With its Bill Payment Kiosk, XPay.Life digitally empower them through cash as well as other popular online payment mechanisms for multi-utility bill payments, said Rohit Kumar, CEO & CMD, XPay.Life, in an exclusive interview with SME Times.

Excerpts of the interview …

Please tell us about XPay.Life and its entrepreneurial journey.

Rohit Kumar: XIPHIAS has been into the business of Bill Payment through Touch Screen Kiosk for more than a decade now and our co-founders have worked closely on a number of projects in XIPHIAS Software Technologies. Together, they saw an opportunity to expand the existing business of bill payment via all possible means – including online as well as offline.

India is a cash-driven country. A recent research report has revealed that 80% of the Rural India and 35% of Urban India does not use digital payment and is dependent upon Cash for the major transactions. XPay.Life Touch Screen Kiosk, POS Device and Mobile Van is going to capture these market readily, wherein both cash and other popular digital payment channels are available. However, for the remaining 20% of Rural India and 65% of Urban India, XPay.Life also offers Web and Mobile App-based bill payment facility.

What are the services XPay.Life provide and how they help?

Rohit Kumar: XPay.Life offers bill payment services including Electricity, Water, Gas, Mobile, Landline, DTH and Broadband through its Touch Screen Kiosk, Web, Mobile App, Mobile Van and POS Device.

Our Honorable PM Shri Narendra Modi has already achieved rural electricity through Sahaj Bijli Har Ghar Yojna (SAUBHAGYA) Scheme, however, the collection is still a challenge from the new consumers. People from remote regions have to travel a lot just to pay their monthly bills, an area where XPay.Life adds considerable value.

XPay.Life has installed Bill Payment Kiosks in Tier 2 and Tier 3 where people can pay their multi-utility bills through cash and other popular digital payment channels. We also offer a Mobile Van-based bill payment service which has Touch Screen Kiosk inside the van. The van visits various strategic places in the remotest parts of the villages where collection comes across as a challenge.

XPay.Life is working on Village Commerce and rural development by helping them to make payments through their selected payment channel, i.e. cash or any digital payment solution.

How important these services are for MSMEs?

Rohit Kumar: MSME is inherently highly dependent on cash. With our Bill Payment Kiosk, we digitally empower them through cash as well as other popular online payment mechanisms for multi-utility bill payments.

As an expert what is your advice to MSMEs in this field?

Start with a small venture with a strong core team and organizational values. Depending on the organic growth of the company, the services can be expanded further.

Do you think Indian MSMEs are less tech-savvy than their global counterparts? How to empower them digitally?

Rohit Kumar: Digital transformation has started taking place in India, however, the enablement of the digital transformation is slow. But businesses are rapidly picking up the concept of Digital India coined by our Honorable Prime Minister. Major services MSME-centric now are available online through various digital platforms and, receiving a further boost from the tech-driven startup segment, they are increasingly joining the digital bandwagon.

XPay.Life provide solutions for both B2B and B2C users, please elaborate on same.

Please share your future plans with our readers.

Rohit Kumar: B2B: XPay.Life offers Payment Gateway services to the businesses. The Company is already into the business of web design and development for more than a decade and has various in-house software products and customers who are using our Education ERP Software, Immigration, Hotel Management Software, HRMS and many more.

B2C: XIPHIAS offers Multi-Utility Bill Payment services to the customers through Touch Screen Kiosk, Web, Mobile App, POS Device and Mobile Van. We have installed 300 Bill Payment Kiosks and witnessing 5 lakhs unique transactions from one of the smallest states of India, and for one biller (Electricity) through its Touch Screen Kiosk.

Our future plan is to expand from 300 Kiosks to 25000 Kiosks in one year and 1 lakh Kiosks in the coming three years through Bill Payment Kiosks, and Mobile Vans.