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L.N. Revathy

When a group of gypsies offered a plastic card at the cash counter of a departmental store, eWorld knew technology was going places, and was more substance than hype. More on it.

PASSING through the otherwise dull rural township of Sirumugai, about 40 km from Coimbatore, in Tamil Nadu, the eWorld team stopped at a departmental store. We noticed a group of gypsies flaunting a plastic card at the cash counter and wondered how on earth this group managed to get a card while certain professionals were being denied this privilege. We learnt that the group was in the habit of transacting with the `eTrans DigiCash Card', accumulating cash transaction bonus points on their purchases.

Considering the dent that technology has made into this rural pocket where even the Internet has not penetrated to any saturated level, we realised how the plastic card technology has grown by leaps and bounds.

The card concept is not restricted to `credit' (buy now pay later) alone anymore. There is the ATM card or debit card, the Get More card driving purchases, the Petro Card and the like, all of which can be seen in one's purse among others, today.

But what exactly is this eTrans DigiCash Card? Is it just another `Smart Card'?

Introduced by the Hyderabad-based Kedia InfoTech Ltd, the eTrans DigiCash Card is a Smart Card with a difference. It is an interactive system of people participating and recording all their commercial (cash) transactions on an eCommerce platform to harness mutual benefit by earning cash points in a digitised environment.

The cardholder earns DigiCash points on every purchase which can be spent and redeemed. The concept is similar to the bonus or loyalty points earned by using a Petro Card or Get More card, but here, after a one-time investment of Rs 2,300 on enrolment, the card holder continues to accumulate bonus points on every purchase, forcing him to plan his expenditure.

Hitherto, financial plans have been based on disposable income. "With the eTrans DigiCash Card, it is the reverse. It is an expenditure plan. Spending though is a regular phenomenon. It starts before one enters this world and continues even after his demise. So we decided to work on this concept of making an expenditure plan," says Ashok Kumar Kedia, CEO of Kedia Infotech.

The card is an eSolution involving the use of embedded chip, which captures the expenditure made At the Cash Counter or Point-of-Sale (POS).

"We formulated a selling proposition and redefined the boundaries after understanding the needs, goals, dynamics and incentives of suppliers, distributors and customers. We were keen to create reliable info structures by integrating and coordinating business processes to help the end-user gain mutually by using the technology and application," Ashok explains.

The DigiCash Card concept is still in its nascent stage. Presently through its 612 ATC (Authorised Trading Centres) and DLC (DigiCash Loading Centres), established at small and medium shops, the company records the transaction details of the eTran members.

The company is trying to expand the eTran members reach by widening its network and exploring newer areas for redeeming the loyalty points, such as in booking of train tickets, power bill, water taxes etc.

The company has tied up with a local hospital in Coimbatore. With the cost of hospitalisation on the rise, the eTran DigiCash Card member would probably get some breather on the bill from the bonus points earned.

But how does this card benefit the gypsies?

The State Pioneer K. Damodaraswamy explains that the group purchases grocery items regularly from the store in Sirumugai. The store, incidentally, is an ATC. "Every time a purchase was made, they managed to accumulate the loyalty bonus point. All you have to do is remember the six-digit password to view your earnings. The account can be accessed online at the DigiCash Web site (http://www.etrandigicash.com) or at any ATC. Further, the card is perennial. It can be inherited and transferred," he says.

Though the accumulated bonus points were not that high, the gypsy group appeared a contented lot.

Picture by Parth Sanyal

lnr@thehindu.co.in

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