Financial inclusion is the simple yet powerful concept of ensuring that every citizen across the country has the capability to access and avail basic financial services.

India has been steadily marching over the years for a financially included and literate population.  

In 2017, over 80% of Indians (aged 15+ years) had account ownership at a financial institution or with a mobile-money service provider, a massive increase from 35% in 2011.

World Bank 

However, we could go on a limb here and say that a good section of rural India is only beginning to be a part of these crucial growth & development schemes. 

As a part of the financial inclusion strategy, RBI outlines the following:

• providing banking access to every village
• strengthening digital services for a cashless society by March 2022
• ensuring that every adult has access to a financial service provider through a mobile device by March 2024

Bridging the gap between rural and urban India is a platform that helps people to connect, order, and avail products and digital services.

What is 1Bridge?

1Bridge is a last-mile platform connecting rural customers with other rural and urban suppliers through an assisted commerce platform.

Through a network of local entrepreneurs & product/service partners, their mobile, intuitive platform plans to cater to the untapped rural population, which constitutes about half of the Indian population. 

In addition, 1Bridge also provides last-mile delivery services for leading e-commerce players in the market.

What were the Main Challenges of 1Bridge?

The local entrepreneurs or 1Bridge Advisors get employment opportunities in their village, empower the residents with digital services, and help bring a host of revenue-generating activities to the village. 

While this promised significant progress to digitize a village or hamlet, there were some challenges which 1Bridge faced. 

Placing Orders & Payment Flows

The 1Bridge advisors collect requirements from rural customers and place the order on the platform. However, the agents should load their wallets with funds before placing any order. 

This was to ensure a seamless payment flow.

Collections & Reconciliation

With orders pouring in from the length & breadth of the country, collections & reconciliation were tough. Most importantly, facilitating easy collections was necessary for a great experience for customers. In addition, the platform will need to dedicate valuable hours and resources to keep track of these transactions.   

How did Decentro Empower 1Bridge?

Decentro’s API product suite enabled 1Bridge to offer a smooth payment flow and extinguish any reconciliation hassle. 

How?

With the virtual account solution! 

1Bridge can open any number of virtual accounts on their platform for each of their rural partners using Decentro’s APIs.

The advisors transfer the funds into their virtual accounts using: 

• Bank transfers via NEFT, IMPS, RTGS
• UPI or payment links 
• Static or dynamic QR codes

The UPI links are associated with a virtual account. These can be white-labeled for branding purposes and can be used across popular UPI apps such as GooglePay or PhonePe using deep linking. In addition, this method of payment comes with instant settlements without any delays and minus the MDR(Merchant Discount Rate). 

Moreover, with simple Account Statement API calls, the reconciliation of all transactions happened in real-time and was fully automated. 

What were the Key Wins for 1Bridge?

Let’s see the outcomes after 1Bridge resolved these knots and smoothened things out with Decentro. 

10X Faster Integration Timelines

1Bridge’s integration timelines were reduced by 10X from an integration perspective on the banking front. Instead of spending a few months with a bank to get a streamlined API-driven solution, they were able to integrate and go live with us in just a matter of 2 weeks! 

Uninterrupted Wallet Loading

Above all, Decentro’s Account Balance callback ensures instant alerts to 1Bridge’s system, thus helping 1Bridge to credit the wallets instantaneously and automatically. At the same time, they didn’t have to worry about bank downtimes or any upgrades on the API front as we handle those in the backend. 

80%+ Cost Reduction & Instant Settlements 

Direct bank transfers ensured an 80%+ reduction in cost as compared to traditional payment gateways. In addition, 1Bridge removed delayed settlements out of the equation completely by controlling their money flow directly and having visibility in real-time on the status. 

Similar to 1Bridge, we’ve enabled our customers, such as Zoozle & Gromo, to simplify their operations and elevate the customer experience. In addition, you can find more such detailed case studies in the sections below!

While you’re here, please feel free to explore our API suite that helps business across various financial services such as: 

• Accounts 
• KYC Onboarding
• Payments
• Cards & Wallets
• Lending 

P.S. Some of these offerings, such as co-branded cards as prepaid instruments, will help your business turn customers from cost-centers to revenue-creators by opening up new streams of revenue. 

In conclusion, go live in a matter of weeks, enrich your customers’ experience, and fuel the growth of your business without any compromise. Let us help you achieve that. 

Until we see you next time with another exciting story. 

Cheers!