Ripple - India

[mars75]

***THIS IS ALL SPECULATION***

First of all, if you haven't read my India & Gates Foundation post please do as it will be taking some elements to describe the environment in India.

(SUMMARY: A FUTURE PARTNERSHIP ANNOUNCEMENT COULD INVOLVE THE GATES FOUNDATION DISTRIBUTING CELLULAR DEVICES PRE-INSTALLED WITH AN APP CONNECTED TO THE ILP)

India

As a quick recap, there are two nation wide movements occurring in India. First, the development and deployment of a centralized biometric database called Aadhaar. Aadhar's purpose is to register and create a digital identity of every citizen in India, especially those that are living in both poverty and rural areas. And second, a governmental initiative on the financial inclusion of the very same people into the Indian finical system. How are these both related? These movements are converging with one another in the utilization of cellular devices.

The Indian government, thru the UIDAI (Unique Identification Authority of India), issues an Aadhaar number to every resident in India that serves residents with a portable identity which can be authenticated anytime anywhere. The Aadhar number is a unique, 12-digit identification number that aids in creating a digital identity for the registree. Individuals that register to Aadhaar automatically gain the capability to purchase a cellular phone and open a bank account.

https://uidai.gov.in/enrolment-update/aadhaar-enrolment/aadhaar-services.html

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/02/world/asia/02india.html

With Aadhaar being utilized and broaden presently, payment systems have begun to be built on top of it. The NPCI (National Payments Corporation of India) have recently launched the UPI (Unified Payment Interface) which allows banks to transfer money directly to one another based on a single identifier, such as the Aadhaar number.

Quote

With a system such as UPI, the billing processor is eliminated, and transaction costs are close to zero. The mobile phone and a personal identification number take the place of the credit card as the authentication factor. All you do is to download a free app and enter your identification number and bank PIN, and you can instantly transfer money to anyone — regardless of which bank he or she uses.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/innovations/wp/2017/01/23/what-the-u-s-can-learn-from-indias-move-toward-a-cashless-society/?utm_term=.53085c17ae64

Another Source: http://www.npci.org.in/documents/UPI-Linking-Specs-ver-1.1_draft.pdf

So where does Ripple fit in all this?

Both Indian banks and the NPCI are in discussions with Ripple to facilitate account-to-account transfers globally, without having to be part of any payment network.

Quote

"We are having early conversations with the NPCI on how Ripple can help in providing global connectivity. It is like having an RTGS system which runs across the world. It can enable more types of transactions, more often and for lower value," said Dilip Rao

http://cio.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/enterprise-services-and-applications/ripple-in-talks-with-npci-banks-for-a/c-transfers-globally/58393068

Quote

According to latest developments, National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), a Mumbai-based startup closely guided and promoted by the RBI and the Indian Banks’ Association (IBA) as an umbrella organisation for all retail payments across India and credited for making the UPI app, is the one that is most likely to bring Ripple to India......Post demonetisation, digital payments in India has seen a massive surge. However, even now, these solutions are laced with archaic technology and solutions which can’t accommodate the growing demand. This is where something that has blockchain technology at its heart can come to help. In addition to NPCI, several Indian banks are also said to be involved in talks with Ripple for bringing their technology to Indian land. The main aim is to make global account–to-account transfers safer and faster than ever. What makes Ripple all the most interesting is the fact it works without being a part of a payment network.

https://www.indianweb2.com/2017/07/15/makers-indias-upi-app-bringing-ripple-technology-india/

There also seems to be mutual interest between Ripple and Indian banks as Yes Bank and Axis banks have officially joined the Ripple network. Dilip Rao has also said in multiple occasions that there is increasing interest by other Indian banks.

Quote

In February, Ripple was invited to take part in the UPI Hackathon by the National Payments Corporation of In dia (NPCI) and Indian Soft ware Product Industry Ro und Table (iSPIRT). "We saw a lot of interest from banks as there is a large chunk of remittance money that gets eaten up in hefty transaction fees," says Dilip Rao from Ripple

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/business/india-business/Overseas-remittances-costs-to-reduce-with-new-system/articleshow/53767362.cms

On top of this, there has been talks about a payment system being built on top of Aadhaar by the NPCI........

Quote

Nadella said that a payment infrastructure being built on top of Aadhaar using cloud (NPCI) and a diagnostic application (Collaborative Digital Diagnosis System) were welcome developments.

http://techcircle.vccircle.com/2017/02/20/microsofts-india-cloud-plans-get-booster-shot-as-flipkart-signs-up/

So who is Satya Nadella from the previous quote? Satya Nadella is the current CEO of Microsoft, another interesting connection. For those who don't follow the Microsoft and Ripple connection, please refer to my previous post "Ripple/Gates Foundation/India". On top of that Microsoft Azure BaaS has been running a Ripple validating node for quite sometime now.

https://azure.microsoft.com/ru-ru/blog/azure-blockchain-as-a-service-update/

And just this past June a cloud provider had just been selected for a number of Indian banks.

Quote

A consortium of India-based banking firms including State Bank of India, ICICI Bank and DCB Bank has formally selected Microsoft Azure as their exclusive cloud partner.

https://www.coindesk.com/indian-banks-select-microsoft-exclusive-cloud-blockchain-provider/

It's beginning to sound like another bank consortium that has been well publicized around here......

So Ripple has the interest and cooperation of two key parties in India. The NPCI and Microsoft, both who are developing and working on a payment infrastructure built on top of Aadhaar using Azure.  We also know that rippled will have a Windows build available in the future.

Is there any other connections to Ripple in India worth mentioning? 

Financial Software & Systems (FSS) in India has been working and cooperating with Ripple as well. FSS works on payments technology and transaction processing, offering business value in the areas of electronic payments and financial transaction processing solutions & services.

http://www.fss.co.in/

How are we are of FSS and Ripple's partnership? Thru Dilip Rao's presentation during a FSS "Simple Payments" conference.

And what is the significance of this company?

FSS in the past had reached an agreement with 6 banks to provide UPI (NPCI) solutions.

Quote

Financial Software & Systems Pvt. Ltd. (FSS), a Chennai-based payments technology and transaction processing company, has inked agreements with six banks to provide UPI (Unified Payment Interface) solution across the country on a hosted platform.

http://www.thehindu.com/business/Industry/fss-to-provide-upi-solution-for-6-banks/article8480485.ece

While more recently FSS has launched "FSS Aadhaar Pay", a comprehensive biometric enabled merchant payment acceptance system that allows merchants to accept customer payments through their Aadhaar linked bank accounts without the need for a physical payment instrument. "FSS Aadhaar Pay", 

Quote

runs on Google’s Android platform and works on 2G enabled basic smartphone empowering the Bank to launch the digital initiative at a lower CAPEX and scale it quickly.

http://www.fsstech.com/news-events/fss-launches-fss-aadhaar-pay-to-augment-government-of-indias-digital-payment-initiative/

https://www.atmmarketplace.com/news/fss-supports-indias-cashless-payment-initiative-with-card-free-solution/

Which coincides with this development, (roughly same time frame)

So three key parties in India with some shape of form of cooperation and interest with Ripple, all working on building a payment system on top of Aadhaar.....

Towards the end of Rao's linked presentation in the FSS conference, he mentioned globalizing the Indian stack. He's been a busy man

 

(this is one of two post I'll be sharing this week, I ended up complying too much information for one post)

EDIT

Quote

In what could be a major shot in the arm for Unified Payments Interface (UPI) payments, National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) is planning to open up UPI as a mode of transaction for international inward very soon.....While NPCI is pushing for higher adoption of the retail-payment mode, it is also working closely with banks to go live on an updated version of UPI, namely UPI 2.0. Banks have already started the certification process for the update and could get ready by the middle of April, say bankers.

https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/small-biz/startups/newsbuzz/npci-plans-international-remittance-on-upi-platform/articleshow/63540688.cms

EDIT

There seems to be an intention to incorporate cryptos within the Indian stack

 

Edited April 12, 2021 by mars75

[JTxrPP]

@mars75, logged in just to say thanks OP. The tsunami that was once a ripple just got that much bigger, and it's coming. Please continue to keep us posted on this matter

[MBi]

The dots are starting to connect....

Thank you for sharing @mars75

I have a hunch the validator list is in a particular order; supported by the fact pattern you have presented.

Edited August 29, 2017 by MBi

[Guest]

@mars75, thank you for the very thorough post!

[Fenix]

@mars75 Thank you for this!

[DCLXVI]

good post! thanks

[Guest]

great post @mars75 -- finally this forum gets back to good original content again!

to help connect dots, also see tommy's older post about India Stack here:

 

[Fenix]

Just now, zerpdigger said:

great post @mars75 -- finally this forum gets back to good original content again!

to help connect dots, also see tommy's older post about India Stack here:

 

It would be nice to get this kind of posts for more regions. Really helpfull to get an overview.

[Konan45]

this is a great post, but how much of the UPI is dependent on aadhaar as it may have just been deemed unconstitutional by the Indian Supreme Court.

[Khaleesi]

@mars75 outstanding effort...thank you.

[Khaleesi]

14 minutes ago, Konan45 said:

this is a great post, but how much of the UPI is dependent on aadhaar as it may have just been deemed unconstitutional by the Indian Supreme Court.

http://indianexpress.com/article/india/right-to-privacy-verdict-live-updates-supreme-court-aadhaar-judgment-4810934/

[Amigo]

Impressive work @mars75 

A lot to evaluate I guess.. and very curious on opinions and estimates to which extend your outcome of this puzzle could be correct!

[LunaXRP]

Wow, awesome content! 

[fd67890]

2 hours ago, Konan45 said:

this is a great post, but how much of the UPI is dependent on aadhaar as it may have just been deemed unconstitutional by the Indian Supreme Court.

I believe the decision by the Supreme Court made it illegal for the Government to demand Aadhar as a prerequisite for the any citizen availing any promised government program/service.

[bb101]

Fantastic work @mars75  Seems as if India could be doing a mass scale adoption.