Perspective from Bangalore: The World Is Flatter than Ever

Greetings from Bangalore. I’m here this week for the opening of Visa’s new technology center in the Bagamne World Technology Center, a 70-acre campus in the heart of India’s IT corridor. It’s a beautiful summer day here, and there is palpable energy and excitement in the air. It reminds me of Thomas Friedman’s book The World is Flat, in particular its central thesis that ubiquitous telecommunication networks have created a new era of global innovation and competition that has bridged the gap between the so-called developed and emerging economies.

Ten years after his visit to Bangalore, the trends he identified – hyper-connected workforces and robust broadband infrastructure – have accelerated. Everywhere I look here in India people are busy with their smartphones or other connected devices, whether they are video-calling their friends and colleagues, shopping online, playing games or even coding. We can shift this scene elsewhere and the trends are exactly the same, be it San Francisco, Shanghai or St. Petersburg.

According to the GSMA, there are 941 million mobile connections in India. This number far outpaces the 500 million bank accounts here. But despite these advances in connectivity, India, like many emerging economies, is overwhelming cash-based, accounting for 90 percent of all consumer spending. However, cash adds friction to commerce, is costly and inhibits economic progress as was reported in a study by Moody’s Analytics. https://vi.sa/1KMWBeB

Digitizing payments is an important mission for all of us in the financial industry and at Visa in particular. In countries like India, a smart device, not a plastic card, will likely be how most consumers and businesses will transact in the future. Many of the 1,000 engineers that will be based in our Bangalore office will be focusing on new payment innovations that will harness Visa’s network to bring new payment and commerce applications to life.

An example of this and one I am personally excited by is mVisa, a new service we announced today that is being piloted in India.  This new service will be tested with select customers of Axis Bank, HDFC bank, ICICI Bank and State Bank of India, and with merchants across the greater Bangalore region. With mVisa, consumers can make card-less purchases, pay bills and send money to friends and family members. It is an exciting innovation that we will continue to evolve as we learn from the pilot and the feedback from consumers and merchants.

How are you looking at developing tailored solutions for markets around the world? I am interested to hear your thoughts on the importance of mobile and the value of open technology hubs?