Whether you are planning to send your child overseas for higher education or starting your own business unit or there is a wedding on the cards? the first thought that crosses your mind is about organizing the funds, right?

Yes, each one of us would like to pride ourselves with infinite energy and wherewithal to be the provider of the family, sometimes it is a struggle to carry the load alone. So, what are the options to go around? Borrowing from friends or relatives, a loan from the employer or taking a loan from either an informal moneylender or from a formal financial institution. The choice often depends on various factors such as strength of the relationship/personal equation, adequacy of terms and conditions of the arrangement, interest rate, ability to raise a grievance and taking care of the repayment in a stress-free manner, among other things. While there are numerous ways for arranging the funds, and in many cases, a combination of these options may be an optimum one, a comparison of the parameters as above may be required before taking a final decision.

Parameter | Source à	Relative / Friend	Loan from Employer	Moneylender	Loan against Property from Bank/FI
Type of arrangement	Informal	Partly Formal	Partly Formal	Formal
Strength of relationship	High	Medium	Low-Medium	Medium-High
Fairness of Terms & Conditions	Low	Low-Medium	Low-Medium	High
Transparency of Interest Rates/Fee	Low	Low	Low	High
Grievance Management	Low	Low	Low	High
Chances of Collateral Damage of relationship etc.	Unpredictable – dependent on personal terms	Unpredictable – dependent on personal terms	Unpredictable – dependent on personal terms	Predictable

While borrowing from an informal/partly formal source such as relative/friend or a moneylender relies heavily on the strength of the personal equation, it has a high potential for running into rough weather during tenure of the loan, often leading to loss of relationship, reputation and potentially legal tussles. On the other hand, a formal source such as a bank or a financial institution, usually tends to be transparent, consistent, and predictable. Such loans are easily available against assets such as Gold, shares, vehicle, immovable property, and receivables etc.

In this article we have listed down some important factors to help you appreciate the nuances and make a more informed choice!

What is a loan against Property?

A Loan against Property (LAP) is a credit provided against the mortgage of a property, both residential and commercial. The loan is given as a specific percentage of the estimated market worth of the property and is known as Loan to Value Ratio (LTV). Loan against Property is categorised as a secured loan from the Lender’s perspective, whereby the borrower offers the property as a security through formal, legal documentation.

What are the most common purposes for loan against property?

Some of the reasons include:

• Expansion of business
• Marriage
• Higher Education
• Medical treatment

What type of properties that can be mortgaged?

Generally, one can take a loan against self-occupied or leased private residential property. This could be a house or even a piece of land.

Understanding the eligibility criteria!

This criteria will vary from bank to bank. In general, the common criteria that all banks seek are as follows:

• Income, savings, debt obligations
• Cost/value of the property
• Credit Score/History, Payment Track Record of other loans, etc.

What are the interest rates and tenure for repayment offered for a loan against property?

Depending on the type/location of property, legal title, borrower profile, credit history, income, etc, Interest rates on loan against property range from 12 per cent to 30 per cent, and the loan tenure can vary from 5 years upwards and may extend up to 25 years.

Required Documentation

Banks and financial institutions normally require the below mentioned documents, although the list can vary from bank to bank:

Documents	Salaried	Self Employed Professionals	Self Employed Businessman
Application form	√	√	√
Photograph	√	√	√
Identity Proof	√	√	√
Residential Proof	√	√	√
Income proof	√	√	√
Other important documents	√	√	√
Processing fee cheque	√	√	√
Bank Statement	√	√	√
Other important documents	Salaried	Self Employed Professionals	Self Employed Businessman
Income Proof	Form 16	Last 3 years Income Tax returns (self and business) and Last 3 years Profit /Loss and Balance Sheet	Business profile and Last 3 years Profit /Loss and Balance Sheet
Other important documents	Latest Salary-slips	Education Qualifications Certificate and Proof of business existence	Education Qualifications Certificate and Proof of business existence

(Source: Bankbazar.com)

A Loan against Property is among the most optimum approaches to raise funds. While it has advantages in that it is a transparent product with predictable terms and conditions, the key downside of such a loan is, that in case of default, the bank or the financial institution may claim the mortgaged property or take further legal action. However, banks and FIs are required to do so within a regulatory framework.

Make a decision based on repayment capabilities, because “It’s all about You”!

Fincare Small Finance Bank, a new-age digital bank, and offers a refreshing Loan against Property product giving you the power of choice.

With minimal documentation, competitive interest rates, easy repayments, quick processing, and excellent customer service, you receive crafted solutions which are designed keeping your pre-requisites in mind.

Connect with us on 1800 313 313 to know more about our suite of customer-friendly products and services.

The spurt of the Coronavirus pandemic or the N Covid in India in the last fortnight has led many companies to adapt work from home as a workable solution. Though not a novel concept globally, closer to home, remote working or location-independent working still remains a western concept – especially for organizations where using desktop is still the norm.  

While managing efficiency and productivity in this situation can feel like a task, a few simple tips help with a smooth transitioning to a virtual workspace.  

Implement systems and sophisticated technology: Adopt the latest and most accessible software to facilitate smooth functioning of the virtual office. Tools like Microsoft office, Skype, Microsoft TEAMS and Google sheets are useful programs to communicate with their teams and conduct meetings and daily discussions. 

Set deadlines and conduct regular team meetings: Maintain a system of conducting a team meeting or a one-on-one interaction with each team member and their task list either by email, call or video conference. Help the team be in touch with each other and inculcate a feeling of responsibility within the team. 

Keep a remote IT/ technical help team on standby: When employees are in an office, any technical error in their systems can be troubleshot with one dial to the IT help desk. However, in a remote working set up network issues are bound to happen which can hamper employee productivity and deliverables. Make sure there is a dedicated IT team on call which can solve network issues remotely or guide employees in case of any system related issues.

Treat work from home and remote working as a regular workday: Last but not the least, trust your teams. Have faith that employees are getting work done even if their leaders cannot actually see them working. Treat work from home as a normal working day only that instructions are delivered on call or video conference rather than face to face. Help create a comfortable culture amongst the team and ease panic and stress, if any.  The need of an hour is to automate the functional side and take a proactive role in steering the ethical practice of a company.

KYC has been a thistle by the side of the financial industry, especially since the Supreme Court’s bar on Aadhaar e-enabled eKYC. The most recent RBI norms gives the industry an earnest need of Digital KYC, which makes the procedure paperless, and video KYC, which furthermore makes it remote.

In this blog, we attempt to list down everything that you should know about Video KYC, the advantages of the new norms, the innovation they enable and, the next steps in this journey.

How does it work?

In the video KYC process, the details are captured using an encrypted audio- visual encounter, which comes from the registered entity’s domain, such as a bank-issued smartphone application.

All through the procedure, equivalent e-documents can be utilized, be it PAN card (which must be given in all cases) and any business/financial reports that are recommended.

Going paperless and remote for customer KYC

One of the immediate benefits of a paperless form of KYC is the decreased cost. Video KYC provides an additional advantage of being totally remote since digital KYC still requires a visit either to the customer’s doorstep or a touch point. Additionally, Video KYC does not require signatures. Video KYC offers a significant benefit for accomplishing scale, which has become a pivotal factor amid the current situation of lockdown, and also for financial inclusion, since it provides a cost-effective and practical method of achieving compliance, even in remote locations.

Bring on the innovation

A few fintech organizations have acquired new-age advanced identity and authentication technologies, which use artificial intelligence, blockchain and cloud-based API innovation, for KYC compliance. As of now, some of these are deployed for use in various sectors and is quite similar to the use of video KYC for opening mutual fund account.

The acquisition of such technology has potential to introduce new use cases in future, s.a. authentication technology for financial transactions, such as at bank branches, for ATM services etc.

Cost effective options

Performing a video-based KYC is cost-effective and saves time for organizations. Your banker can guide you through some steps to perform a video KYC, the verification can be completed immediately, and upon completion, the banker can give a confirmation immediately just to close loop the process.

Worth a mention

For this process, both the client and the organization’s representative need to be present simultaneously. The client need to have provided consent before-hand for commencement of the KYC process. The Aadhar number must be concealed or masked. A clear PAN card image and PAN credentials must be verified from the government database.

That’s it on this topic. Video KYC based 101 account of Fincare Small Finance Bank can be opened via the link : https://101.fincarebank.com/101/

As Covid-19 pandemic expands its global footprint, the ongoing lock down has spooked most of us and instigated panic reaction in some aspects of our lives. The e-commerce industry has seen an unexpected and sudden spurt in online ordering specially to stock up staple goods, medications and other essential items.

While we all understand that the ongoing lockdown is necessary in order to contain the spread of infection, people are left with no choice but to rely on the available online payment platforms for their purchases. Banks and fin techs are constantly encouraging people to use their digital channels such net banking, mobile banking, WhatsApp banking and other app-based banking services.

The rapid increment in online transactions, has exposed consumers to the cybercrime where data privacy could be compromised and susceptible to frauds.

So, the one segment of netizens for whom panic usually means brisk business are cyber-crooks. Unlike an actual thief, an online fraudster is a faceless enemy, identified only by an IP address, and thus almost impossible to track, leave alone apprehend.  These cyber-criminals are most benefitted by an outbreak as it helps them carry out their nefarious activities using a variety of innovative means such as spam campaigns revolving around online transactions. In the current environment, there are packs of malicious webpages and links waiting to trap users by invading their devices and steal personal and financial information.

It is imperative that we remain alert and keep our hard-earned money from falling prey to such fraudsters.

Here is a quick checklist for precautions while making online transactions:

Before the transaction:

• The cardinal rule is to use a credit not a debit card for online payments. Credit cards come with better consumer protection features and payments can be disputed without any immediate debit from the account.
• Make payments only on web pages that start with ‘https:’ and not ‘http:”. The ‘s’ stands for secured socket layer and provides an extra level of encryption to your transaction.
• Thirdly, always access your bank account and make transactions from a secured network or Wi-Fi. Avoid public spaces and open Wi-Fi connections.

During the transaction:

• Ensure the system from which a transaction is made is secured with a reputed anti – virus software or has a procedure to avoid any kind of viruses or fraudulent transactions that may result in online theft.
• Websites sometimes ask users if they would like to save their card details for future use, and a prudent consumer would not accept such a condition as it exposes personal information to a potential hacking threat.

After transaction precautions:

• In case you are using a shared network or system, delete all history and cookies from the device so that no passwords, numbers or any personal details are saved.

What if things go wrong?

Banks and payments partners today are lining up billions of rupees and taking innumerable steps in deploying cutting edge technology, to ensure that user data and personal information is protected in every way possible. However, even then there is some likelihood of a smart hacker managing to cut through the system.

Steps to be taken in such an event:

• Call your bank and block the card in question immediately. This way you can notify them of any fraud in time and have a fair chance of recovering all/part of the lost amount.
• In case the fraudulent transaction has happened through net banking or a payment app, file a written complaint with the bank along with all the necessary proof of the transaction.
• Promptly file a police complaint with the local police station. In case of a cyber-fraud, approaching the cyber cell is NOT mandatory.
• As per RBI rules, resolutions for fraudulent transactions is required to be done within 90 days and banks must reverse the appropriate stolen money to the customer’s bank account.

Lastly, with advances in technology, cometh the pain of keeping up with it. Today, companies are introducing new features, ranging from lucrative discounts and offers to Wi-Fi cards and Near Field Communication (NFC) feature. While these may appeal to the deal-hunter in you, do exercise caution in using these features and make sure that these sites are 100% secure and as far away as possible from the prying eye of a net-criminal.

At heart, Financial Inclusion is a very novel idea. Giving access to banking facilities and services to help uplift the masses and keep away from poverty. However, despite the obvious benefits and huge technological advances, around 2 billion people across the world remain unserved by formal banking ecosystem (World Economic Forum report, 2014). However, hurdles remain. Among the issues, levels of financial literacy, lack of formal documentation, reliability of the existing platform and affordability, social and infrastructure reach and coverage are some reasons for this lag. In recent years, there is significant progress in addressing these and both the Government and private sector are creating the infrastructure and reach.

There’s a lot to observe in India’s push for Financial Inclusion, however a meaningful financial inclusion goes beyond a simple bank account, verification of ID, and a cell phone. The absence of basic education keeps the rural masses ignorant about the services as well as their rights and responsibilities. This poses a challenge in adoption of technology as well. It is heartening that the Fintech landscape seems to be readying for this. In this jigsaw, localization and venularization hold the key.

The Language Barrier

There is a need to simplify the terms and jargon used by bankers, Financial Planners, Mutual Fund distributors. Technical speak such as Exit Load, NAV, paid up value, AMB etc leave the non-savvy customers rattled and keeps them away from availing these facilities. This also leads to dependency on the intermediary and possibility of being mis-informed or mis-guided. Various regulatory bodies are pushing the players in their respective domains to up the vernacular quotient and this has resulted in increase in the savings, insurance and investment base in the country.

The reality is that those not comfortable with English as a language, have an uphill battle in understanding financial jargon and face difficulties in performing basic transactions on their own. The policy makers need to step in and make efforts to bridge the gap. According to media reports, Kannada Development Authority (KDA) solicited the regional heads of all nationalized, rural and scheduled banks and asked them to make Kannada language mandatory for all staff.(*Source: Business Standard)

The scenario for internet usage is not very different. A joint report by KPMG and Google “Indian Languages – Defining India’s Internet,” stated that the total share of Indian language-based internet users accessing digital payments is expected to increase from 28% to 43% by 2021. This means that that the current English-only platforms will be inadequate to cater to these users, there is an urgent need for vernacular Fintech platforms. (*Source: Business Standard)

The need of the hour is to tide the language barrier in order to make financial inclusion a reality.Many successful attempts exist today in the domain of shopping, entertainment etc. While efforts have been made in the financial domain as well, there is still a large gap. By offering services in vernacular, these platforms will build a huge connect with the Bharat and contribute to a true financial inclusion revolution.

Fincare Small Finance Bank Ltd – a Scheduled Commercial Bank, offers services such as cash denomination of choice at all ATMs, UPI-enabled transactions, WhatsApp banking, mobile banking in 11 languages, ATM and Toll-Free Call Center in 7 languages, Internet Banking in two language options viz. English and Hindi. All these services are aimed at providing a ‘Smart’ banking experience to customers and fostering true financial inclusion in India.