FIA Global: We change lives

India is a land of disparities. On one hand, we have an uber-rich class, and on the other, some living in stark poverty. There has been a conscious effort on the government’s part to bridge the gap. There are still miles to go before a happy equilibrium can be attained. At the end of the day, it’s important to remember that there are a tremendous amount of people out there living with several unmet needs. One area that the rural sector and underprivileged sections have a clear disadvantage in, is the banking sector.

Banking benefits everyone. It is with the help of banks that millions of us can pay for goods, services and transfer money whenever and wherever we want. Providing livelihoods for hundreds of thousands of families across the country, it is a vital industry for India’s future and one that supports businesses, the economy and you, in your everyday life. Perhaps the biggest advantage of having a bank account is safety. Money that is left in a home or kept with you can be stolen or lost in a disaster, such as a fire. Nothing untoward happens to your money even if the bank where you hold the account is robbed or goes bankrupt. But unfortunately, not all are fortunate enough to have the banking system within accessible distance. This is where FIA Technology Services Private Limited comes into the picture.

FIA Technology Services Private Limited provides E-governance services targeting the interiors, mostly rural and underprivileged areas. FIA aims at popularizing the use of alternate technologies for enhancing the efficiency and security of financial transactions plans to elevate Asia's unserved geographies through its core vision of ‘economic and social inclusion’. At FIA, our purpose is to bring forth sustainable livelihood models and include the marginal and rural communities, poverty-stricken people, and women.

FIA takes the technology beyond urban centres to remote areas that are still unbanked and underserviced. It also acts as a channel for credit delivery and innovative products to the poor and underprivileged sections of society. With an efficient deployment of technology, banks can step in and provide access to banking facilities like the opening of accounts, money transfer services, payments of bills etc.

There is a lack of banking services. A December 2009 RBI report points out that the country has 600,000 habitations but only 30,000 have a commercial bank branch. Only half the population has access to banks. This disparity is starker in the north-eastern region of the country. Life insurance is availed by only 10% of the population and to add to the woes, 37% of India lives below the poverty line.

FIA recognizes that as incomes grow and awareness increases, aspirations rise among the poor. There is a growing awareness to avail of the banking services. It is beneficial for banks too, as savings of the rural people tend to remain in customers’ accounts. Such a large amount with the bank reduces its dependence on bulk deposits, minimizing the risk posed by sudden large withdrawals.

The main challenge lies in financial education: helping the masses to understand various financial products and schemes raise awareness about the benefits of saving and investing. This hurdle can be overcome with proper guidance and widespread financial literacy.

E-governance offers public services to citizens in an efficient and cost-effective manner. It allows for government transparency because it informs the public about various policies the government is trying to implement and its immediate and long-term goals.

We at FIA technologies aimed at improving the efficiency of the current system which has mostly been paper-based. Besides being people-friendly, this method also saves ample time and money. Better communication between government and businesses gets established.

As we know, the society is moving towards an era characterized by mobile connections. We want to utilize this growing trend and help provide fast and easy access to public services to citizens through mobile devices. People now have access to Electronic services because of the technology available to them through mobile phones. This makes it possible to bypass the need for traditional physical networks for communications and collaboration. To top it all, it is cheaper and easily accessible to even the rural people.

No wonder Mobile services are quickly emerging as the new frontier and have immense potential in transforming government. It makes government services more accessible and citizen-centric by extending the benefits of remote delivery of government services and information. Timely and accurate information and a system of two-way communication between the government and people is one of the keys to strengthening democracy. It facilitates enhanced utilization of public services, participation and empowerment of citizens. Businesses too have woken to the popularity of mobile phones and are introducing services, especially in the Banking sector. It is safe to say the future seems brighter with mobile banking as the preferred mode.

FIA is well aware of the advent of this knowledge era and truly believes that the benefits of e-governance can benefit millions of irrespective of their location. The benefits of FIA e-governance services include efficiency, improved services, better accessibility of public services, and more transparency and accountability. Our impeccable services enable a huge number of customers to perform their task speedily. With a growing and expanding digital community, it makes more sense to avail of this multi-faceted platform.

We make extensive use of ICTs by government organizations for exchange of information with citizens, businesses or other government departments, faster and more efficient delivery of public services, improving internal efficiency, reducing costs / increasing revenue, re-structuring of administrative processes and improving quality of services.

Thus, FIA technologies take the technology beyond urban centres to remote areas, that are still unbanked and underserviced. It also serves as a channel for credit delivery and innovative products to the poor and underprivileged sections of society. With an efficient deployment of technology, banks can step in and provide access to banking facilities like the opening of accounts, money transfer services, payments of bills etc. Banks provide payment solutions to conduct E-payments with government departments using smart cards/credit cards or making a direct debit from their account (Internet banking) when the due date falls.