ANVI introduces India’s first AI powered alternative digital bank to deliver financial inclusion for the underbanked and unbanked at the bottom of the pyramid

New Delhi (India), March 23: ANVI is building a fully digital, comprehensive banking and financial services ecosystem across India by connecting a population of one billion underbanked Indians, retailers and SMEs to deliver essential financial services for free and bring them affordable credit.

India has a significant and growing population of unbanked and underbanked individuals who have no access to credit cards or formal credit. This enormous population of one billion Indians mainly comprises blue-collar workers and their families who earn and spend in cash.

As digitisation sweeps the nation, it catalyses positive change while exacerbating deep socio-economic divides. Since existing fintech solutions require smartphone wallets or bank accounts, they remain out of reach of the nation’s bottom one billion people.

ANVI’s unique digital banking model introduces a critical, scalable and straightforward social and economical solution to this long-standing problem.

ANVI is a technology company that combines various RBI mandated bank programmes to create an alternate bank ecosystem that supports retailers and customers in completing transactions without the use of a credit card network or bank accounts.

The ANVI model lets customers directly load cash onto their ANVI cards at their friendly neighbourhood Kirana stores. The customers do not require a bank account to avail of ANVI cards. ANVI’s 350,000 retailers across the country act as “bank branches” – helping customers top up their ANVI cards with cash and providing essential financial services.

ANVI’s technological innovation eliminates the need for a POS device, card network, customer-owned smartphone wallet or bank account, while the customers’ prepaid ANVI cards remain interoperable at all ATMs and POS. ANVI’s forever free commitment guarantees no minimum balance requirement or transaction charges. Neither the Kirana stores operating as “bank branches” nor customers will ever be charged for transactions. Instead, they will receive regular cash-backs and rewards.

ANVI’s platform will collect behavioural data from its large base of customers who presently have little or no digital footprint, permitting ANVI to leverage proprietary behavioural AI and data analytics to underwrite loans sourced from NBFCs at affordable rates. An important social impact of this model is its potential to free cash-dependent individuals at the bottom of the pyramid from loan sharks and other usury forms of credit. This has been an avowed goal of the microfinance industry, but it remains unrealised due to high loan intermediation costs and unscalable business models.

Speaking about the disruptive ANVI financial ecosystem, CEO and Founder Ashutosh Verma said: “ANVI’s vision is to onboard India’s $1.5 trillion cash economy to its platform using an existing trusted distribution channel of Kirana stores and to leverage data, technology as well as artificial intelligence to bring affordable formal credit to a population which is hugely underserved by banks and the microfinance industry.”

ANVI’s leadership includes a team of serial entrepreneurs with multiple successful exits, global financial leaders, former bankers, ex-government, behavioural psychologists, AI SharpestMinds fellows, compliance and regulation experts, as well as a fantastic team of technologists spread across India and the US who are on a mission to bring more equal opportunities through AI-powered innovation and tech-driven financial ecosystem.

Website: https://anvi.ai/