2020-01-31
India is currently aiming to digitalize its government and public services as it undergoes rapid economic growth. Keeping pace with the remarkable growth with a population of over 1.2 billion, Hitachi is contributing to the improvement of QoL (quality of life) for India's citizens by promoting innovation in a variety of fields, such as the financial sector, through advanced digital technologies.
It has been forecasted that India will become densely populated country in the world by around 2027*1, and there are great expectations for its development in the future based on the country's rapid economic growth in recent years. Digital India is the national policy currently being implemented under which efforts are being made to transform the entire country into a digitally empowered society and knowledge economy. Hitachi is playing a major role in this project to boost the Quality of Life (QoL) of people in India through building of digital government services and infrastructure, as a company that has cultivated strong ties with India since which goes back to the year 1922 when it exporeted the household electric fans.
"India is a culturally rich diversified country with huge population, people's lifestyles are varied, and there are no standardized social models in urban or rural areas. So, doing business in India requires strategies that are appropriate for its economic growth. In that sense, Hitachi has had close ties with the country for many years, and has a strong presence in India in the fields of infrastructure, manufacturing, and now the digital sector," says Mr. Bharat Kaushal, Managing Director of Hitachi India Pvt. Ltd.,.
"We are currently implementing the B2G2C (business-to-government-to-citizen) business model. This is a model that offers services to citizens by supporting and cooperating with the government. We will uplift the lifecycles of individuals in diverse fields ranging from infrastructure to digitalization. The key to this project is the realization of the concept behind Hitachi's Social Innovation Business to boost social, environmental and economic values."
Hitachi is also promoting digitalization in the field of finance, education, healthcare and security, which are also the areas that Digital India focuses on.
Hitachi Payment Services Pvt. Ltd. is the company placed in charge of overseeing Hitachi's financial solutions in India. There are over 57,000 ATMs and 1.1 million POS terminals managed by the company in India today*2, and progress is being made particularly in setting up White Label ATMs primarily in semi-urban and rural areas where there are fewer bank branches and ATMs. Moreover, in recent years, the company has been providing a variety of other services, including transit payment systems at metro stations and e-commerce processing services. Today, the services provided by the company have become a part of daily life to people, and an important financial infrastructure in India.
"Our company provides a variety of payment solutions regardless of whether it's cash or digital and we have a 24% market share of ATMs and 26% market share of POS under management*3. In particular, we have focused on digital payments extensively in recent years and Hitachi Payment Services has been a significant contributor towards building an ecosystem for advanced Digital Payment Solutions in India. This has had a dramatic impact on people's daily lives.
Our company has been in the forefront of developing digital payment infrastructure in the country, which has allowed financial institutions to provide highly convenient services to consumers and society. As a result, digital payments has grown 4 fold in the last 3 years. Also one of the main areas of focus going forward would be to promote digital adoption.
," says Mr. Loney Antony, Vice Chairman and founder of Hitachi Payment Services, in explaining the results of the company's efforts.
The company is now taking on a new challenge with a highly influential business partner in India.
In January 2019, Hitachi Payment Services jointly invested in SBI Payment Services Pvt. Ltd., for a next-generation digital payment platform with the State Bank of India (hereinafter SBI), the largest state-owned commercial bank in India with over 420 million customers.
"In our business to acquire member stores for our digital payment services, Hitachi, whom we've cultivated a partnership with for around 10 years, has outstanding digital technologies that will allow us to innovate, as well as the power to deploy the best practices in the industry from around the world. We believe our tie-up with Hitachi is the best choice for us in attaining the goals of Digital India. Our bank will make use of the outstanding technologies and knowhow of Hitachi, for example in big data analyses and AI, to create new value," says Mr. Swaminathan J., Deputy Managing Director (Strategy) and Chief Digital Officer of SBI, in explaining the merits of establishing a joint venture with Hitachi.
Lumada has brought together all of Hitachi's digital technologies, attracting the attention of the top company in India's world of finance. In the future, the two companies will make use of SBI Payment Services and Lumada to provide POS services, and payment services capable of handling a variety of cards, QR, etc., as well as expand the nationally standardized transit payment system and aim to spearhead the realization of new services for customers by making use of data.
In assessing the value created through the partnership with Hitachi, Swaminathan J. of SBI sees expanded business opportunities, saying, "Hitachi's strength lies in its ability to provide not only payment infrastructure, but also high value-added services. Through Co-creation with Hitachi, we are making steady progress toward achieving our goal of providing an outstanding payment environment capable of dealing with a variety of situations, and customer experience value. I am convinced that this will contribute to improved QoL for people in India."
Hitachi aims to boost social, environmental and economic values. Through digitalization centered on Lumada, the results of this challenge are on the verge of blossoming in India, a country with huge potential whose economy is set to take off.
Mr. Bharat Kaushal
Hitachi India Pvt. Ltd.
Mr. Loney Antony
Hitachi Payment Services Pvt. Ltd.
Mr. Swaminathan J.
State Bank of India
