KOCHI:
The union government has roped in Aceware FinTech Services, a fintech startup mentored by the Kerala Startup Mission and registered with Startup India, as the partner for the special drive launched for the digital on-boarding of the street vendors in Kerala. Under the drive, launched as part of the PM Street Vendor’s Atma Nirbhar Nidhi (PM SVANidhi), a special micro-credit facility for street vendors, the union government aims to bring 8.68 lakh street vendors on-board across the country.
The drive to on-board street vendors to start accepting and making digital payments was launched by the IT ministry along with the housing and urban affairs in 223 cities across the country. “The special drive aims to accelerate on-boarding of street vendors on the UPI QR code and handhold them to start accepting and making digital payment transactions. Five major aggregators including Aceware (Acemoney) have agreed to participate in 45-day special drive for digitally on-boarding the street vendors with BHIM-UPI QR code on pro-bono basis,” said Ministry of Electronics and IT in a statement.
In Kerala, Aceware FinTech Services will cover 5487 street vendors in 50 cities. The remaining will be covered in a later stage. “We are delighted to associate with the government in this initiative. The drive will help to increase the operational efficiency of street vendors and will provide greater convenience for them as well their customers,” said Nimisha J. Vadakkan, Managing Director, Aceware FinTech Services.
The digital payment aggregators will also hand hold the street vendors by performing penny drop transactions and any further support that is required to accept and pay digitally, according to the ministry. The move is expected to enable inclusion of street vendors in the formal credit ecosystem, and help in driving financial inclusion of the unorganized sector.
“Digital Payment Aggregators will educate the street vendors about the benefits of digital payments such as convenience, increased operational efficiency, seamless transfer of funds, cost saving, transparency and security,” the ministry further said in its statement.
