Tech Giants

As A Result Of The RBI New Payments Rule, Tech Giants Brace For The Fallout In India.

As the central bank of the world’s second-largest internet market imposed a new directive. for how recurring payments are processed in this country, Apple, Sony, Google, Zoom, PayPal, and dozens of other technology companies, as well as dozens of banks, have warned customers and partners in India to expect an increase in rejected transactions.
The RBI has issued a directive that requires banks, financial institutions, and payment gateways to obtain additional approval from users for auto-renewable transactions worth more than 5,000 Indian rupees ($67) by providing notices, mandates, and Additional Authentication Factors (AF). The directive affects all those transactions for debit and credit cards.
The directive, which was first proposed in 2019, was supposed to go into effect in April of this year, but it was postponed until September 30 after banks and other stakeholders said they weren’t ready to comply.
Before deducting amounts for recurring payments, banks must now obtain account holder approval. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) announced new self-debit rules on Friday as the next step in securing digital credit or debit card transactions. Recurring automatic payments for various top-ups and bills must now be protected with additional authentication factors under the new rules (AFA).
All banks, including RRBs, NBFCs, and payment gateways, have been ordered by the central bank to stop processing recurring domestic and cross-border transactions using cards, prepaid payment instruments (PPI), or Unified Payment Interfaces (UPI) without AFA.
Before deducting funds for certain purposes, banks must now get account holders’ permission. The new guidelines require banks to send customers a one-time password for recurring payments over $5,000.
Because banks were not yet ready to implement AFA, the deadline had to be pushed back several times. Recurring payments to utility service providers, as well as recharging of telephone, DTH, and OTT services, are all covered by the new car rule. The RBI directive on implementing AFA will cover all of these payments because they are now made through recurring deductions from registered bank accounts, UPI IDs, or digital wallets.
The new rules have been communicated to most banks’ customers. If you missed the announcement, here are five things to know about the RBI’s new automatic billing rules.

Early Accountholder Alert

Before deducting the amount from the registered account for recurring payments, banks must notify account holders 24 hours in advance. The reason for this is to ensure that customers are fully informed about all transactions involving their accounts. The bank will not be able to forward the money to the service provider unless the customer has acknowledged and completed the recurring payment.

One-Time Registration

If customers want to complete future transactions without additional authentication factors, they must first complete the registration process. Users will be able to make future transactions without having to repeat AFA, despite the fact that it appears to be an extra step. They can also specify a transaction’s validity period in the future.

OTPs For Auto-Debit

In accordance with the new direct debit rules, the bank must send a one-time password (OTP) to the account holder for recurring payments exceeding $5,000.

Choice To Opt-Out

Customers are not obligated to use AFA for recurring payments and can opt out at any time. The pre-debit notification that the bank will send to the customer to confirm automatic billing will also include a link that the customer can use to disable AFA. However, this will negate the additional security it provides.
Auto-Debits out of AFA
The new automatic debit rules will not affect permanent instructions to use an existing bank account for mutual funds, SIPs, or Equivalent Monthly Installment (EMI) for loans.

Team YTS

Workday: Helping Tech Giants Solve Big Problems with Innovative Solutions

Leave a Comment / start-up, Story, Tech Story / By Yashica Vashishtha

Cloud computing, because of its versatility and various features, has opened many doors for new businesses. From Microsoft to Amazon, every big company has launched its cloud-based services, and names like Workday Inc. are making big in this field with their innovative ideas on problem-solving for their clients. Workday Inc. is an American on-demand cloud-based service provider that is listed among the top five cloud-based service providers in the world.

About the Company Workday Inc.

Workday Inc. is headquartered in Pleasanton, California, U.S., and was founded in 2005 by Dave Duffield and Aneel Bhusri. Currently, Duffield is working as the chairman of the company, and Bhusri is serving Workday as the co-Ceo. Workday Inc. is an online software service provider and offers subscription-based services to its clients, according to their interests and requirements. These services include financial management, spend management, analytics, reporting and benchmarking, human capital management, enterprise planning, payroll, and workforce management, etc. The company doesn’t sell its software but services.

Workday Inc. believes in adapting to the changes, so it has always walked together with every new innovation and developed solutions for its clients incorporating the latest technologies. The company’s software includes technologies like machine learning to provide its clients with the best solutions and help them grow with the new technologies. The company always keeps on updating its services according to new technologies arriving and release major updates for its software every six months.

In fifteen years journey of Workday, the company has come up with 34 different products, Amazon Web Services being its major cloud computing infrastructure provider. The company has its various data centers situated in different cities in the world, including Virginia, Dublin, Ireland, Netherlands, and Amsterdam, etc.

The Foundational Story of Workday Inc.

Dave Duffield, the co-founder of Workday Inc., had already founded another company named PeopleSoft and was one of the famous entrepreneurs among his peers. He met Aneel Bhusri when both were working for PeopleSoft. After selling off PeopleSoft, one day, Duffield had a meeting with Bhusri at Jax Truckee Diner, in Lake Tahoe of California. During the meeting, the two decided to start a new SaaS (software as a service) company that would develop and offer cloud-based HR and Finance applications. The idea was to revolutionize the enterprise software market and help companies manage their finances and hr functions through their online services.

So in March 2005, the two launched Workday Inc. in Walnut Creek, California, with an initial investment by Duffield and Greylock Partners, a venture capital firm. Later in 2008, the company headquarters was shifted to Pleasanton, California. Workday partnered with Flextronics in the same year to incorporate human capital management software services into its operations. To enhance its services, Workday also partnered with names like Fairchild Semiconductor, Thomson Reuters, Aviva and Time Warner, etc.

By the mid of the next year, Workday had raised around $75 million through a round of investment led by New Enterprise Associates. By 2011, the company had raised a total of $250 million since its inception, Jeff Bezos (CEO Amazon) being one of the major investors. The company had its first IPO in the New York Stock Exchange in October 2012, raising $637 million by selling 22.75 million Class A shares.

The Founder of the Company

Dave Duffield is a renowned entrepreneur who is also the founder of the technology company PeopleSoft. The Workday co-founder Aneel Bhusri is also known for his leadership and was associated with PeopleSoft. He was the vice-president of the company.

Dave Duffield has got an electrical engineering degree and has done an MBA from Cornell University. After graduating, he joined IBM as the marketing representative, and later, worked as the systems engineer in the same company. Duffield also worked with Integral Systems and held different positions at the company, including the post of CEO, chairman, and chief product architect. Apart from PeopleSoft and Workday, he is also one of the co-founders of Information Associates. He has won various awards, including the Golden Plate Award (1998), EY Entrepreneur of the Year (2013), and Cornell Engineering Distinguished Alumni Award (2018).

The other co-founder of Workday Inc., Aneel Bhusri, is a Bachelor of Science degree in electrical engineering from Brown University and has done an MBA from Stanford Graduate School of Business. He started his career at Morgan Stanley as a corporate finance analyst. In 1993 he joined PeopleSoft as the director of planning. After a decade of working for PeopleSoft, he ended up being the vice-chairman of the company. During the same time, he also partnered with the capital venture firm Greylock Partners. He is a recipient of the EY Entrepreneur of the Year (2013) and the Great Place to Work CEO For All Leadership Award (2020).

The Company Today

In fifteen years of its journey, Workday Inc. has become one of the top tech companies in the world. It has also made a few acquisitions to enhance its services. In 2017, the company opened its platform for developers and third-party software to step into the Platform as a Service market. The company has featured among the Fortune magazine’s top 100 companies, that too in the top five companies in 2020. Currently, over 12,500 are working in Workday Inc. at its different branches around the globe.

Yashica Vashishtha

Yashica is a Software Engineer turned Content Writer, who loves to write on social causes and expertise in writing technical stuff. She loves to watch movies and explore new places. She believes that you need to live once before you die. So experimenting with her life and career choices, she is trying to live her life to the fullest.

www.xornor.co

Tech Giants Face another Threat from the EU

Leave a Comment / Facebook, Google, Microsoft, News, Tech News / By Athulya

Technology companies have been feeling the heat ever since the onset of the Coronavirus pandemic. Throughout these last six months, they have faced various sanctions and threats from around the world. With the EU trying to bring into play a Data tax, and the American government investigating their power, big tech firms have been under the microscope this year. Several nations around the world have also stated that their handling of false news amidst the global health pandemic has not been satisfactory. The EU, in particular, has been sharp regarding its criticism of the power yielded by such companies. Now once again, the EU has threatened to ban them from the European market unless they follow EU regulations. Let us now take a look at what the ban could mean for the big tech firms and what guidelines the EU wants to be implemented.

EU Ban on the Horizon

The services of tech companies could be banned from the EU unless they follow the organization’s guidelines. EU’s chief of industry, Thierry Breton while speaking to a German weekly named Wely am Sonntag pointed out that the EU is in the process of finalizing their data handling rules. The EU has been very vocal in its criticism of big tech companies, and have been drafting better policies to control the power they wield. The new rules named the Digital Services Act, and the Digital Markets Act will revolutionize the tech industry within Europe. Breton and Margrethe Vestager, who serves as the European Competition Commissioner, will announce the new guidelines on 2 December.

What are the new rules about?

The new guidelines will serve as a list of Do’s and Don’ts for tech companies, acting as gatekeepers for such companies. They will limit the power yielded by such companies and prevent them from monopolizing the European market. It will also force such companies to share the data they collect with both rivals and regulators. Hence, it will also serve as a significant deterrent to the promotion of their services and products unfairly. All of these laws will help the EU have a more significant say on the power and exclusivity yielded by large tech firms.

Who impact will the new rules have on the market?

The newly drafted rules will have a massive impact on American tech firms, which have been on the firing line for the past year. The EU pin-pointed Alphabet-owned Google, which has failed to stop its anti-competition activities. In the past, Google has been criticized for monopolizing the market and driving competition out by unfairly promoting its services and products. While it has been called out several times, the American giant has failed to curb such practices. Certain industry experts want the EU enforcers to do more than order companies to stop. Hence, the newly drafted rules will give the EU the power to ban such companies from the coalition. As a result, it is safe to say that the tech giants will take these new laws more seriously, fearing a ban from the 27-country political bloc.

What is the need for such rules?

However, until the EU passes the newly drafted rules, the organization does not have the power to enforce its threats. Breton told the German weekly that the power to enforce its threats is important if people wish to see any change. He was clear to state that the EU was done waiting for the change to occur organically. Having appropriate rules and measures in place, including fines, penalties, legal action, and bans will help the companies take these laws more seriously. The laws also allow the enforces to split companies up and limit their access to the Single market, helping them put some weight behind their threats.

However, Breton was quick to point out that the committee would take only required measures, saving the strictest rules for exceptional cases. Also, it is clear to see that big tech firms fear such rules. Google launched a 60-day plan to gain American allies to push back against such EU regulations. Donald Trump has also been vocal regarding his criticism of such strict laws and rules against American companies. But, it looks like such rules will become a reality soon enough and that the tech giants will have to curb their power finally. Such a move coupled with the enforcement of the Data tax would lead to tech giants, such as Facebook, Google, Amazon, Apple, and Microsoft becoming more accountable for their actions. We will have to wait and see to what extent the EU goes in a bid to fight the tech giants and their unchecked power.

Athulya

Being a cinephile with a love for all things outdoorsy, Athulya never misses a chance to chase inspiring stories or poke fun at things, even when the subject is herself. Currently pursuing a degree in mechanical engineering, she is someone innately interested in technical and scientific research. Music reviews and op-eds define her as they allow her to explore different perspectives. Though sometimes she thinks she makes more sense playing the guitar than she does while writing.

American Tech Giants Called Out for Their Monopoly Power

Leave a Comment / apple, Facebook, Google, Microsoft, News, Tech News / By Athulya

Around the world, we are witnessing governments coming down heavily on tech giants. Recently, the EU commanded social media giants to be warier about the flow of misinformation and fake news. Now the American government, which till now has been very lax seems to be doing the same. Yesterday, a group of Democratic lawyers pushed Congress to make such companies more accountable for the power they yield. Here’s a look at how the monopoly power of these companies, and how lawmakers are planning on changing it.

Tech Giants Ongoing Investigation

A list of recommendations and appeals came at the end of a 16-month investigation into such tech giants. Companies, such as Amazon, Google, Facebook, and Apple came under Congressional radar in the last few years. Since then, lawmakers have been asking for more accountability and the spreading of power. The lawmakers mentioned yesterday that such companies enjoyed too much power, resulting in numerous unfair practices. They also called for a reining in of such power to help level the playing field within the tech industry. However, as expected, the Republicans disagreed with this outlook, with Jim Jordan dismissing the report as partisan. He also claimed the report was radical, saying it was an attempt by the far left to refashion American anti-trust laws.

The monopoly power of Tech Giants

The size and power that tech companies yield has been a constant topic of debate in Washington in recent years. This ongoing investigation came up through the House Judiciary Committee to probe into the working of these firms. The final 449-page report the committee staff submitted accuses these companies of engaging in unfair means. For instance, they found that such large tech firms charge high fees and force smaller companies into unfavorable deals. Further acquisitions involve using killer acquisitions to finish off rivals and retain their monopoly. In effect, the underdog start-ups of yesteryears have grown into monopolies that resemble old-time oil barons and railroad and air tycoons.

Changes Proposed

Some of the changes proposed by the Council are as follows;

More vigorous enforcement of competition laws which already exist
Limit the nature and area of business
Prevent companies from playing in fields where they are a dominant infrastructure builder
Shifting the burden of anti-competition to proof for acquisitions to make buying out competition more challenging
Consider separating online platforms and other businesses
Force the breakup of such Big Tech firms into smaller components
Add nondiscrimination laws to prevent firms from prioritizing their products

As you can see, these changes will have a massive impact on the future functioning of Big Tech. While the report does not define the actual and exact legislation needed, it does give a direction for Congress to take things forward.

Replies by Big Tech

In the hearing in July, most of these significant players hit back at the allegations, calling them fringe notions. Amazon, on Tuesday, defended its actions through a blog post saying it never did anything that breaches present anti-trust laws. It also noted that the Amazon marketplace has been a successful venture for third-party sellers and that there were no unfair deals in the background. Facebook too defended its acquisition of WhatsApp and Instagram, saying it celebrated competition. It also mentioned that regulators went through all the laws and deals to ensure there was nothing illegal or corrupt behind it.

Political Issue

The report many have said seems to be heavily Democratic. As a result, it faced severe criticism from the Republican party. For instance, the Republicans wanted a section on the anti-conservative bias of social media in the report. However, such a move did not go down well with the Democrats who blocked it, calling it an allegation and conspiracy theory. However, several Republicans do seem to agree on the fact that anti-trust laws need to be more fool-proof. For instance, Ken Buck supported a slew of recommendations, such as shifts in law that make it challenging to acquire competition. Most experts believe that there will be no legislative proposals until after the election.

But one thing seems to be clear. Big Tech will undergo massive changes in policy and operations, following this election no matter who wins! Will this be the end of Big Tech? Let us know what you think in the comments below!