Heena Sharma Blog

Google plans to launch a checking account service next year in a collaboration with Citigroup and a credit union in Silicon Valley , the Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday. In a project code named Cache, Google is working on a system that will host checking accounts clearly bearing the brands of the financial institutions, which will handle security and regulatory compliance issues, according to the Journal report. The report quoted a Google executive as saying the company's approach "is going to be to partner deeply with banks and the financial system" in what might be seen as a longer but safer route. The move would come as internet titans become increasingly involved in online financial transactions and e-commerce. Apple and Google both offer digital wallets that can be used on smartphones to pay for purchases online or in real-world shops. Apple also recently released a credit card. Amazon has been reported to be in talks with banks about cr...

At least two Pentagon employees were offered jobs at Amazon.com Inc. while working on the Defense Department’s $10 billion cloud contract, a lawsuit filed by Oracle Corp. alleges. The amended complaint, made public on Tuesday, claims Deap Ubhi, a former employee at a high-level Defense Department technology unit, helped design the cloud contract in a way that was favorable to Amazon even after receiving “significant” job and bonus offers from the e-commerce giant. Oracle’s latest court action comes weeks after the Pentagon announced it had eliminated Oracle and International Business Machines Corp. from the bidding because they didn’t meet the minimum criteria, leaving Amazon and Microsoft Corp. as the last remaining competitors. The Pentagon, which announced the Jedi competition in March of last year, doesn’t expect to award the contract before July 19. Ubhi, who had worked at Amazon before joining the government, helped craft the Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure,...

The Delhi High Court on Wednesday asked the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) how Google's mobile payment app , GPay, was facilitating financial transactions without the requisite authorisation from it. A bench of Chief Justice Rajendra Menon and Justice A J Bhambhani posed the query to RBI while hearing a PIL which claimed that GPay was acting as a payments system provider in violation of the Payments and Settlements Act as it has no valid authorisation from the central bank of the country to carry out such functions. The court issued notice to RBI and Google India seeking their stand on the issue raised in the plea by Abhijit Mishra, who has contended that GPay does not figure in RBI's list of authorised 'payment systems operators' released by the central bank on March 20, 2019. Read More Article Source -> Business Standard

Amazon India is hosting a four-day sale on smartphones and is offering discounts, exchange offers, no cost equated monthly instalment (EMI) schemes, and cashback on EMI transactions from an SBI bank credit card. Named Amazon fab phone fest , the sale is currently live and would continue till March 28. Here are some of the deals and offers on smartphones: This midrange flagship smartphone from Chinese smartphone brand OnePlus, priced at Rs 37,999 for 6GB RAM and 128GB storage, is eligible for Rs 2,000 additional exchange value, meaning you can trade your old smartphone for the OnePlus 6T and get Rs 2,000 additional discount on the exchange. For example, if you want to trade the Nokia 7 Plus for the OnePlus 6T, you will get an exchange discount of Rs 5,100 (Rs 3,100 phone exchange price plus Rs 2,000 additional exchange value). This Apple’s ten-year anniversary edition is available at a discounted price of Rs 73,999, down from its original listed price of Rs 91,900. The phone i...

Amazon India is hosting a three-day sale on smartphones in which the e-commerce platform is offering discounts, bank offers, exchange offers, and no cost equated monthly instalment options on smartphones across various brands. Named the Amazon fab phones fest, the sale is currently live and will continue until March 7. Here are some of the deals to check out: This flagship smartphone from the stable of Chinese maker OnePlus is eligible for Rs 2,000 extra exchange value as a part of exchange offer. The phone is also eligible for no cost EMI, and the e-commerce portal is offering additional Rs 2,000 off on EMI orders and Rs 1,500 off on non-EMI orders on Kotak cards – subject to terms and conditions. The last year flagship from Cupertino, US-based technology giant Apple is available at a discounted price of Rs 74,999, down 18 per cent from its listed price of Rs 91,900. The phone is eligible for no cost EMI, valid only on HDFC bank credit cards and Bajaj Finserv EMI cards. Th...

India’s online retail industry has been in turmoil since the government implemented stringent new rules to rein in major players like Amazon.com Inc. and Walmart Inc.’s Flipkart . Amid the uproar, Vijay Shekhar Sharma -- whose two-year-old Paytm Mall is backed by Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. -- is quietly devising ways to outstrip his rivals. The new regime forbids retailers from holding any business interest in online merchants on their websites, exclusive arrangements and deep discounts -- forcing Amazon and Flipkart to redraw contracts and rescue thousands of product listings that vanished overnight. The founder of Paytm Mall operator Paytm E-commerce Pvt, an affiliate of India’s largest digital payments provider, spoke in an interview this week about how his business stands to gain. The new rules require more stringent adherence by e-commerce marketplaces. For some of us who have been compliant all along, this gives us an opportunity to consolidate the business while rivals...

Domestic e-commerce platform Flipkart is currently hosting a four-day sale of smartphones where the portal is offering deals and discounts on mobile phones from the stable of Asus, Samsung, Xiaomi, Apple, Realme, Honor, Nokia, etc. During the sale, the online shopping platform is also offering 10 per cent instant discount on SBI credit cards, subject to terms and conditions. The midrange smartphone from the stable of Chinese smartphone manufacturer Realme is currently available with Rs 1,000 instant off on prepaid payments, bringing down the effective cost of 4GB RAM and 64GB storage variant to Rs 12,990. The phone is also eligible for 10 per cent instant discount on SBI credit cards.  The recently launched Redmi Note 6 Pro smartphone with dual camera module on the back and front is currently available on the e-commerce platform at Rs 13,999 for 4GB RAM and 64GB internal storage variant. The phone is eligible for 10 per cent instant discount offer on SBI credit card....

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has revealed that Paytm was in violation of know-your-customer (KYC) rules while on-boarding users for its payments bank business for which it was banned from opening new accounts and e-wallets in August, The Times of India reported. In an RTI reply, the RBI revealed the payments bank failed to maintain the prescribed net worth limit of Rs 1 billion and also violated the end-of-the-day Rs 100,000 limit per account. Payments banks are not allowed to hold more than Rs 100,000 in each account. The RBI also expressed unhappiness at the close relations between Paytm founder Vijay Shekhar Sharma’s One97 Communications and the entity that runs Paytm Payments Bank (PPB). While Sharma owns a 51% stake, the rest is owned by One97 Communications and its subsidiaries. Payments banks are expected to maintain an arm’s length relationship with promoter group entities. Read More Business Standard