BGS Presented at Banking Conference in India
Vienna/Goa - BGS Smartcard Systems was invited to hold a presentation about financial inclusion and smart card technology on the occasion of the Goa Banking Conference that took place on the 16th-17th of November.
The Goa Banking Conference is a senior level event for banking, technology and government executives. Among this year's participants were CEOs, Chairmans and GMs from Punjab Sind Bank, Punjab National Bank, Bank of India, Canara Bank, FINO India, ICICI Bank, Ministry of Labour an Health, to name but a few. The hot topic of this year's conference was how to provide efficient financial services to low-income households in urban and rural markets that would otherwise remain unbanked.
Highlights of the conference
- Inaugural speech by Chairman of Punjab National Bank that set the pace for the rest of the day by arguing that financial inclusion and state-of-the-art technology go hand in hand when addressing the issue of banking the unbanked and eradicating poverty. He said that PNB will join forces with FINO to kick-off with microfinance services based on DUET/FINO technology in three locations
- FINO has been appointed by the Ministry of Labour and Health as official consultant for deploying smart cards for social services (pensioners/health card etc.)
- Many banks endorsed the DUET Banking Correspondent model and most of the them are now working with FINO on pilot projects
- BGS' Vice President, Asia Pacific, Mr. Anil Gupta, gave a presentation about the importance of reaching out to the unbanked population through customized financial delivery channels utilizing smart card technology. Mr. Gupta spoke about BGS's partnership with FINO/ICICI in regard to offering sophisticated financial services to the unbanked low-income population of India. He explained the business case, the technology concept and gave an outlook on what seems to become a mutually benficial partnership for BGS, FINO, and the un/under-banked population of India.
The Conference concluded with a lively panel discussion which involved all the speakers as well as the audience
