New Norms For Digital Lending- How RBI’s Working Group Will Change The Terrain

The report brings to the spotlight such shortcomings while providing a better framework for the sector. The relevant points from the report are explored below to create a better understanding of the proposal and the effect it can have on the industry.

Distinction Between LSPs and BSLs

There is a clear distinction between Loan Service Providers(LSPs) and Balance Sheet Lenders(BSLs). LSPs can be applications that provide borrowing options for the customers. They certainly need not be directly regulated but do require to partner with only regulated financial entities that can provide the services. BSLs on the other hand, provide loans and securely take credit risks. They are always regulated. This distinction allows LSPs to manage the front-end experience while BSLs manage regulatory compliance and risk.

A Ban On FLDG

First Loss Default Guarantee or FLDG instrument allows unregulated entities to offer loans to customers and take credit risk. The report strongly suggests against this backdoor entry. This is challenging to many new-age lenders as their processes are oriented around shadow lending. Additionally, neo-banking and DeFi(decentralized finance) models are also included in this section for a modal check. Fundamentally, the report directs that only regulated entities should hold taking credit risk options.

Eliminate Regulatory Arbitrage

The report advises to deem all products involved with credit risk as lending products and eliminate regulatory arbitrage. For example, most BNPL(Buy Now Pay Later) providers consider this option, not as a loan, and hence do not have apt KYC processing. They have no relation with the credit bureau.

Safety Of The Customer

In certain cases, the charges and rates can be as high as 100%(The normal being 40-45%). The working group recommends several actions to ensure consumer protection from such practices. These recommendations include:

  • Include all interests and charges as transparent APR(Annual Percentage Rate).
  • STCC(Short Term Consumer Credit)- must follow appropriate guidelines to prevent usurious charge rates.
  • Restrict very short-term loans with no instalments that are high risk.
  • Restrict Refinancing and over-indebtedness.

Regulated entities must also ensure fair treatment of borrowers by the LSPs involved, especially in the collection practices. All coercive behaviour is avoided to ensure confident customers and a healthy ecosystem.

Data Privacy

The consumer and not the entity is the owner of the data. All crucial lending decisions require explicit consent from customers for using their data. This extends to even any e-commerce platform which uses consumer data for underwriting decisions. This helps enhance security and overall data protection while maintaining consumer trust.

SRO And DIGITA

The report advises RBI to create a Self-Regulatory Organization (SRO) to govern activities and frame standards. It also recommends creating DIGITA(Digital Trust of India Agency). DIGITA will determine the minimum requirements and standards to verify compliance. If entities are not approved by DIGITA, they will be deemed non-compliant.

What Does This Mean For The Industry And You?

The initiatives outlined by the working group helps create a balanced framework that encourages innovation while protecting its consumers and minimizing financial risks in the system. This will help improve the dynamics in the ecosystem rendering growth in the industry. There are many venues that require clarifications and dialogue, but this preliminary report is a step in the right direction to achieve a more sustainable and secure environment. This ensures that the future of digital India is now… And it’s happening.

With the blessing of better lending ecosystems and safer financial environments comes the burden of stricter regulations and rigid compliance guidelines. If not careful, your enterprises can get affected and suspended due to bureaucratic complications. You can avoid this by availing reliable service providers for all your regulatory requirements. But how do you choose a good one? Opt one that gives you quick, safe, and customizable solutions. It should have a track record of good services and lots of options. This is why Signzy is the right choice for you. We can handle all your needs ranging from Video KYC to complete Onboarding Processes.

About Signzy

Signzy is a market-leading platform redefining the speed, accuracy, and experience of how financial institutions are onboarding customers and businesses – using the digital medium. The company’s award-winning no-code GO platform delivers seamless, end-to-end, and multi-channel onboarding journeys while offering customizable workflows. In addition, it gives these players access to an aggregated marketplace of 240+ bespoke APIs that can be easily added to any workflow with simple widgets.

Signzy is enabling ten million+ end customer and business onboarding every month at a success rate of 99% while reducing the speed to market from 6 months to 3-4 weeks. It works with over 240+ FIs globally, including the 4 largest banks in India, a Top 3 acquiring Bank in the US, and has a robust global partnership with Mastercard and Microsoft. The company’s product team is based out of Bengaluru and has a strong presence in Mumbai, New York, and Dubai.

Visit www.signzy.com for more information about us.

You can reach out to our team at reachout@signzy.com

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Signzy

Written by an insightful Signzian intent on learning and sharing knowledge.

RBI’s New PCA Framework for NBFCs

The new Prompt Corrective Action(PCA) framework set forth by RBI for troubled NBFCs ensures market discipline and resilience of their financial health. In the past, PCAs were exclusive to banks. But, because many major NBFCs like SREI Group, IL&FS, DHFL, and Reliance Capital have run into financial crises over the past couple of years, this move comes at an apt time. The PCA framework targets to strengthen the supervisory tools from October 1, 2022. This will be based on the NBFCs’ financial position after March 31, 2022.

The primary objective of the PCA or Prompt Corrective Action framework is oriented and much mandated. It enables supervisory intervention at the precise and appropriate time, mandating the supervised entity to properly initiate and implement remedial measures. This is done to restore the supervised entity’s financial health in case of considerable deterioration. The PCA framework also acts as a tool for effective and strict market discipline maintenance.

Which are the entities included?

Previously, The PCA Framework applied to all banks operating in India. This includes foreign banks operating through subsidiaries or branches based on breach of risk thresholds of identified indicators. Now, via the RBI Notification dated December 14, 2021, It will also be applicable for all deposit-taking NBFCs, and other large NBFCs that position on the middle, upper, and top-most levels of the scale-based regulation for NBFCs of the RBI.

This includes  Investment and Credit Companies, Core Investment Companies (CICs), Infrastructure Debt Funds, Infrastructure Finance Companies, Microfinance Institutions, and Factors. But it excludes NBFCs not accepting Public money, Government companies, and Housing Finance companies. This would, therefore, apply to a smaller percentage of 10,000 NBFCs, most of which would be excluded from such tight regulatory purview as of now, till they grow up in size

What Is The PCA Framework

An NBFC will be placed under the PCA framework based on the Supervisory Assessment made by the RBI and/or the audited Annual Financial Results. However, the RBI can impose PCA on any NBFC(if they deem it fit) during a year.

For NBFCs-D and NBFCs-ND, indicators to be tracked would be Capital to Risk-Weighted Assets Ratio (CRAR), Tier I Capital Ratio (*refer to footnotes for definitions), and Net NPA Ratio (NNPA). For CICs, indicators that need to be tracked would be ANW/ARW(Adjusted Net Worth/Aggregate Risk-Weighted Assets), NNPA, and Leverage Ratio. The framework defines 3 risk levels with varying seriousness, criteria to enter either of these risk thresholds and RBI mandated controls (a summary of these is explained in the below table)

For further understanding, Capital Adequacy Ratio (or CRAR) is the ratio of the total capital(tier 1 and tier 2) and risk-weighted assets. For example, a house loan with strong collateral is inherently less risky than a loan given on a letter of credit and hence might need a higher capital cover in case it goes bad. This ratio is used to protect depositors. It also improves the efficiency and stability of financial systems around the world. Tier 1 capital is core capital. It consists of equity capital, intangible asset, ordinary share capital, and audited revenue reserves. Tier-1 capital absorbs losses and doesn’t require a bank to stop operations. Tier 2 capital is made of unaudited retained earnings, unaudited reserves, and general loss reserves. This capital absorbs losses in the event of any company entirely winding up or liquidating. 

 

What is the PCA framework’s impact?

These tight regulations would force the NBFCs to act in the best interest of public investors and make them better handle their financial books and asset quality. This, in turn, will make a provision of timely intervention to avoid a total wind-up and loss of money for equity holders and depositors. These steps are excellent for the current financial ecosystem as they provide a check on any company faltering in its functions. Prima facie, this might seem a bit too stringent, but in the long run, this will ensure better safety of both the customers as well as the companies.

About Signzy

Signzy is a market-leading platform that is redefining the speed, accuracy, and experience of how financial institutions are onboarding customers and businesses – using the digital medium. The company’s award-winning no-code GO platform delivers seamless, end-to-end, and multi-channel onboarding journeys while offering totally customizable workflows. It gives these players access to an aggregated marketplace of 240+ bespoke APIs that can be easily added to any workflow with simple widgets.

Signzy is enabling 10 million+ end customer and business onboarding every month at a success rate of 99% while reducing the speed to market from 6 months to 3-4 weeks.  It works with over 240+ FIs globally including the 4 largest banks in India, a Top 3 acquiring Bank in the US, and has a strong global partnership with Mastercard and Microsoft. The company’s product team is based out of Bengaluru and it has a strong presence in Mumbai, New York, and Dubai.

Visit www.signzy.com for more information about us.

You can reach out to our team at reachout@signzy.com

Written By:

Signzy

Written by an insightful Signzian intent on learning and sharing knowledge.

RRA

RBI Reduces Redundancy on RRA Recommendation

The Reserve Bank of India withdrew over 100 previously issued circulars citing redundancy of their effects in current times on RRA Recommendation.

The move comes as a result of strong recommendations for the initiative from The Regulations Review Authority. This will reduce friction in financial transactions and other interactions. While this is a boost for the economy as a whole, prima facies, it does call for closer scrutiny to evaluate its actual extend.

The withdrawn circulars primarily focus norms concerning standards of:

  • Foreign Portfolio Investors and their Foreign Investments in India
  • RTGS- Real Time Gross Settlement
  • KYC- Know Your Customer
  • AML- Anti-Money Laundering
  • CFT-Combating of Financing Terrorism

RBI had set up Regulations Review Authority(RRA 2.0) in April 2021. The  RRA 2.0’s primary objective is reviewing regulatory advice and instructions while ensuring to identify and remove duplicate or redundant directives. It also streamlines reporting structure to decrease the compliance burden on REs(Regulated Entities). The RRA makes sure to revoke obsolete instructions while actively taking the effort to efface paper-based returns submissions.

The RRA has engaged in extensive communication and consultations with internal and external stakeholders in the industry. It conducted a review to simplify and easily implement supervisory and regulatory directives with these parties.

Mr. Swaminathan J, MD of the State Bank of India holds the chairmanship for the prime advisory group for RRA. The group itself was formed by the RRA shortly following its own constitution.

“The RRA has been engaging in extensive consultations with both – internal as well as external stakeholders, on review of the regulatory and supervisory instructions for their simplification and ease of implementation. Based on these consultations and the suggestions of the Advisory Group, the RRA has recommended withdrawal of 150 circulars in the first tranche of recommendations,” the RBI issued a statement.

With many of the surfeit roadblocks in financial interactions and transactions removed, this is a good time for companies and entities to take new initiatives. It is prime time for them to completely digitize and optimize their processes in the financial sphere.  Even the RRA promotes paperless submissions for applications and returns.

But the initial concern they have is to find trustable service providers for regulatory technology. Good resources, products, and services need to be available at a reasonable cost. Signzy can get you exactly that. We emphasize delivering the best regulatory and other financial technology services for you at state-of-the-art standards.

About Signzy

Signzy is a market-leading platform redefining the speed, accuracy, and experience of how financial institutions are onboarding customers and businesses – using the digital medium. The company’s award-winning no-code GO platform delivers seamless, end-to-end, and multi-channel onboarding journeys while offering customizable workflows. In addition, it gives these players access to an aggregated marketplace of 240+ bespoke APIs that can be easily added to any workflow with simple widgets.

Signzy is enabling ten million+ end customer and business onboarding every month at a success rate of 99% while reducing the speed to market from 6 months to 3-4 weeks. It works with over 240+ FIs globally, including the 4 largest banks in India, a Top 3 acquiring Bank in the US, and has a robust global partnership with Mastercard and Microsoft. The company’s product team is based out of Bengaluru and has a strong presence in Mumbai, New York, and Dubai.

Visit www.signzy.com for more information about us.

You can reach out to our team at reachout@signzy.com

Written By:

Signzy

Written by an insightful Signzian intent on learning and sharing knowledge.

Connecting With Co-Lending- RBI’s Financing Model Is Bringing NBFCs, HFCs And Banks Together

India’s aspirations for developing an entrepreneur-friendly economy largely depend on provisions of financial assistance for promising ventures. The major hurdle a new vendor seeking to establish his business finds in the country is mostly in the form of financial challenges. Even for the working community, financial aids and loans are very necessary solutions. That’s why 77% of working individuals in India rely on personal loans to merely make ends meet.

Most of these loans are for medical emergencies, MSME expenses, or family needs that may include education, weddings, and home renovations. The majority of the rural population does not have proper access to avail loans at banks. Hence, they seek private firms and local lenders.

As a resolution to the problem, RBI approves co-lending initiatives. Banks and Non-Banking Financial Companies(NBFCs) are exploring such venues, to generate a synergistic opportunity. This model of lending can certainly help India’s priority sectors in a great aspect.

Although co-lending processes have been around for some time in the BFSI sector, in November 2020, the Reserve bank of India furnished guidelines to ease non-bank lenders’ liquidity crisis. It enhances credit flow to dynamic and, productive sectors. Banks and NBFCs are increasingly exploring opportunities for co-lending

What Is The Co-Lending Model(CLM)?

The co-lending model includes the involvement of a bank and an NBFC. Both the lender firms partner to disburse loans to their customers. The RBI’s CLM model approves all registered NBFCs, including HFCs(Housing Finance Companies) to co-lend loans by partnering with banks.

The process involves Banks leveraging balance sheet strength which houses the majority of the whole loan amount while the NBFCs and HFCs enable origination and smooth collection. In essence, banks can lend to registered NBFCs and HFCs. These Institutions pass it on to individuals and organizations in priority sectors. This is because NBFCs and HFCs have greater reach than banks in many parts of the country.

The customers enter into a loan agreement with NBFCs while the latter acts as a single-point interface for the same borrowers. This agreement contains all the features of the prescribed arrangement including the roles and responsibilities of banks and NBFCs. The lenders decide upon an all-inclusive, reasonable interest rate for the ultimate borrower.

The target of this initiative is to better the credit flow of the priority sectors, particularly the underserved and even the unserved sections. This is possible with the coupling of banks providing a lower cost of funds for the customer while the NBFC utilizes their greater reach.

In the statement issued in November 2020, RBI has also emphasized that it strongly prescribes a part of the bank lending must help developmental activities. These include numerous divisions under the priority sector such as agriculture, housing, MSMEs, etc. The norms determine net bank credit(NBC) for each type of bank. Private and public banks lend 40% of NBC while foreign banks lend 32% of their NBC.

The Benefits Of Co-Lending

CLM initiative helps banks lend more funds to regions and sectors where they do not have sufficient reach. The more established reach from NBFCs helps banks meet the total PSL(Priority Sector Lending). The NBFCs on the other hand receive better and top-rated borrowers in their clientele.

It allows banks to expand and increase their lending business while giving NBFCs to source clients, disburse a part of the loan and perform credit appraisals. The end borrower gains accessibility to loans and borrowing options at affordable and competitive rates. In effect, a mass of the population receives inclusion in the booming financial ecosystem.

About Signzy

Signzy is a market-leading platform redefining the speed, accuracy, and experience of how financial institutions are onboarding customers and businesses – using the digital medium. The company’s award-winning no-code GO platform delivers seamless, end-to-end, and multi-channel onboarding journeys while offering customizable workflows. In addition, it gives these players access to an aggregated marketplace of 240+ bespoke APIs that can be easily added to any workflow with simple widgets.

Signzy is enabling ten million+ end customer and business onboarding every month at a success rate of 99% while reducing the speed to market from 6 months to 3-4 weeks. It works with over 240+ FIs globally, including the 4 largest banks in India, a Top 3 acquiring Bank in the US, and has a robust global partnership with Mastercard and Microsoft. The company’s product team is based out of Bengaluru and has a strong presence in Mumbai, New York, and Dubai.

Visit www.signzy.com for more information about us.

You can reach out to our team at reachout@signzy.com

Written By:

Signzy

Written by an insightful Signzian intent on learning and sharing knowledge.

Leveraging Technology & Tackling Money Laundering

Leveraging Technology & Tackling Money Laundering

Last year Forbes reported that 2% to 5% of the world’s GDP is laundered every year. This estimates to an amount between $800 billion and $2 trillion. The astounding fact about the report was that only 10% of the laundered money is detected, implying more than 90% of the laundered money is unknown to most regulatory bodies and financial institutions.

Money laundering is a major issue in the world. Governments are striving to find newer methods to tackle it. Most financial institutions and companies are accustomed to traditional methods for preventing money laundering. These include in-person verification or traditional automation.

But with the advent of advanced technologies like AI and Machine Learning, they have to adapt for better results. The latest technology integrated Suspicious Activity Reports(SARs) caused more than 31% of laundered money to be blocked.

Thus the need for technology in preventing money laundering is not a matter of if, but when. But how do we do it? What technological tool can we use? Here comes Application Programming Interfaces(APIs) for the financial industry. This article explores what AML screening solutions APIs are and how they can help in preventing money laundering.

Why Is AML Essential In The Financial Industry?

Anti-Money Laundering includes all measures taken by authorities, institutions and individuals to prevent financial criminals from disguising and hiding illegally obtained money as legitimate income. It is essential as money laundering is a financial crime that affects the economy on a microscale as well as momentous levels. The methods of money laundering are transforming with the development of technology. It is only essential that AML screening solutions up their game too.

In July 1989, many nations came together to form the Financial Action Task Force(FATF). The summit was held in Paris and aimed at analysing laundering risks and preventing them with AML measures and AML screening solutions. But after the 9/11 attacks, in October 2001 the FATF updated their agenda and mission to include modes to stop terrorist funding through money laundering. AML procedures have been made better through the decades since.

The European Union also acknowledged and implemented the first AML directive in 1990. It prevented using the flaws in the financial system for laundering. Now The Union is one of the pioneers in revising and upgrading AML measures to reduce risk and terrorist funding. The International Monetary Fund(IMF) with its 189 member states also takes initiatives for AML with compliance measures for financial institutions. Thus all governments are forced to ensure compliance and all institutions are expected to follow suit.

In 2019 the US State Department published a report stating general AML measures succeeded only 0.2% because of non-compliance and inefficient processes. More than 85% of the 11500 companies evaluated in the US were not AML compliant. 2019 also saw AML non-compliant banks paying more than $6.2 Billion in fines globally.

What Is The AML Process And Why Is Compliance Important?

Government bodies and other regulators provide guidelines and procedures that companies and financial institutions can follow to prevent money laundering.

  • One of the most important and effective processes is Know Your Customer(KYC). KYC ensures that companies know who their customer is by verifying his financial data with pre-existing credible databases. This way any suspicious activity by the customer can be red-flagged easily.
  • Customer Due Diligence(CDD) is also a relevant procedure for AML. Companies evaluate the risk involved with each customer and take necessary measures. This is the process of CDD. They categorize customers as low, moderate or high risk. For example, a Politically Exposed Person(PEP) falls under the high-risk umbrella.
  • Another measure is setting a limit for transactions to be monitored. For example, in the US any transaction of more than $10,000 is reported by the institution to the authorities for monitoring. Each country has such a limit to detect any massive fraud. Thus, monitoring and reviewing customer transactions without compromising privacy is very important to prevent AML. If any suspicious activity is detected, then an activity report is generated and transferred to the Compliance and Risk Department.

It is of incredible significance that financial companies follow all the regulatory compliance guidelines for AML. Even a single discrepancy can result in dangerous repercussions. Money Laundering is no longer just for the money. It can even be used as a wrench in the equilibrium of world peace. Besides this, if companies don’t comply they are charged heavy fines by regulatory bodies. AML fines amounted to $4.27 billion in 2018 which nearly doubled in 2019 to $8 billion. This is a collective effort and even the smallest of the financial institutions need to play their part well by following the compliance guidelines.

How Are APIs Used To Help Prevent Money Laundering?

Software connections between computer programs or even computers are called Application Programming Interfaces(APIs). It offers services to other software once it is integrated into a working system. It can be grossly described as an intermediary software that helps other applications communicate among themselves. They are used in almost all companies with a demand for any form of software technology.

AML screening solution APIs are taking over not just the financial sector, but any industry interested in innovative automation. This is because APIs offer agility and more importantly scalability for companies. Recently, after several government policy amendments, APIs are starting to play crucial roles in AML and KYC compliance. This is because the verification of tens of thousands of customers is not practical with traditional processes.

APIs are used for almost all forms of innovative verification procedures. It ensures that processing is efficient without human error. Since it can be replicated on a large scale, it becomes commercially viable. In addition to this most APIs can be procured at affordable prices. Hence, be it a large bank or a small financial institution, automation is simple and inexpensive. APIs help all businesses Combat Financial Terrorism(CFT) at a modest price.

They are in high demand among elite institutions because they offer swifter and inexpensive methods to ensure services meeting customer demands. Since they are adaptable and customizable, they do get an advantage of future-proofing. In the Financial category alone, more than 2000 types of APIs are used across the globe. This will exponentially grow with advancements in AI, Machine Learning and Blockchain technology.

APIs In AML And Regulatory Compliance

Improved user-friendly APIs are available in the industry now. But it needs to fulfil another crucial criterion for integration into any service or product- Regulatory Compliance. Across the world, there are numerous regulatory guidelines for financial institutions. A good example is the PSD2 changes in Europe. Not only are companies encouraged to accomplish more with AML screening solutions and related technologies, but are fined for any lack of compliance on their part.

Financial Institutions that wait and observe if the new technology trends will be left behind in the race. The most adaptable companies will flourish in the long run. Traditional modes of in-person verification processes and human error packed execution are outdated. APIs can automate almost the entire processes saving companies time and money. On an estimate, more than $500 million is spent by financial institutions for financial crime prevention and compliance requirements.

What Are The Benefits Of Using APIs For AML?

APIs do not merely automate the AML and regulatory processes. They enhance them. There are numerous benefits associated with using APIs for AML and verification processes. They include:

  • TAT is reduced resulting in quicker processing and better customer journey.
  • Near zero human error
  • The extremely customizable nature of APIs makes integration easy.
  • Inexpensive in the long term.
  • The human workforce can focus on discrepancies rather than regular workflow, increasing efficiency.
  • Eliminates all storage spaces as all documentation will be in soft copies.
  • The better customer onboarding experience
  • Better user interface

How Can Signzy Help You?

We offer numerous services, products and AML screening solutions APIs that are useful for your ventures. We Make sure that they are state of the art, because we do not compromise quality. Signzy’s quiver of APIs and associated products are incredibly customizable. You can select which specific APIs suit your requirement and then integrate them into the required systems.

With over 240+ microservice APIs alone, the collection is diverse and versatile. All of our products meet regulatory compliance standards without compromise. But we make sure that the user would not be troubled with inefficient customer journeys. Our systems are efficient and seamless rendering the user experience truly satisfying.

With advancing technology financial institutions and companies deem change. If you do not opt for the right changes, the entire entity’s progress would decelerate. That’s why we at Signzy ensure that you get that which suits your needs. We can make your customer’s journeys easy while making your aspirations easier.

About Signzy

Signzy is a market-leading platform redefining the speed, accuracy, and experience of how financial institutions are onboarding customers and businesses – using the digital medium. The company’s award-winning no-code GO platform delivers seamless, end-to-end, and multi-channel onboarding journeys while offering customizable workflows. In addition, it gives these players access to an aggregated marketplace of 240+ bespoke APIs that can be easily added to any workflow with simple widgets.

Signzy is enabling ten million+ end customer and business onboarding every month at a success rate of 99% while reducing the speed to market from 6 months to 3-4 weeks. It works with over 240+ FIs globally, including the 4 largest banks in India, a Top 3 acquiring Bank in the US, and has a robust global partnership with Mastercard and Microsoft. The company’s product team is based out of Bengaluru and has a strong presence in Mumbai, New York, and Dubai.

Visit www.signzy.com for more information about us.

You can reach out to our team at reachout@signzy.com

Written By:

Signzy

Written by an insightful Signzian intent on learning and sharing knowledge.

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