Oxigen Services India Pvt Ltd leverages technology to take banking and financial services to the people living in rural India. It helps deliver financial products like subsidy transfers, bill payments, recharge services, etc., in an efficient, simple and cost-effective manner, says Pramod Saxena, Chairman & Managing Director of the company, in an interview with Arpit Gupta of Elets News Network (ENN)
What is Oxigen Super Point of Sale (PoS) machine and what is the technology used in it?
Oxigen has two sets of services — one is for the consumers, who may choose to interact with us directly, and the other for the retailers who decide to use Oxigen services as a business tool. In line with the government’s vision of financial inclusion and its efforts to digitise India by creating a cashless society, Oxigen Services has introduced Oxigen Super PoS. It is first-of-its-kind device that brings three segments on one platform of retail, i.e. financial inclusion, card payments segment and recharge/bill pay operators, packaged with state-of-the-art features customised for Indian conditions. PoS is the only device selected by the Indian Banks’ Association (IBA) through a global bid recently. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has also proposed to give merchants and customers tax benefits using electronic payment systems, i.e. mobile wallets/debit cards / credit cards, to bring transparency in financial transactions and convert maximum transactions from cash to electronic.
How will Oxigen Super PoS help in promoting financial inclusion?
We are committed to promoting financial inclusion by providing payment solutions for recharges, money transfers and payments; business solutions for traditional retail, modern retail chains, online banking and government portals as well as the end-consumers. We also keep continuously upgrading our processes and skill sets. Oxigen Super PoS is quite helpful in bill payments, recharge services and money transfers. It enables people to make bill payments of postpaid mobile, landline, electricity and other utility services and avail recharge services for all mobile operators’ prepaid services, data card and DTH services.
Currently, the industry stands at `7 lakh crore for bill payments and `2 lakh crore for recharges. As far as financial inclusion is concerned, Cash in–Cash out transactions through Oxigen Super PoS will provide a safe and cost-effective way of money transfer for those having bank accounts but not easy access to bank branches/ATMs, and ensure an efficient subsidy transfer mechanism to the target population. Currently, the industry stands at `2 lakh crore for domestic money transfers, `3 lakh crore for electronic benefit transactions and `5 lakh crore for international remittances. This will provide a huge boost in increasing the reach of Indian financial systems.
How does this device ensure security of transactions?
Oxigen Super PoS device is fully safe and secure for all types of transactions. Linux software has been used for easy development of applications. We have designed it in a way that there is no security threat. All information is encrypted and needs secure login ID and password. Currently, it is the only micro-ATM device selected by the Indian Banks’ Association as per the UIDAI/NPCI specifications. The device is equipped with Biometric Reader for Aadhaar transactions and eKYC, and GPRS with a SIM Card slot and two Smart Card slots. It has in-built NFC – Tap & Pay facility and debit card and credit card acceptance (Rupay / VISA / Master Card both magnetic swipe & Smart Card facility). It is also certified by global payments standards for cards, i.e. EMV L1/L2 & PCI 3.0. We are serving 150 million customers annually and nearly 600 million transactions happen every year, and there has been not a single complaint so far related to security of transactions.
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Oxigen Super PoS can be used by following industries and establishments:
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What is the network availability of Oxigen, and its plan for the coming years?
We have largest retail footprint of small retail outlets crossing 2,00,000 in numbers, and more than 50 million-plus transactions occur per month. We are dealing with 4.8 million Jan-Dhan Yojana accounts with a gross transaction value of `10,000 crore. We are getting overwhelming response to Oxigen Super PoS device, which has battery backup of up to eight hours even after continuous operation and several days of standby. It supports wide power supply fluctuation in extreme Indian conditions— 90 volts to 290 Volts AC input—and has extended antenna for working in poor coverage conditions. Our target is to provide easy access to last-mile banking, remittances and other financial products, bringing services within the common man’s reach, with a special focus on rural India.
Which financial institutions or banks have sought Oxigen’s help to reach out to the unbanked?
Having been tied with 100 plus banks on IMPS by NPCI, Oxigen’s money transfer services reflect a greater promise of contribution to the mobile payments sector. We have also joined hands with India’s biggest banks, like State Bank of India, ICICI Bank and Ratnakar Bank, to deliver a host of banking services across the country. By partnering with the State Bank of India to deliver mainstream financial services to the excluded, unbanked population using kiosk banking technology, together with its Business Correspondent model, Oxigen is the fastest growing company in the industry, in India. We have deployed a robust and advanced platform by engaging many retailers and enabling them with not only SBI’s kiosk banking but also Oxigen’s proprietary single-point recharge technology to successfully achieve a sustainable monthly transaction volume.