Sarvatra Technologies
Type
ISININE190N01014
Industry
Founded22 June 2000 (22 June 2000)
FounderMandar Agashe
Headquarters
Pune, Maharashtra
,
India
Area served
India
Key people
Products
Services
Revenue
Total equity
Number of employees
  • Increase 411 (2022)
  • 300 (2021)
Websitesarvatra.tech
Footnotes / references
[1][2]

Sarvatra Technologies Private Limited is an Indian fintech company, headquartered in Pune, Maharashtra, that develops banking software and provides PaaS (Platform as a Service), SaaS (Software as a Service), and cloud computing solutions to cooperative, private, and public sector banks in India.

As of 2020, the company's PaaS model supported 600 banks in India, while the company's electronic funds transfer (EFT) switch had a 54% market share among application service providers in India. The company had a 55% market share in providing banking software to banks in India. The company's switch was the recipient of a BFSI Innovation Tribe Award from The Economic Times in 2018, and a Best Banking Technology Award from the Internet and Mobile Association of India in 2019.

History

The company was founded on 22 June 2000 by Mandar Agashe and is headquartered in Pune, Maharashtra.[1] The company initially worked in conjunction with Agashe's other financial technology companies, EBZ Online and Codito, developing banking software solutions.[3] After securing a loan worth ₹35 million from his father's Suvarna Sahakari Bank in May 2002,[4] the companies launched a point of sale (PoS) terminal called "Sarvatra" through the bank's 12 branches across Maharashtra in July 2003.[5][6] The name Sarvatra Technologies began being used officially by 2004.[7]

In May 2006, the company installed its inaugural "Anywhere Money" point of sale terminal in a bank in Ahmednagar as a proof of concept for the Government of Maharashtra. Then Union Minister of Agriculture Sharad Pawar inaugurated the project. The company's terminals received praise from politicians Shankarrao Gadakh and Hasan Mushrif, with them encouraging local schools, farmers, artisans, and traders to make use of the system. The Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited, as well as sugarcane factories in the Parner taluka and those of the Brihan Maharashtra Sugar Syndicate implemented use of the terminals for their clients. By January 2008, in a report filed by C. Rangarajan, the Reserve Bank of India's governor at the time, Y. V. Reddy and economist Raghuram Rajan, approved plans for the company to install their terminals in banks nationwide,[8][9] becoming the sponsor model used by the National Payments Corporation of India for the National Financial Switch.[10]

Earlier in 2007, Agashe, then serving as Sarvatra Technologies's managing director, had merged the company's operations with EBZ Online and Codito,[7] while partnering with Larry Ellison and the Oracle Corporation to introduce banking software technology to rural India,[11] having previously gained I-flex Solutions founder Deepak Ghaisas as a director on Sarvatra Technologies's board of directors in 2002.[12][5]

In 2010, the company became the first application service provider to connect directly to the National Financial Switch.[13] In July 2011, MLA Sudhakar Paricharak inaugurated the company's first instalment of its point of sale ATMs at a local bank in Pandharpur.[14] By 2014, the company provided core banking services to 104 rural banks in India, and further launched credit and debit cards in partnership with RuPay that same year.[10] Between 2016 and 2018, the company had aided 450 rural cooperative banks across 26 Indian states and union territories to connect to the National Financial Switch.[15]

By 2018, the company had a gross transaction value of ₹400 billion, and had the Enam Group, ICICI Bank, Indian Overseas Bank, and the Oracle Corporation as key shareholders. It also provided banking software to HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, Axis Bank, and Yes Bank,[15] and through ICICI Bank, to Google and WhatsApp.[16] The company further managed 50% and 30% of the total transaction volume generated on the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) and the Immediate Payment Service (IMPS) platforms respectively.[13] That same year, the company's electronic funds transfer (EFT) switch was the recipient of a BFSI Innovation Tribe Award from The Economic Times.[17] In 2019, the switch further received a Best Banking Technology Award from the Internet and Mobile Association of India, while the company was reported to have a 55% market share in providing banking software to banks in India.[18] The company also issued cards under the Kisan Credit Card scheme.[19] Around this time, it was reported that the company sought funding in private equity for its micro ATMs.[16][20]

In March 2020, the company employed a work from home model in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, with Agashe announcing his plans to continue with the model after the pandemic.[21] In April that same year, the company reported a three-fold rise in Aadhaar-enabled cash withdrawal in rural areas amid the COVID-19 lockdown in India across its UPI, IMPS, ATM, and PoS modes.[22] Around this time, the company also established a network of micro ATMs and ATM vans to populations affected by the pandemic in rural India. The company also provided banking support to IDBI Bank, Punjab National Bank, Bank of Maharashtra, Paytm Payments Bank, Equitas Small Finance Bank, and Jana Small Finance Bank,[23] and further had Google Pay as a client.[24] In November 2020, it was reported that the company had established a sponsorship model with the Central Bank of India that would aid the company to build a digital payment infrastructure for small rural banks and credit unions towards India's under-banked rural population as per World Bank estimates.[25] By December of that year, the company had connected 50 urban cooperative banks to its UPI platform.[26]

In 2023, the company announced its collaboration with ICICI Bank, IDFC First Bank and Pine Labs to provide payments support to foreign travellers to the 2023 G20 New Delhi summit by issuing UPI enabled mobile payment wallets at Indira Gandhi International Airport in New Delhi, Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport in Mumbai, and Kempegowda International Airport in Bangalore.[27][28]

Products and services

Sarvatra EFT Switch

In 2010, the company's ISO 8583 standard electronic funds transfer (EFT) switch, Sarvatra EFT Switch, became the first EFT switch from an application service provider to be granted permission from the National Payments Corporation of India to join the National Financial Switch. Prior to this, most cooperative banks in India did not have the infrastructure or financing to provide real-time gross settlement within the payment and settlement systems in India. This allowed the company to integrate rural and urban co-operative banks across India to secure Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard ISO/IEC 27001 standard infrastructure. The Sarvatra EFT Switch was thus offered to banks as a Platform as a Service (PaaS) product on the RuPay, Bharat Bill Pay, and Kisan Credit Card network.[13][29]

After recommendations from the National Payments Corporation of India, the Sarvatra EFT Switch was offered as a software as a service (SaaS) platform to various urban, small and district level cooperative banks in India. The switch's infrastructure enabled transactions on ATMs, point of sale (POS) and ecommerce platforms. By 2018, the Sarvatra EFT Switch was present in banks across 23 Indian states and 3 union territories, and managed 50% of the total national transactions generated on the Unified Payments Interface (UPI),[15] and 30% of the total national transactions generated on the Immediate Payment Service (IMPS) in India.[13]

The Sarvatra EFT Switch was the recipient of a BFSI Innovation Tribe Award from The Economic Times in 2018,[17] and a Best Banking Technology Award from the Internet and Mobile Association of India in 2019.[18] And by 2020, the switch had become a plug and play service offered to banks. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the switch's use in Sarvatra Technologies' micro ATMs and ATM vans aided the company's client banks to provide doorstep cash delivery services to under-banked rural areas of India that were cash-dominant economies.[23][25]

Growth

The company has reportedly raised US$19M in total funding over six funding rounds, as of September 2021. Razorpay, Pine Labs, Stripe, and BillDesk were listed as its competitors.[30]

Funding history[30]
Date Funding type Money raised Lead investor Valuation
7 September 2011 Series A — ICICI Bank —
28 June 2014 Series A US$3.18M Vallabh Bhanshali —
2 September 2016 Series A US$1.54M Brihans Natural Products —
22 September 2021 Angel investment US$2.71M Vallabh Bhanshali US$22.6M

See also

References

  1. 1 2 "Sarvatra Technologies Private Limited Company Profile". The Economic Times. Retrieved 14 March 2023.
  2. ↑ "Sarvatra Technologies Private Limited". Zauba Corp. 11 August 2022. Retrieved 5 March 2023.
  3. ↑ Company News and Notes. Vol. 37. Ministry of Commerce & Industry. July 2000. p. 46. Retrieved 3 March 2023 – via University of California, Berkeley.
  4. ↑ "Sarvatra Technologies Private Limited". The Company Check. Retrieved 3 March 2023.
  5. 1 2 "New software boon for co-op. bank clients". The Times of India. TNN. 25 July 2003. Retrieved 3 March 2023.
  6. ↑ "Pune co-op bank installs ebz Online's software". Business Line. Pune. The Hindu. 26 July 2003. Archived from the original on 9 September 2003. Retrieved 3 March 2023.
  7. 1 2 "A New High". Business India. A. H. Advani: 69–70. January 2004. Retrieved 9 October 2022 – via University of Virginia.
  8. ↑ "'एनी व्हेअर मनी' योजना देशभर राबविण्याची शिफारस : गडाख" [Recommendation to implement 'Anywhere Money' scheme across the country: Gadakh]. Pudhari (in Marathi). Nagar. 18 August 2008.
  9. ↑ "'एनी व्हेअर मनी' योजना देशभर राबविण्याची शिफारस" ['Anywhere Money' Scheme should be implemented nationwide]. Loksatta (in Marathi). Nagar. 18 August 2008.
  10. 1 2 Sarvatra Technologies Exceeds Growth Targets (Report). Maharashtra: Centre for the Study of Financial Innovation. 18 July 2014.
  11. ↑ Madhavan, Narayanan (11 May 2007). "Larry, Mandar jam for rural banking". The Hindustan Times. New Delhi – via Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń.
  12. ↑ "i-flex Solutions targets co-op banksnews". The Hindu. 11 January 2002.
  13. 1 2 3 4 "Here's how one company is helping small banks to ensure Digital Payment interoperability". Moneycontrol. 29 March 2019. Retrieved 3 March 2023.
  14. ↑ "पंढरपूर अर्बन बँक बहुराष्ट्रीयप्रमाणे सेवा देणार" [Pandharpur Urban Bank will provide services like a multinational]. Sakal (in Marathi). Pandharpur. 28 July 2011.
  15. 1 2 3 Maru, Pankaj (17 August 2018). "Sarvatra Technologies brings 450th co-operative bank on National Financial Switch". TechHerald.in. New Delhi. Retrieved 3 March 2023.
  16. 1 2 "IMPS platform Sarvatra Tech eyes $20 mn PE fund". Businessline. PTI. 2 December 2018. Retrieved 3 March 2023.
  17. 1 2 "The Economic Times BFSI Innovation Tribe 2018 – The 2nd Edition Economic Times Iconic Brands of India 2018". The Economic Times. Retrieved 3 March 2023.
  18. 1 2 "Sarvatra Technologies accredited as Best Banking Technology provider". United News of India. Mumbai. 25 January 2019. Retrieved 3 March 2023.
  19. ↑ ""Sarvatra provided the entire infrastructure required for a bank to centralize its system" – By, Mr. Mandar Agashe , Sarvatra Technologies – leading Banking and Payments solutions provider". Technuter. 19 February 2019. Retrieved 3 March 2023.
  20. ↑ Sangani, Priyanka (15 January 2019). "Sarvatra Technologies seeks funding for microATM network". The Economic Times. Retrieved 3 March 2023.
  21. ↑ Rebello, Maleeva (30 March 2020). "Mandar Agashe says he'll consider making 50 per cent of his team work remotely post-lockdown". The Economic Times. Retrieved 3 March 2023.
  22. ↑ "Sarvatra Tech logs over 3-fold jump in Aadhar-enabled transactions in rural India amid lockdown". Business Insider. New Delhi. PTI. 29 April 2020. Retrieved 3 March 2023.
  23. 1 2 "Sarvatra Technologies offers door-step cash delivery in rural India; witnesses 353% rise in Aadhaar withdrawals". Express Computer. 28 April 2020. Retrieved 5 March 2023.
  24. ↑ Mohan, Raghu (7 May 2020). "We help banks stay on the grid: Sarvatra Technologies' Mandar Agashe". Business Standard. Retrieved 5 March 2023.
  25. 1 2 "Indian FinTech Creates Inclusive Services For Rural Underbanked". PYMNTS.com. 2 November 2020. Retrieved 5 March 2023.
  26. ↑ "Sarvatra on-boards 50 co-operative banks on UPI platform". The Hindu. New Delhi. 3 December 2020. Retrieved 3 March 2023.
  27. ↑ "Sarvatra Tech enables ICICI Bank, IDFC Bank, Pine Labs to extend UPI for G20 travellers". Livemint. New Delhi. 28 February 2023. Retrieved 3 March 2023.
  28. ↑ Monteiro, Leandra (28 February 2023). "Sarvatra Technologies enables G20 travellers to use UPI". IBS Intelligence. Retrieved 3 March 2023.
  29. ↑ "Sarvatra Tech helping co-op banks to catch up with digital revolution". The Bridge Chronicle. Pune. 19 August 2018. Retrieved 6 March 2023.
  30. 1 2 "Sarvatra: Cloud-based software solutions for banks". Tracxn.com. Retrieved 6 March 2023.
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