificial intelligence assists the company to reach all the customers, but if a company does not have artificial intelligence they will be slow in doing their work, they might face loss.

If a company does not meet the needs of the customer its competitors will stifle its development, and if a company is not advanced or updated the customers will also be apathetic-towards its service.

Nowadays those companies who provide online services are the ones who are still surviving and earning a good amount and profit from those who do not provide online services. So, the company should ensure that every service they provide is online too. For example, people who are physically challenged, elderly people who cannot go physically to the service centre, but know about artificial intelligence and technologies can prefer AI-based companies to those who are not so advanced about AI.

A company with advanced AI and technology gets its work done more effectively and productively than the competitors who do not employ dynamic AI and technology.

Advantages of AI in Finance
- It works faster and helps to make better decisions quicker by improving the quality of data.
- AI helps to plan a useful and helpful way that is beneficial for a finance company and also for its customers.
- AI helps to prevent fraud by its tools and efficiency to keep away from financial crimes. It helps by keeping track of previous fraud transactions so that they can be used to prevent getting frauded.
- It helps to eliminate the mistakes that humans make and give better solutions that give more accurate data faster.
Disadvantages of AI in Finance
- It has a very high maintenance cost depending on the use.
- AI also creates risks of unemployment as everything is done through AI which leads to less use of human creativity. But it cannot replace a human even if machines performance is productive and faster than humans as when there are complicated tasks when a piece of expert advice is required this work can only be done by employees.
- It can sometimes be dangerous to let AI have full control as sometimes there are some errors due to which there can be a problem in data and sometimes it can be difficult to detect it.
- As there is more and more use of technologies or we can say AI it leads to a decrease in the use of human creativity.
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Conclusion

Artificial Intelligence is very helpful in the field of finance as it provides different innovative services, saves time, keeps away from fraud, etc. It also helps to get a competitive advantage over the competitors as the customers prefer advanced and updated companies.

AI have different uses like anti-fraud system, credit rating, risk management, etc. AI is very helpful to both the finance company and the customers even if there are some disadvantages we can find solutions to make improvements.

FAQ

How AI will transform the future of finance?

AI will improve fraud detection, predict cash flow and can provide high-quality services to the customers.

How does AI help in banking and finance?

AI features such as chatbots, fraud detection systems, and digital payments are actively used in the finance industry.

How will AI affect financial services?

With the help of AI, you can get an edge over your competitors as it provides advanced security, more informed decisions, and reduces risk.
February 11, 2022