DEV Community: Eko Developer Community

Build your own mini ATMs using Aadhaar and Eko APIs

Eko Developers — Fri, 31 Mar 2023 18:00:09 +0000

We all have seen this even before digital era - the best way to authenticate uneducated people's identity has been - their thumbprint. This can be the key to their participation in this digital age as well. Currently they cannot withdraw cash from ATM because they don't know how to read/type. Well, they can share PIN with someone to get assistance but is that safe?
Can they use the old and reliable way to authenticate their identity - their thumbprint? With AePS and Eko APIs, you can build a system where they can withdraw cash from their Aadhaar-linked bank account with just their thumbprint.

Eko recently held its monthly community meetup to teach how to build a cash withdrawal system using Aadhaar. This is what we learned in the meetup. You can watch the recording of the event here.

What is Eko?

Eko offers a range of financial transactions such as domestic money transfers, cash payouts, bill payments, etc. for individuals who may not have access to traditional banking options or don't want to use them. These transactions can be performed by visiting a nearby shopkeepers who have partnered with Eko. In addition, Eko APIs are also open for developers to build on top of its ecosystem.

What is AePS?

Aadhar enabled Payment System

AePS is a payment platform in India that allows customers to carry out banking transactions using their Aadhaar number and fingerprint authentication.

With AePS, people can use their Aadhaar number and biometric information to access their bank accounts, make cash deposits and withdrawals, and transfer funds from one account to another.

AePS is considered to be a secure, reliable, and convenient payment system, particularly for those who don't have easy access to traditional banking services. It is widely used in rural areas of India, where people often lack proper identification documents and face difficulties in accessing formal banking channels.

History of AePS

Summarising the history of AePS as mentioned here:

AePS was built to speed track Financial Inclusion in the country by RBI. AePS was a result of a work by a working group made from members of RBI, Unique Identification Authority of India, NPCI, Institute for Development and Research in Banking Technology and some special invitees representing banks and research institutions.

The only inputs required for a customer to do a transaction under this scenario are

Bank Name
Aadhaar Number
Fingerprint captured during enrollment.

What can you do with AePS?

Cash Deposit
Cash Withdrawal
Balance Enquiry
Mini Statement
Aadhaar to Aadhaar Fund Transfer

Business case : Why build AePS-based system

tl;dr: Earn commission from each transaction and make an impact

Many people do not have enough education to operate standard ATMs. 23% people in India do not have basic literacy.
In many areas, ATMs are still far away, making it inconvenient to get cash from ATMs
140Cr people in India have Aadhar. And Aadhaar is a robust mechanism to verify identity of any Indian citizen

This is an opportunity to fill that gap and provide financial services to these customers enabling them to transact through your network of mini ATMs. These ATMs don't have to be machines, they can be simply a retailer near to your customer who can authenticate the customers and pay them cash. Eko APIs as intermediary handle the settlement needed between the customer's bank, your account and the retailer(your network who helps with transaction).

With Eko APIs, building such system becomes easier and a commission is rewarded to the developer for AePS washout transaction.

This is not only a big opportunity to make money but also to make an impact in lives of these people who cannot access basic financial services because of the lack of education or infrastructure

Build the AePS system once, install it where you can get the customers, and earn on each transaction. This could be a great side-income with most of your effort being one time when you build the system.

You may also want to scale and increase your earnings by expanding your business. You can do so by bringing on-board business partners or employees who can connect with your target audience and utilize your system for transactions.

How to integrate AePS API?

You only need to integrate couple of APIs to build the complete system.

This is how the transaction flow looks like

Customer authenticates themselves using fingerprint scanner
Bank deducts the amount from the customer's Aadhaar-linked bank account
You pay the customer in cash
Bank settles the amount in your bank account via Eko

1. Onboard a customer

PUT /ekoapi/v1/user/onboard

--data-raw 

{
  "initiator_id": 9962981729
  "pan_number": "BFUPM3499K",
  "mobile': 9123354235,
  "first_name': "Tina",
  "last_name: "Chawla",
  "email": "a@gmail.com",
  "residence_address": {
    "line": "Eko India",
    "city":"Gurgaon",
    "state":"Haryana",
    "pincode":"122002",
    "district":"Banswara",
    "area":"Mongol"
  },
  "dob": "1992-05-10",
  "shop_name": "Akanksha Stores"
}

API reference

As a first step, you need to onboard a customer for the first-time with their basic KYC info such as pan_number and mobile no. Once this is done, you can perform AePS transaction. You don't need to call this API again for later AePS transactions.

2. Withdraw cash transaction

POST /ekoapi/v2/aeps

--data-raw '{
    "service_type": 2,
    "initiator_id": "9962981729",
    "user_code": "20810200",
    "customer_id": "9999999999",
    "bank_code": "HDFC",
    "amount": "100",
    "client_ref_id": "202105311125123456",
    "pipe": "0",
    "aadhar": "YrvFh+QFLmHXPjUP1/fU=",//hashed value of Aadhar
    "notify_customer": "0",
    "piddata": "<?xml version=\"1.0\"?><PidData>...</PidData>"//Data from fingerprint scanner
}'

API Reference

You can use this API for the transaction which authenticates the user and deducts the amount from user's bank account. On success, you can handover the cash to user. This happens instantly. Once you have the success or failure confirmation, this transaction is finished from user's perspective. But you might need to perform some more actions to get your earning transferred to your account.

Authentication

If you try these, you are likely to get authentication error. To fix that, you'll need to authenticate your API requests

3. Enquire transaction status

Sometimes, transactions do not succeed instantly due to different reasons such as mismatch in authentication details, low balance account, etc. In such cases, you might want to enquire about the transaction status later to see if they succeeded or failed. You can use this API for these transaction inquiries

GET /ekoapi/v2/transactions/{id} | API Reference

Now that you're able to perform the transaction, how do you get the money you gave to the customer. You need to perform the settlement transaction for that.

4. Settle funds into your bank account

a. Add your settlement bank account

Once you have done transactions for multiple customer, you'd want to get the transaction money in your bank account. For that, you need to add your bank account where Eko can settle the amount. You don't need to call this again unless you want to add another bank accont for settlement.

PUT /ekoapi/v1/agent/user_code:{user_code}/settlementaccount

// --data-raw 
{
  "initiator_id": 7411111111,
  "bank_id": 108,
  "ifsc": "SBIN0000001",
  "service_code" : 39,
  "account": "34567891234"
}

API Reference

You need to perform this transaction once so that the money can be routed to you as per the settlement policies.

b. Retrieve settlement ammount

GET /ekoapi/v1/agent/user_code:{user_code}/settlementaccounts?initiator_id=9962981729&service_code=39'

API reference

With this API, you can check the total AePS transactions amount you have given to customers and the remaining amount that can be settled to your account. You may want to call this API before you start the settlement.

c. Initiate settlement

You need to call this API each time you want to settle the AePS transaction amount into your bank account. Usually you'd want to do this on biweekly or weekly basis but you can also perform this on a daily basis.

POST /ekoapi/v1/agent/user_code:{user_code}/settlement

--data-raw

{
  "initiator_id" : 7411111111,
  "service_code" : 39,
  "amount" : 100,
  "recipient_id": 1824,
  "payment_mode": 5,
  "client_ref_id": "Settlemet0000001"
}

API reference

And with this transaction, the complete lifecycle of the payment is finished. You paid the customer after verifying their identity, the bank deducted the amount from customer's bank account, you got paid the amount in your bank account. You'll also receive commission you have earned on top of the transaction amount.

Conclusion

It is easy to build AePS system using Eko APIs that works as a mini ATM. This can be a source of income for entrepreneurs and developers, at the same time this brings financial inclusion for people who do not have access to normal banking services.

If you have questions, feel free to ask on Eko developers community on Discord.

Resources

Join Eko FinTech Developers community on Discord
Learn Eko APIs
Check out Eko node.js SDK

How to build bill payment & recharge system for Bharat and make a side-income with impact

Eko Developers — Thu, 02 Mar 2023 12:33:08 +0000

Eko recently held its monthly community meetup to teach how to build a bill payments system. This is what we learned in the meetup. You can watch the recording of the event here.

What is Eko?

Eko offers a range of financial transactions such as domestic money transfers, bill payments, etc. for individuals who may not have access to traditional banking options or don't want to use them. These transactions can be performed by visiting a nearby shopkeepers who have partnered with Eko. In addition, Eko APIs are also open for developers to build on top of its ecosystem.

What is BBPS?

Bharat Bill Payment System

BBPS is an integrated bill payment system in India operated by NPCI(National Payments Corporation India), an initiative by Reserve Bank of India. BBPS simplifies the payment process for utility bills such as phone, electricity bills, gas, etc. Many billers have registered on BBPS to get paid for their bills. Now a user do not have to go to different payment services of these billers rather simply pay all their bills for different service providers via a single platform.

Which bills can be paid using BBPS?

Some of the categories of the billers registered with BBPS are - Broadband Postpaid, Gas, Donation, DTH, Mobile Prepaid, Tax, Credit Card, Electricity, Landline Postpaid, Mobile Postpaid, Water, Housing Society, Subscription, Education, Municipal Taxes, Clubs and Associations, Cable TV, LPG Cylinder, Hospital, Insurance, Loan, FASTag, Municipal Services, Rental Payment, etc.

Business case : Why build bill payment system

tl;dr: Earn commission from each transaction and make an impact

Utility bill payment is a recurring transaction. Each month, almost every adult needs to pay some of their bills in order get the essential utilities in life such as electricity, phone, gas, etc. to name a few. For people who want to pay in cash, either have to stand in the line every month to pay the bills or use unreliable services.

Many people pay their bills in cash because

They don't have bank accounts : 19Cr people in India
They do not have internet connections : 19Cr people in India
Do not have basic literacy : 23% people in India
They find cash payment convenient
They want to pay in cash because of privacy concerns

What if you can build a bill payment system where they can pay their bills in cash! With Eko APIs, building such system becomes easier and a commission is rewarded to the developer for each bill payment transaction.

This is not only a big opportunity to make money but also to make an impact in lives of these people who don't have any other option

Build the bill payment system once, install it where you can get the customers, and earn on each transaction. This could be a great side-income with most of your effort being one time when you build the system.

You may also want to scale and increase your earnings by expanding your business. One way to achieve this is by bringing on board business partners or employees who can connect with your target audience and utilize your system for transactions.

Offline vs Online BBPS

Trade off settlement time for higher commission

There are two transaction modes available in Eko BBPS APIs - Offline and Online. Offline BBPS payment settlement happens after a day and Online BBPS payment settlement happens instantly. At the time of transaction, you can choose which mode you want to use.

How to integrate BBPS API?

It is only a 2-3 steps process. You only need to integrate couple of APIs to build the complete system.

1. Get operators list

GET /ekoapi/v2/billpayments/operators | API Reference

You can use this API to get the list of all the operators available for bill payment. Once your customer comes to you, you use this list to choose the appropriate operator that you want to pay for.

You might want to filter the operators based on your service location or categories to quickly choose the desired operator. And for that, following APIs will be useful

Authentication

If you try these, you are likely to get authentication error. To fix that, you'll need to authenticate your API requests

2. Fetch bill

Once you have the operator info and relevant customer info, you can make a request to fetch the bill for that customer.

POST /ekoapi/v2/billpayments/fetchbill?initiator_id=9962981729

// --data-raw 
{
    "operator_id":"22",
    "utility_acc_no":"151627591",
    "confirmation_mobile_no":"9999999999",
    "source_ip":"121.121.1.1",
    "user_code":"20810200",
    "client_ref_id":"202105311125123456",
    "sender_name":"Kaushik",,
    "latlong":"77.06794760,77.06794760"
}

API Reference

As different operators may expect different fields, you can get the list of parameters they expect for the bill, you can get operators parameters for fetch_bills request

3. Pay the bill

Now that you have all the information about the customer and the bill you want to pay for, you can go ahead and request the api to pay the bill.

POST https://staging.eko.in:25004/ekoapi/v2/billpayments/paybill?initiator_id=9962981729

// --data-raw 
{
    "amount":"50",
    "operator_id":"22",
    "utility_acc_no":"151627591",
    "source_ip":"121.121.1.1",
    "user_code":"20810200",
    "client_ref_id":"202105311125123456",
    "confirmation_mobile_no":"9999999999",
    "sender_name":"Kaushik",
    "latlong":"77.06794760,77.06794760"
    "hc_channel" : 1 
}

API Reference

And you're done.

4. Transaction enquiry

API Reference

Once the transaction is done, you can use transaction enquiry API to get the status of your transaction.

And that's it. Your bill payment system is ready. Whatever else you want to add to your solution to innovate, is up to you. But now, you are ready to get an audience to pay for bills.

We respect your commitment to provide financial capabilities to those who may not have access to traditional banking options.

Conclusion

Building bill payment system is easy using Eko APIs. This can be a source of income for entrepreneurs and developers, at the same time this brings financial inclusion for people who do not have access to normal banking services.

Resources

Join Eko FinTech Developers community on Discord
Learn Eko APIs
Check out Eko node.js SDK

How to verify PAN no. in node.js

Eko Developers — Thu, 09 Feb 2023 19:41:24 +0000

You might need to verify your customer's identity in your app. PAN verification API by Eko can come handy here. The complete documentation can be found here. We will walk through the complete process for a nodejs app in this article.

1. Install Eko's node.js SDK

npm install @ekoindia/eko-sdk-node

2. Initialize the SDK

const Eko = require('@ekoindia/eko-sdk-node')
//Initialize the Eko library
const ekoAPI = Eko.init({
    hostname: "staging.eko.in",//For prod, change to eko.in
    port: 443,
    developerKey: "becbbce45f79c6f5109f848acd540567",
    authKey: "f74c50a1-f705-4634-9cda-30a477df91b7",
    initiatorId: "9971771929"
})

For testing environment: use the developer_key, key and initiator_id as provided on this page
For production environment: Signup at https://connect.eko.in (more details about this at the end of this article)

3. Verify PAN

//Verify PAN
ekoAPI.verifyPAN({
    panNumber: 'pan number',
    purpose: 'purpose of verification',
    purposeDescription: 'description of the purpose'
}, function(err, result){
    console.log(JSON.stringify(result));
})

Check out eko-sdk-node for more details. If you have any question or feature request, create an issue on GitHub repo or Eko Developer Community on Discord

4. Get API credentials for the production

Go to https://connect.eko.in
Enter your PAN no.
Enter your firm's details
Set a 4 digit secret pin
Choose plan combo 1 (it has access to all the APIs including PAN KYC APIs)
Sign the agreement (via Aadhar OTP)
Submit the documents required for your firm's verification

Once the verification is completed, you will get the credentials for the production. You can then deploy your solution to production with these credentials.

Resources

New launches at Eko - FinTech APIs for Bharat

Eko Developers — Thu, 26 Jan 2023 20:59:57 +0000

Eko recently held its community Meetup to discuss product updates. Eko offers a range of financial transactions such as domestic money transfers, bill payments, and loan disbursements to individuals who may not have access to traditional banking options. These transactions can be performed by visiting a nearby shopkeeper.

In addition, Eko has made its APIs available for developers to build on top of its ecosystem. During the Meetup, the company announced five updates to its API products. These updates are aimed at providing developers with more tools to create financial instruments using Eko's APIs.

Priyanka and Ajay from the Eko team gave a presentation on the new updates and services provided by the company. The presentation was followed by a Q&A session where attendees could ask any questions they had.

Here's the summary of these 5 updates you need to know

1. AePS backup pipes

Reduces transaction failures

Using Eko's AePS APIs, developers have built use cases such as cash payout with just biometric verification. When you need cash, simply go to your nearby shopkeeper and with just biometric verification, you can get the cash from the shopkeeper.

So what's new? Eko introduced backup pipes. For AePS transactions, there are multiple service providers on the backend which Eko uses. Now Eko will automatically switch to the best service provider depending upon the recent success/failure rates of that service provider. So you do not need to wait for a service provider to come back up. This reduces the transaction failure rates. Something that every developer wishes when dealing with a financial services like Eko.

2. New integration with Yes Bank

Increases DMT limit upto ₹ 2L

Eko has been providing Domestic Money Transfer services since 2008. Eko has been pioneer in enabling money transfer for people who don't have access to bank. Eko enabled them to transfer money via their nearby retail shops. The technology built for this was opened up in the form of APIs in recent years so developers can build their own innovative solutions on top of it. One major concern had been the transaction limit. It was INR 25,000 until now.

So what's new? With the help of new integration with Yes Bank, this limit has been increased to INR 2,00,000. Once the shopkeeper completes the KYC for the customer, they can transfer money upto INR 2,00,000.

More details - https://developers.eko.in/reference/dmt-high-limit-transaction

3. Eko Payout API

Enables fund disbursement via NEFT/IMPS/NEFT

More details - https://developers.eko.in/reference/fund-transfer-overview

4. New Axis Cash Deposit Machine integration

Saves ₹ 20k+ /month for every 100 merchants

Now retail shopkeeper(part of Eko retail shop network) can go to their nearby Axis Cash Deposit Machine and get that money as evalue in their account immediately. This boost the income for the shopkeeper. Earlier, it used to take a lot of time specially on weekends when no banks were opened and the retailer had to wait for the next bank working day to deposit the money and get the balance in account. Not anymore.

5. Offline BBPS

Enables higher commissions on bill payments

BBPS is a service to make utility bill payments such as phone, electricity, water, and many more. Eko enables anyone to pay the bills via their nearby retail shop. When the shopkeeper takes the money from the customer for the bill payment, they'd initiate the request and the bill amount would be credited to the right destination immediately.

So what's new? The above flow is great. And the shopkeeper can still use the same. But now, there's an additional method of BBPS transaction, called offline BBPS transaction. This one is great for the shopkeeper as it pays higher commission to them. In this, the biller will get the payment same day or the next day but not immediately. Which is perfectly fine for many of such transactions, unless they're beyond bill payment deadline and cannot afford a delay of a day. So by choosing offline BBPS mode wherever they can, makes shopkeepers more money, the customer pays the same.

More details - https://developers.eko.in/reference/get-operator-category-list

Eko continues to innovate and improve its services to better serve its customers. The company's commitment to providing financial capabilities to those who may not have access to traditional banking options is evident in the range of services and updates it offers.

Resources

Join Eko FinTech Developers community on Discord
Learn Eko APIs
Check out our open-source project

100 APIs for Indian devs to integrate different financial services in your apps

Eko Developers — Wed, 11 Jan 2023 14:06:14 +0000

In my early 10 yrs of my developer career, only FinTech APIs I knew were Stripe and CCAvenue. My ideas to build something cool in FinTech were limited to usage of these APIs only. I had little hopes from Indian FinTech ecosystem. Only when I started to look around, I was surprised to find plethora of FinTech services that are accessible with APIs and this exploded the use cases I could build with these APIs. It's been almost a month since I started collecting these APIs down and here I present them to you, the only thing I expect in return from you is - share your ideas what do you wish to build with these APIs or share what's missing here. Deal? Let's go.

Brought to you by Eko team

First, let's understand different categories of FinTech APIs

Categories of FinTech APIs

Payment processing APIs: These APIs enable online and mobile payments, including payment gateway APIs, digital wallet APIs, and online invoicing APIs.
Credit and lending APIs: These APIs provide access to credit scoring, loan origination, and other lending-related services.
Insurance APIs: These APIs provide access to insurance products and services, including APIs for health insurance, life insurance, car insurance, and other types of insurance.
Wealth management APIs: These APIs provide access to investment products and services, including mutual fund APIs, stock trading APIs, and wealth management platform APIs.
Personal finance APIs: These APIs provide access to personal finance management tools, including budgeting and expense tracking APIs, credit card management APIs, and more.
Business finance APIs: These APIs provide access to business finance management tools, including invoicing and accounting APIs, financial reporting APIs, and more.
Financial comparison APIs: These APIs provide access to financial product comparison tools, including APIs for banking products, insurance products, and mutual funds.
Financial market data APIs: These APIs provide access to real-time or historical financial market data, including stock prices, currency exchange rates, and more.
Foreign exchange APIs: These APIs provide access to foreign exchange rates and currency conversion services.
Cryptocurrency APIs: These APIs provide access to cryptocurrency market data and trading services.
Real estate APIs: These APIs provide access to real estate market data and property listings.
Financial planning and advice APIs: These APIs provide access to financial planning and investment advice tools. Banking APIs: These APIs provide access to banking products and services, including APIs for account management, money transfers, and more.
Credit card APIs: These APIs provide access to credit card products and services, including APIs for credit card application and management.
Lending and borrowing APIs: These APIs provide access to peer-to-peer lending and borrowing platforms.
Payment gateway APIs: These APIs enable merchants to accept payments from customers through a variety of payment methods.
E-commerce APIs: These APIs provide access to e-commerce platforms and tools, including APIs for product listings, inventory management, and more.
Personal identification and verification APIs: These APIs enable identity verification and authentication services.
Customer relationship management (CRM) APIs: These APIs provide access to customer relationship management tools, including APIs for customer data management,
Data analysis and visualization APIs: These APIs provide access to tools for analyzing and visualizing financial data.
Fraud detection and prevention APIs: These APIs provide access to tools for detecting and preventing financial fraud.
Financial reporting APIs: These APIs provide access to financial reporting and analysis tools.
Financial modeling and simulation APIs: These APIs provide access to tools for creating financial models and simulations. Financial risk management APIs: These APIs provide access to tools for managing financial risks, such as credit risk, market risk, and more.
Supply chain finance APIs: These APIs provide access to tools for managing supply chain financing, including APIs for invoice financing and trade finance.
Financial messaging APIs: These APIs provide access to financial messaging and communication platforms, such as SWIFT.
Financial education and training APIs: These APIs provide access to financial education and training resources.

There are so many of them, let's apply 80-20 rule and list down the APIs in the most useful categories

Top Payment Processing APIs in India

Paytm API - Payment processing API that offers a range of payment and financial services, including mobile payments, e-commerce, and more.
Google Pay API - Payment processing API that offers a range of payment and financial services, including mobile payments, e-commerce, and more.
Eko - Domestic Money Transfer, Bill Payment, AePS and distribution of multiple financial services via 150k retail shops in India
PhonePe API - Payment processing API that offers a range of payment and financial services, including mobile payments, e-commerce, and more.
Amazon Pay API - Payment processing API that offers a range of payment and financial services, including mobile payments, e-commerce, and more.
MobiKwik API - Payment processing API that offers a range of payment and financial services, including mobile payments, e-commerce, and more.
Ola Money API - Payment processing API that offers a range of payment and financial services, including mobile payments, e-commerce, and more.
PayU API - Payment processing API that offers a range of payment and financial services, including mobile payments, e-commerce, and more.
Razorpay API - Payment processing API that offers a range of payment and financial services, including mobile payments, e-commerce, and more.
Instamojo API - Payment processing API that offers a range of payment and financial services, including mobile payments, e-commerce, and more.
PayPal API - Payment processing API that offers a range of payment and financial services, including mobile payments, e-commerce, and more.

Top Banking APIs in India

HDFC Bank API - Banking API that offers a range of banking products and services, including checking and savings accounts, loans, and more.
ICICI Bank API - Banking API that offers a range of banking products and services, including checking and savings accounts, loans, and more.
Eko - Domestic Money Transfer, Bill Payment, AePS and distribution of multiple financial services via 150k retail shops in India
Axis Bank API - Banking API that offers a range of banking products and services, including checking and savings accounts, loans, and more.
Kotak Mahindra Bank API - Banking API that offers a range of banking products and services, including checking and savings accounts, loans, and more.
SBI Bank API - Banking API that offers a range of banking products and services, including checking and savings accounts, loans, and more.
PNB Bank API - Banking API that offers a range of banking products and services, including checking and savings accounts, loans, and more.
Bank of Baroda API - Banking API that offers a range of banking products and services, including checking and savings accounts, loans, and more.
Canara Bank API - Banking API that offers a range of banking products and services, including checking and savings accounts, loans, and more.
Union Bank of India API - Banking API that offers a range of banking products and services, including checking and savings accounts, loans, and more.
Bank of India API - Banking API that offers a range of banking products and services, including checking and savings accounts, loans, and more.

Top Investment and Wealth Management APIs in India

Zerodha API - Investment API that offers low-cost brokerage services for trading in multiple asset classes.
Upstox API - Investment API that offers a high-speed trading platform for multiple asset classes.
5paisa API - Investment API that offers a user-friendly trading platform with advanced charting tools.
TradeJini API - Investment API that offers brokerage services with a focus on customer service and support.
Edelweiss API - Investment API that offers a range of financial products and services, including brokerage, mutual funds, and more.
Angel Broking API - Investment API that offers a range of brokerage services for multiple asset classes, including equities, derivatives, and more.
ICICI Direct API - Investment API that offers brokerage and financial services, including equity trading, mutual funds, and more.
HDFC Securities API - Investment API that offers brokerage services for multiple asset classes, including equities, derivatives, and more.
Kotak Securities API - Investment API that offers brokerage services for multiple asset classes, including equities, derivatives, and more.
Motilal Oswal API - Investment API that offers brokerage and financial services, including equity trading, mutual funds, and more.

Top Insurance APIs in India

PolicyBazaar API - Insurance API that offers a comparison platform for insurance products, including life, health, and car insurance.
Tata AIA API - Insurance API that offers a range of insurance products, including life, health, and car insurance.
HDFC ERGO API - Insurance API that offers a range of insurance products, including life, health, and car insurance.
Bajaj Allianz API - Insurance API that offers a range of insurance products, including life, health, and car insurance.
Max Life Insurance API - Insurance API that offers a range of insurance products, including life, health, and car insurance.
SBI Life Insurance API - Insurance API that offers a range of insurance products, including life, health, and car insurance.
ICICI Prudential API - Insurance API that offers a range of insurance products, including life, health, and car insurance.
LIC API - Insurance API that offers a range of insurance products, including life, health, and car insurance.
Birla Sun Life Insurance API - Insurance API that offers a range of insurance products, including life, health, and car insurance.
Reliance Nippon Life Insurance API - Insurance API that offers a range of insurance products, including

Top Credit and Lending APIs in India

Lendingkart API - Credit and lending API that offers working capital loans to small businesses.
Capital Float API - Credit and lending API that offers a range of financial products, including loans and credit lines, to small businesses.
Indifi API - Credit and lending API that offers working capital loans to small businesses.
Loanzen API - Credit and lending API that offers working capital loans to small businesses.
InCred API - Credit and lending API that offers a range of financial products, including loans, to individuals and small businesses.
KreditBee API - Credit and lending API that offers short-term personal loans to individuals.
EarlySalary API - Credit and lending API that offers short-term personal loans to individuals.
Credy API - Credit and lending API that offers short-term personal loans to individuals.
StashFin API - Credit and lending API that offers short-term personal loans to individuals.
MoneyTap API - Credit and lending API that offers personal credit lines to individuals.

Top Identity verification APIs in India

Authy API - Identity verification API that offers two-factor authentication and phone verification services.
Truemail API - Identity verification API that offers email verification services.
Jumio API - Identity verification API that offers identity verification services using artificial intelligence and machine learning.
Onfido API - Identity verification API that offers identity verification services using artificial intelligence and machine learning.
SumSub API - Identity verification API that offers identity verification and compliance services for financial institutions and e-commerce companies.
Shufti Pro API - Identity verification API that offers identity verification services using artificial intelligence and machine learning.
IDology API - Identity verification API that offers identity verification and fraud prevention services.
IDnow API - Identity verification API that offers identity verification services using video identification technology.
IdentityMind API - Identity verification API that offers identity verification and risk assessment services.
Veratad API - Identity verification API that offers identity verification and age verification services.

FinTech API Aggregators in India

Eko Node SDK - Aggregator of all financial services APIs into one SDK

If you want me to create such useful content on regular basis without getting fired from my job :) , do check out the FinTech APIs for Money Transfer and Bill Payments that my team is building. And do check out a new Open-Source Node.js SDK we recently started building to make it easy to integrate any FinTech service in your app.

10 FinTech APIs every Indian developer should bookmark

Eko Developers — Fri, 23 Dec 2022 18:10:37 +0000

Financial services are common requirements for any application we build as developers. Existing FinTech API services help you add those financial features in your apps easily. Finding those reliable APIs takes a huge amount of research.

So in this article, we will list most useful APIs which will help you add an array of financial features to your apps without much efforts

Stripe: Payment gateway to accept payments globally for business products/services. Accepts major credit and debit cards.
Exchange Rates: A currency conversion API
Razorpay: Payment gateway with functionalities such as subscription and invoicing. Accepts cards and netbanking in India.
Eko India: Money transfer and bill payments via nearby shopkeeper. No user bank account required. Also provides other financial services and utilities such as loans, Bank verification, PAN verification, cash collection, etc.
Kite-Connect by Zerodha: A trading platform. Based in India.
Zipline by Quantopian: An Open-Source tool for algorithmic trading. It is a platform for developing and testing quantitative trading strategies using Python.
Intuit: APIs for accessing financial data and building financial applications
Zoho Books: A cloud-based accounting APIs for developers. Based in India
Alpaca: A commission-free stock trading APIs
Bitpay: Blockchain payment APIs

Did I miss any other requirements you have related to FinTech features in your app? Comment to ask me a recommendation or discuss in our community for FinTech devs on Discord

History of FinTech

Eko Developers — Fri, 09 Dec 2022 17:39:12 +0000

Knowing the past, helps us understand the present and plan for future. If you are building in FinTech industry, this article will provide you a summary of the FinTech developments in the past.

Consider joining Eko Developers community on Discord, we conduct events there to learn about the best practices and the latest in FinTech software engineering.

Table of contents

Key events in FinTech history across the globe
Key events in banking in India
Innovations in FinTech that are leading the ways
Conclusion

Key events in FinTech history across the globe

The history of FinTech, or Financial Technology, dates back to the 1960s when the first automated teller machines (ATMs) were introduced. Since then, the development of fintech has rapidly evolved, driven by advances in technology and changing consumer demands. Some of the key milestones in the history of fintech include:

1960s: The first ATMs are introduced, allowing customers to access their bank accounts and make transactions without the need for a teller.
1970s: Credit cards become more widely used, enabling consumers to make purchases without carrying cash.
1980s: The first online banking services are launched, allowing customers to access their accounts and make transactions over the internet.
1990s: The rise of the internet and the development of mobile technology pave the way for the growth of e-commerce and online payment systems.
2000s: The global financial crisis leads to increased regulation of the financial industry and the development of fintech solutions to improve efficiency and reduce costs.
2010s: The rise of smartphones and mobile payment systems, such as Apple Pay and Google Wallet, make it easier for consumers to make payments and manage their finances on the go.
2020s: The COVID-19 pandemic accelerates the adoption of fintech solutions, including digital banking and online lending, as consumers shift towards digital channels for financial services.

Key events in banking in India

The history of banking in India dates back to the 18th century, with the establishment of the first banks in the country. Since then, the banking industry in India has undergone significant changes and developments, driven by economic growth and regulatory reforms. Some of the key milestones in the history of banking in India include:

1786: The General Bank of India is established, becoming the first joint-stock bank in India.
1806: The Bank of Hindustan is established, becoming the first bank in India to issue paper currency.
1894: The Imperial Bank of India is established, serving as a central bank for the British Raj.
1935: The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is established as the central bank of India, taking over the functions of the Imperial Bank of India.
1969: The nationalization of 14 major banks in India, including the Bank of India, the Central Bank of India, and the Punjab National Bank, brings the majority of banks in the country under government control.
1991: The liberalization of the Indian economy leads to the entry of private and foreign banks into the Indian market, fostering competition and innovation in the banking sector.
2005: The introduction of the National Payment Corporation of India (NPCI) enables the development of a unified payments infrastructure in the country.
2008: The launch of the Pradhan Mantri Jan-Dhan Yojana (PMJDY) scheme brings banking services to unbanked regions of India and promotes financial inclusion.
2016: The demonetization of high-value currency notes in India leads to a surge in the use of digital payment platforms, such as mobile wallets and UPI, for transactions.
2017: The launch of the Bharat Bill Payment System (BBPS) provided a standardized, interoperable platform for the acceptance of bill payments across the country and facilitated the shift towards digital payments.

Innovations in FinTech that are leading the ways

There have been many innovations in FinTech in recent years, as technology continues to advance and change the way that financial services are provided. Some of the key innovations in fintech include:

Digital banking: The development of online and mobile banking platforms has made it easier for customers to access their bank accounts and manage their finances from any location.
Payment systems: The growth of mobile payment systems, such as Apple Pay and Google Wallet, has made it easier for consumers to make purchases without using cash or credit cards.
Blockchain technology: The use of blockchain technology has enabled the creation of digital currencies, such as Bitcoin, and has the potential to revolutionize the way that financial transactions are processed and recorded.
Artificial intelligence and machine learning: The use of AI and machine learning has enabled the development of personalized financial advice and automated investment services, making it easier for individuals to manage their finances.
Online lending: The growth of online lending platforms, such as peer-to-peer lending, has made it easier for individuals and small businesses to access financing without going through traditional banks.
Insurtech: The rise of insurtech has enabled the development of new insurance products and services, such as personalized and on-demand insurance, and has made it easier for consumers to compare and purchase insurance policies.

Conclusion

FinTech industry has gone various changes in the past and the rate of change is accelerating every decade. The next major breakthrough are not as far as the previous ones. In the next post, we will share resources for developers to keep ahead of this change or at least upgrade their tech stack to use the latest innovations in FinTech.

If you find this article valuable, consider joining Eko Developers community to receive the update about the next event and news.

Challenges Indian developers face in building payment systems

Eko Developers — Fri, 02 Dec 2022 18:44:21 +0000

This is the summary of the discussion on this topic in a meetup organised for FinTech developers by Eko Developer Community on Discord.
If you prefer listening over reading, here's the recording on YouTube.

Payment system challenges in India, a poem (thanks to ChatGPT)

The challenges in building payment systems in India,
Are many and varied, it's true,
From lack of infrastructure, to lack of trust,
The road ahead is long, and fraught with obstacles too.

There's the issue of accessibility,
Ensuring that everyone has a way to pay,
And the problem of security,
To keep the funds safe, each and every day.

Then there's the challenge of scale,
To handle the vast numbers of transactions, with ease,
And the need for interoperability,
To allow for seamless movement of funds, with the least of fees.

But despite these obstacles, we persevere,
Working tirelessly, to overcome each one,
For we know that in the end, our efforts will be rewarded,
As a better payments system, for India, will have been won.

Now that you have a good overview, let me pick 4 specific things from the perspective of developers

What are the key challenges faced in building payment system in India?

Complexity: Dealing with multiple Banks APIs and their changes
Docs: Poor quality of documentation in Banks API
Transaction Status: Ambiguous transaction statuses provided by Bank APIs
Responsibility: Need of being highly reliable and robust

India is one of the fastest growing economy. Payments play a vital role here. Specially payments to its major population that comes from non-urban areas

More than 75% people in India come from non-urban areas (villages, small towns, etc.) and many of them don't have access to banking facilities as people in urban areas have

Complexity: Dealing with multiple Banks APIs and their changes

In a big country like India, building payments for the audience that comes from non-urban areas means dealing with multiple banks. Although you'll have the challenge in dealing with banks but let's focus only on developers' challenges for this article. As a developer, you need to integrate with multiple banks APIs. All with different standards. It requires you to learn about multiple such APIs and then keep a track of changes and keep updating your codebase.

Docs: Poor quality of documentation in Banks API

As an Indian developer building payment system, more than often you find that the quality of documentation of banks is not that great. It leads to lots of time wasted and a risk of making mistakes. This is improving but not at the pace which a developer in 2022 would expect.

Transaction Status: Ambiguous transaction statuses provided by Bank APIs

Although we can talk about a lot in terms of API quality of the banks but let's focus single most important thing for a customer expect from Banks API - unambiguous transaction status update in time. And many Banks fail you in that. They provide transaction status that are hard to understand, and they do not reach in time, while the customers keep waiting. This leads to lot of back and forth energy wasted by the customer as well as the payment system support.

Responsibility: Need of being highly reliable and robust as you are dealing with money

Think about a poor family who awaits the payment of INR 1000 ($12) from a family member who works as a labor in some other city. If they don't get it, they don't have food to eat or do other essential things. They will be helpless. At this point, a developer of the payment system is not coding just another web app, it is a big responsibility that your code is functional, reliable, and scalable. It takes motivation and true empathy for the customers to pull it off.

Conclusion
Indian developers face challenges with complexity, documentation, bank API quality, etc. in building payment systems. Of course, it is not as easy as building yet another web app. It takes motivation, knowledge and empathy to enable payments for Bharat. Together, it can be made easier. Eko Developer Community aims to solve that. The next community meetup is around the corner.

Announcing a community for FinTech developers

Eko Developers — Mon, 28 Nov 2022 17:06:24 +0000

tl;dr; Discord community - https://discord.gg/93rYABNPqX

Why do we need a FinTech developers community?

“Alone, we can do so little; together, we can do so much” – Helen Keller

You realise the value of this quote when you are building or integrating a FinTech system. You can solve the big challenges of FinTech only by working together as a community.

Eko started 15+ yrs back in 2007 to solve problem of providing
banking to the Next Billion Users. After serving more than a million users and 100+ developers build their FinTech system using Eko Platform Services, how can we take this mission ahead? The answer came out to be - Eko Developer Community

Introducing Eko Developer Community

🔥 Eko Developer Community is an open community of Fintech developers building financial inclusion for the next billion users

What can you do with Eko Developer Community?
1️⃣ Get support in shipping your Fintech apps with Eko faster
2️⃣ Showcase your Fintech apps
3️⃣ Discover opportunities to grow with networking
4️⃣ Improve Eko fintech products built for developers

Chat with the community

Join the community on Discord and introduce yourself

Attend Eko Developer Community Meetup

Eko Developer Community Meetups are the best way to connect personally with the Eko engineering team and other developers building with Eko. We will host online meetups addressing different challenges you face building with Eko. Your suggestions are welcome to make them useful to you.

📅 Upcoming Eko Developer Community Meetup

When: Tue 5PM, Dec 6, 2022 (IST)

Where: https://discord.gg/93rYABNPqX