Fintech start-up Simpl targets India's low credit card adoption - FinTech Futures

#fintech #credit #creditline #creditcard #cod #startups #startupindia

Simpl, a Bengaluru-based fintech, is vying to change India’s approach to credit.

India had around 52 million credit card users in 2019, according to BankBazaar Moneymood’s 2020 report.

The start-up offers shoppers a digital credit line, acquiring users at point of sale (PoS). It works with mobile-focused commerce stores across India.

Simpl acts like a ‘buy now, pay later’ checkout option, without incurring interest for the consumer. Everything the shopper buys gets added to a bill which is paid off every 15 days.

Cash on delivery (CoD) – where a consumer buys a product online and pays for it upon delivery – is still a popular shopping method in India. A Nielson report last year found roughly 83% of shoppers in India still favoured CoD for online commerce purchases.

The main reason why customers use CoD is that the vendor’s behaviour and customer experience affects adversely if we make payment in advance.

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Fintech start-up Simpl targets India's low credit card adoption - FinTech Futures

Simpl, a Bengaluru-based fintech, is vying to change India's approach to credit. Currently, just 3.85% of Indian consumers have credit cards.

Société Générale to acquire French neobank Shine - FinTech Futures

#fintech #acquisitions #mergersandacquisitions #banks #invoicemanagement #invoices

Société Générale is set to acquire Shine, a French challenger banking service for freelancers and small businesses. The size of the acquisition is currently unconfirmed. TechCrunch reports an all-cash deal of around €100 million ($112.6 million) but has since updated its report to say Société Générale has disputed this price.

Shine offers business-tailored accounts and debit cards. French customers can create invoices directly from the app and send payment links to clients. Invoices then get automatically marked as paid in the app. Receipts are attached to transactions, keeping accounting information in the app. Automatic receipt exports are also an option in the app. Users can also set up notification reminders to pay taxes and see how much money will be left over.

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Société Générale to acquire French neobank Shine - FinTech Futures

Société Générale is set to acquire 2018-founded Shine, a French challenger banking service for freelancers and small businesses.

Vokal for Local: Meet Koo, a Twitter-like microblogging platform for vernacular speakers of India

#socialmedia #desiapp #apps #startupbharat #startups #vocalforlocal #vocalforlocalindia

Aprameya Radhakrishna, a serial entrepreneur and angel investor, too, has been working towards this theme since 2017 with Vokal India. Recently, the Founder and CEO of Vokal India announced a new platform called Koo, a microblogging app focussed on non-English speakers in India.

India has close to 600 million internet users. An IAMAI-Nielsen report revealed that for the first time in 2019, rural users (277 million) outnumbered urban areas (227 million) by 10 percent, thereby eliminating the digital divide that had existed earlier.

The startup’s new app Koo offers Twitter-like experience where users can express their thoughts in Indian languages with a fellow local Indian community.

Within a week of its official launch, Koo app has crossed one lakh installs on Google Play store. While it is available in Hindi, Tamil, and Kannada, the app does not support the English language.

Moving forward, the founder said that more Indian languages, including Telugu, Marathi, Odia, Malayalam, and Gujarati, among others, will be added to the app.

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Vokal for Local: Meet Koo, a Twitter-like microblogging platform for vernacular speakers of India

The recent ban of 59 Chinese apps in India has led a path for many Indian startups and entrepreneurs to build 'Made in India.' Focussing more on the Tier-II, III cities, and rural pockets of India, most of these startups are creating products that can be accessed in vernacular languages.

Venture Capital: Facebook co-founder's B Capital Group closes its second fund at $820M

#startups #starupsfunding #vc #vcfunding #founders

B Capital Group, a US and Singapore-based investment company have announced the closing of its second $820 million venture fund to invest in growth-stage startups that are disrupting large industries and quickly scaling up.

Founded in 2014 by Raj Ganguly, and Facebook co-founder Eduardo Saverin, B Capital Group invests in #enterprise technology (including #SaaS, #AI / #ML infrastructure, and security), #fintech, #healthcare #technology, customer supporting technology, #transport, and #logistics into #B2B and #B2B2C businesses. The company usually invests between $10 and $60 million in Series B, C, and D businesses poised to grow rapidly.

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Facebook co-founder's B Capital Group closes its second fund at $820M

B Capital Group, a US and Singapore-based investment company have announced the closing of its second $820 million venture fund to invest in growth-stage startups that are disrupting large industries and quickly scaling up. Founded in 2014 by Raj Ganguly, and Facebook co-founder Eduardo Saverin, B Capital Group invests in enterprise technology (including SaaS, AI...