Why Banks Will Never Catch Up With Fintechs On UX

Top 6 US banks posted a trillion dollars in profits in the last 10 years. "Top 6 Banks In USA Earn $1 Trillion In Profits In Last 10 Years" ~ https://t.co/coy2mSvu3C via @maxabelson @business .That's the same period when fintech was supposed to disrupt dinosaur banks. #Disruption #Shisruption #Banking #FinServ pic.twitter.com/kjZfCkqSbC — Ketharaman Swaminathan (@s_ketharaman) … Read more

Britannia World Cup CEM – Low Budget Campaign Or Outright Scam?

Britannia recently ran a Customer Engagement Management campaign for its NICE biscuit. Like any typical CEM campaign, the BRITANNIA KHAO WORLD CUP JAO campaign required consumers to find a promo code on the product package and SMS it to a telephone number (92620 92620). But, from here on, the Britannia CEM campaign deviated significantly from … Read more

PINless Card Payments – Innovative Or Harebrained?

I’ve been asked many times to weigh in on the new PINless regime for credit and debit card payments in India. Most recently it was on Quora, where I was asked to answer the following question: Why is it not required to enter a PIN to authenticate a credit or debit card in many countries? … Read more

Britannia “Morning Jackpot” CEM – Making Digital Easier Than Paper

I came across a Customer Engagement Management program on Britannia bread recently. The program was called Morning Jackpot and it was run jointly between India’s leading bread and biscuit manufacturer Britannia and Payment Service Provider PayTM. Like in any other digital CEM program, each pack of the product – Britannia Healthy Slice and Britannia 100% Whole bread, in this case – … Read more

One – And Maybe Only – Way To Revive Payments Banks

Every time I go to this leading public sector bank, I see a long line of people outside the branch. “Outside the branch” is the operative phrase because these people literally stand outside the branch. I found out that they’re migrant laborers who queue up to send money from large cities where they work to their family … Read more

Five Google Backdoors You Probably Didn’t Know

Sometimes you can use Google to find information stored in a certain website or app that you can’t by using the website or app itself. I call these hacks “Google Backdoors”. Here are five Google Backdoors I use regularly. #1. BUSINESS FINDER A new restaurant opened in my neighborhood. Its owner said they delivered via … Read more

Mastering PUSH Notifications – The PayTM Way

In Four Out Of Five Brands Get PUSH Notification Wrong, I shared my experience with PUSH notifications from four leading brands. I found it impossible or very cumbersome to redeem the targeted offers made by them. At the end of the post, I promised to share the rare example of a brand that gets PUSH notifications right. To … Read more

Discount Is Not The Only Reason For Shopping Online

At the end of my blog post titled Retail Is Still Barking Up The Wrong Tree Against Ecommerce, I’d made a bold prediction that, within a few months, I’d find a few more non-price related reasons for shopping online. Well, it took me longer than that but I found one recently. This was at the outlet … Read more

PayZapp’s Loss Is PayTM’s Gain – And Lesson For PSPs

Many people complain that cashiers decline Apple Pay even though their stores have advertised support for Apple’s payment service. I’ve come across the same experience with HDFC Bank’s PayZapp mobile wallet. The cashier at a restaurant in my neighborhood told me they hadn’t started accepting PayZapp although there was a “PayZapp Accepted” sticker on his … Read more

Dunzo Gets The Job Done

My friend who works in a leading IT multinational corporation tells me that an email sent from the second floor to the third floor of his office building in Bangalore actually goes via the company’s regional mail server in Sydney, Australia. When they hear this, many people gasp “Whaaaat?” But, apart from that momentary reaction, … Read more