20 Ways to go Cashless

So it's been 20 days since the government announced the demonetization of 500 / 100 rupee tender notes. Here are 20 different ways users can go cashless by making payments through use of plastic cards (credit / debit), mobile e-wallets, cheques or online transfers.

Users can:
1. Buy Grocery from Bigbasket using PayTM, PayU, HDFC PayZapp or Mobikwik app

2. Pay / Recharge mobile and landline connections, data cards, DTH connections, broadband bills, metro payments using PayTM mobile app.

3. Pay Utility bills for Gas / electricity / water using PayTM app

4. Use Chillr app to split money between friends

5. Use Chillr app to pay / transfer consultation fees / money to doctors or other hired services.

6. Pay house maid / gardener / servant / plumber etc through bank cheques or make use of PayTM app to transfer money online or offline

7. Pay Insurance premium or School / College fees using PayTM app

8. Transfer money online using either traditional bank account transfer or through PayTM

9. Shop at PayTM's online MALL (ecommerce store) to buy from various categories like Mobies and mobile accessories, electronics, Fashion, sports and health, home & kitchen etc.

10. Book Movie tickets on BMS using various mobile wallets like PayTM, Mobikwik or PayU etc.

11. Book bus, train, flight tickets using PayTM or Mobikwik app

12. Book Hotel reservations using PayTM

13. Pay using PayTM, HDFC PayZapp app for cab rides

14. Transfer money to friends, families using PayTM, Mobikwik or Chillr app.

15. Pay for patrol / diesel using your credit / debit card or PayTM app

16. Avoid Cash on Delivery for products bought online

17. Use PayTM app to pay offline on various departmental stores

18. Use debit / credit card for buying medicines offline

19. Use OlaMoney to pay for ola rides

20. Send money from PayTM to users bank accounts.

Note:

1. Link your ICICI bank's debit / credit card to Payback to earn Payback points

2. Use various mobile wallet apps while buying online on various ecommerce stores to Earn Cashback

3. Use honey app on checkout page to get hefty discounts before making online payment on various ecommerce stores like firstcry, amazon etc. How ? Click here

4. Maintain balance in e-wallets to earn cashbacks

5. Ask friends / families to join various mobile wallet apps to earn reference cashback and points.

6. Use CouponDunia to earn cashbacks while buying stuff online on various ecommerce stores like firstcry, amazon etc.

7. Buy baby products from FirstCry to earn Loyalty points.

8. Chillr app works best if you have HDFC Bank Account as not all banks are listed as partners within the app.

Read:

How to use PayTM to make Payments

Save Money Buying Online

The Demonetization Effect

Effect: 

With the recent demonetization of 500 / 1000 rupee notes by Indian govt., many are facing problems exchanging the money or depositing it in banks but at the same time, every honest tax payer is supporting Narendra Modi for the initiative taken. People have realized that it may be a temporary short term trouble but will definitely help government to curb black money in long run.

Opinion:

I personally feel this is the right step taken by government and will impact economy in a positive way in years to come. Only those who have stash of undisclosed cash hidden in their pockets are worried about the move.

Request:

Through this post, i would like to make a humble request to all the educated citizens of the country who knows how to use mobile wallets, please make use of wallets to the fullest and help others as well to do daily transactions.

How To Help:

if you know someone in your family or friend circle who needs to transact on daily basis for utilities, please educate them on how to use mobile wallets to pay for the transactions. Help them register their bank accounts in mobile wallets. This way they don't need to worry about carrying cash in their pockets or search for cash rich ATMs or wait in queues for long hours. Feed their wallets in every possible way.

If you find anyone within your family who needs a mobile recharge or pay bills, it's good time for a responsible citizen to pitch in and do the transaction on their behalf using mobile wallets. This way you will not only be able to save their time standing in queues but also avoid the frustration. Buy grocery for them from BigBasket or pay their electricity, cable, broadband bills etc.

Mobile Wallets:

There are many popular mobile e-wallets available which are easy to install and use to transfer / send / receive money or pay the for utilities. Some of the popular ones are: PayTM, MobiKwik, FreeCharge, PayU, Payzapp, Chillr etc.

What more you can do:

People who can transact using mobile wallets can avoid going banks right now and wait to get their hard cash exchanged / deposited in bank accounts. Let the poor or others who has no knowledge of how to use mobile wallets or who needs money on urgent basis or has gone to bank for other important work, give them priority first to visit the branch and do the transactions. Help them in every possible way. You can always get your money exchanged / deposited later, once the situation has come under control and there's not much rush in banks. Have patience. Support the initiative.

If you see an elderly in queue, offer them help by standing in for them or install mobile wallets on their mobile and help them to transact online. If you have enough change (cash) in hand in 100 / 50 / 20 / 10 denominations, exchange that with poor who stand in queue to get 500 / 1000 notes exchanged / deposited.

You can use cheque to make payments. I paid the house maid her monthly salary through cheque. I left the date blank for her to fill it later whenever she find it comfortable to go to the bank and deposit it. I paid the plumber for his service through PayTM.

News:

I recently read that a hospital denied treatment because patient family could only pay in 500 / 1000 notes. As a result, the patient died. An ENT doctor in my locality denied checkup to all those patients visiting with 500 / 1000 notes. Is this human ? Is money above someone's life. Doctors, Hospitals at this time should welcome the move and ask patients or families to pay via mobile wallets or cheques or bank transfer but do not deny them the service. They are in pain and they need your help. Work Responsibly.

That's my take on how you can help others.

Information on Popular Mobile Wallets:

Here's a snippet of few mobile wallets that you can use or educate your family members / friends on how to use them so that they can avoid visiting banks or ATMs for money to do daily transactions:

1. PayTM: Super easy to use. Pay or Send money by scanning the code or using the mobile number. You can add money in your wallet to use it later. Pay mobile bills, recharge, utility bills through PayTM.

2. Mobikwik: Again a very popular app to do all sorts of transactions. Add money to your wallet and use the app to do every transaction.

3. Payzapp: Use HDFC Payzapp to pay for online purchases or utility transactions. I use this app to buy grocery from bigbasket on thursdays as i get cashback of 200 on every 1200 purchase.

Note: You don't need to have HDFC account to install this app. I have configured my icici card in Payzapp to make payments.

4. PayU: Similar to above apps. Super easy to use.

Other similar apps:
Freecharge, Pockets from ICICI Bank, Chillr app etc.

Only downside of using Chillr app is that there are very few banks registered as partners with Chillr. So the chances are high that you may not find your bank listed as partner. As a result you may not be able to transact using Chillr app.

Check if ATM in your area has Waiting / Cash / No Cash:

Here's a website which gives you a list of ATMs that has cash / no cash or has waiting line in front of them. You just need to enter your area Pincode and submit, it will list out all the ATMs with their current money status.

Website: http://www.cashnocash.com

I do not have any idea of how authentic the information is. But one can give it a try and see if it really works or not.

Please share this message with others.

Thanks

#BlackMoney
#Demonetization
#ATMQueues

Free Apps for Pregnant / New Moms

Do you know there are many free apps available on both Android and Apple store for pregnant ladies & new moms ?

These apps can be a life saver during pre and post delivery.

Few Apps are pregnancy related, others are more generic.

1. My Pregnancy Today by Baby Center

This is a must have app for expecting mothers and new moms. This not only tracks your pregnancy (days to your delivery) but keeps you informed about the changes in your health, mood swings, food to eat or avoid and a lot more, detailing into nitty gritty of pregnancy.

You can read articles related to pregnancy, discuss with other expecting / new moms. Learn about the exercises that can be done or even search for baby names. Information from To-Do list at the time of delivery to baby poop color is all available in this very app. The information is backed by veteran doctors and user experiences. So one always get the right (most sorted) advice here.

New Moms can keep track of baby's age with every passing day. it triggers alerts / emails with every passing week / month etc and keeps parents informed about baby's health and changes you may see at every stage. it also tells moms about the food choices and things to watch out for.

Have a question, this app has answer to almost every question. One can learn a great deal of information from here and best part is, its free.

Android: App
iOS: App

Visit Baby Center

2. IAP Immunization

This is an Android app, a must for every Mom & Dad who finds it difficult to keep track of vaccinations to be given to kids at different stages of early life. You can keep track using this app. This app helps you to not to miss out on scheduled (recommended) vaccinations.

This app takes in child information and keeps you informed about the vaccination schedule and trigger reminders when the date is approaching to get the child vaccinated. There's a chart available which list down all the injections / vaccines needed at different stages of child development.

User can send an email to oneself and set reminders.

There are many other similar apps available on both Android and iOS that helps in knowing the vaccination schedule and setup reminders.

So i would recommend all parents to install this app if they don't want to unknowingly miss out on their vaccination schedule.

You can also set SMS alert for vaccine reminder. How ? , Refer the below Screenshot

Source: Facebook

3. White Noise apps

Is your newborn cranky or find it difficult to go to sleep ? Does he / she gets easily distracted from external disturbances ? Is he / she has frequent sleep disturbances or cries a lot before sleeping. if answer to all these questions is "yes", try white noise apps.

White noise helps to sleep and relax new born babies. The external noise when played in endless loop, relaxes baby's body and make him / her sleep instantly.

Android: App
iOS: App

it keeps the baby engaged by minimizing external distractions and pacifies crying babies.

There are many free apps available on both Android and iOS with regards to white noise. Just search "white noise" and install the best rated app on your device. Select a noise which you think will pacify the baby. for eg: Vacuum Cleaner or running shower or incoming train or animal sounds in jungle and play it endlessly. Keep the device at a distance from baby while the noise is playing. You will notice soon the baby will go to sound sleep. During day, it will relax the baby and make him / her fall sleep at night. Stop the noice once the baby is asleep.

This is a must have app for all those parents who sometimes find it read hard to handle cranky / crying babies.

4. Amazon

Yes, you read it right. A must have app for all those parents who are so held up with baby care that they find it hard to even step out of the house to buy stuff.

Amazon has everything available from A to Z with regards to new born or grown up babies. From Diapers to breast pumps to formula feed, everything is available on Amazon.

Make sure before you buy the product, read reviews, check ratings and see the price is good enough to give you best deal.

If you are too much dependent on diapers, trigger price drop alerts so that you do not miss out when the price falls. Checkout the Lightning deals offered by Amazon as they offer discounts on products during off hours.

Android: App
iOS: App

There are many other apps available to buy stuff for eg: firstcry.com, babyoye.com, flipkart.com, Snapdeal.com etc. But i would still recommend to go with Amazon as it gives you the best price deal, awesome service and ontime delivery. Plus, it's a lot easier to return on Amazon incomparison to other e-commerce sites.

Firstcry works best incase of ordering diapers as it has the same day delivery program if you place order before 12 Noon. But this works only on weekdays. So be very careful placing order on firstcry on weekends if you are in urgent need of diapers. They will deliver it after few days only if you order it on weekend.

5. BigBasket

Parents who find it difficult to go out to buy grocery and is always behind schedule must install BB for their rescue.

This app works best when it comes to buying food / grocery online.

Add items to the cart, select a time slot when you need the items, mention your address and make payment. It's that easy. You will get the best food items delivered at your place in no time. This not only saves individual's time but also give peace of mind by making one thing less to worry about. New parents get to spend more time with babies.

Android: App
iOS: App

6. Gaana.com

Do not spend time to load / transfer music on your mobile ? How about playing music online. Install Gaana.com app. Listen seamless high quanlity music with gaana app. This app is a must for new parents as it not only has songs that you can listen to while feeding the baby but you can also play white noise to relax yourself as well as the baby. Just search for "white noise".

If you want to meditate or listed to Geeta or Osho, it's all available on gaana.

The only pre-requisite to use this app is that you should have a high bandwidth working internet to play songs.

I recommend this app to everyone whosoever find it hard to load songs on device or has storage issues. Create a playlist and listen to your favorite songs anytime, anywhere.

Users can also watch videos on youtube but it may not be a very easy option for new parents.

7. Practo

Finding difficult to search for a good doctor in your area. Try Practo. it has all doctors with their key specializations listed in area of search.

From Gynecologist to Pediatrician, all profession doctors are listed in this app. Pregnant women / new parents can search for specific skill doctor in their area on Practo and checkout the ratings and reviews. Doctors address details, fees and time slots is also available. Users can even book an appointment through the app.

This app is a must for all those new parents who has recently moved to new place and has no clue about good doctors in their areas.

Android: App
iOS: App

Besides the above mentioned apps, users can join pregnancy / new parents / parenting / child development related groups on google / facebook / yahoo etc.. There's a lot to explore.

Thanks

5 must have Android Apps - 2015

It's hard to find anyone without a smart phone today. And any person with smart phone, is always in search of best apps freely available on play store. 

Today, I'll be sharing some of my favorite android apps that I categorize as "Must Have". 

I won't be talking about the generic mainstream apps that we install first thing after buying a phone. Neither I'll talk about iOS apps because I find android OS giving more freedom to install apps easily and choose from variety available.

here are my favorite five: 

1. SMS Backup+

One thing we fear the most, chances of losing mobile data especially the important messages (SMS) that we get from Banks, services used, OTPs, transaction details, credit card / loan messages etc. 

Need not worry anymore, now you have the power to backup all your messages from phone in your Gmail account using this app "SMS Backup+". Trust me it's a life saver. Even in an unforeseen event of losing your phone, the app gives you freedom to restore data from your Gmail account on to your phone without any glitch.

Some of the salient features:

• "SMS backup plus" automatically backups your SMS, MMS and call log entries once you connect it with your Gmail account. It creates a separate label in Gmail for better visibility and avoid missing the data with your emails. 
• User can restore SMS and call log (but not MMS) back on to phone easily through the app. 
• it can be installed either on phone memory or SD Card. I recommend you to install in on phone because there are technical glitches on taking backup and data restoration from SD card.
• It's free to download. This has inbuilt app updates from Google play store.
• it does not occupy much of your mobile's RAM. 
• The app performs data backup in background as long as your phone is connected to internet. No manual backups needed if you are using this app.

There are other apps available to backup mobile messages (SMS). I have tried few (airdroid, mightytext) and I found this to be the ultimate winner. So this tops my list of 5 must have android apps on your mobile. 

I would love to hear from you if you know of or have been using any app better than this to backup your SMS data.

2. MSN Money

This app is for all those interested in stocks, markets and investments. it's an easy way to keep track of your stocks and simplify life.

if you are an investor / stock freak and wants to track your investments on daily, weekly or monthly basis, this is a must have app on your mobile. it works very similar to moneycontrol. The only drawback is you need to have an MSN account to access this app. But that's not a difficult task if you really wants to track your stocks at any cost. 

The best thing about this app is that it does not throw ads on your screen while your accessing it unlike moneycontrol and other apps.

• This app provides  in-depth analysis, statistics, recommendations, price movements, news about the stocks, market movers etc.
• You can create your own watchlist to have a quick look at your stocks and check on their performance.
• You can study indices as per your area of interest.
• it gives you news about the latest happening in markets today.
• it always shares links to blogs / posts about Personal finance.

There are tools available within the app which allows you to:

• Convert Currency
• Calculate monthly mortgage
• Tip calculator
• Wealth Estimator
• Retirement Planner

Search for a stock on BSE / NSE and it gives you an Overview of the stock, news about it, recommendations, Statistics, Trends, Competitor stocks working in the same sector & the Stock profile.

If you are already using any popular apps like moneycontrol etc. to track your watchlist, try this app as well. I guarantee, you will not regret it.

3. Cam Scanner

Gone are the days when you have to go to the nearest cafe to get your docs scanned and send it in email. Who would have thought one fine day users will have an app to scan docs as smoothly as a real scanner and print them. Cam Scanner is the app for these tasks. 

Life just got better for all those always in want of scanning documents to fax / send or print them. 

Now you can easily scan your documents, edit it and send fax or take print outs.

Some of the salient features:

• Scanned documents can be either saved as pdfs or JPEG images
• you can either create individual pdfs of scanned docs or club them together under one pdf
• you can crop the scanned doc, enhance its text to make it more readable.
• you can easily print docs through this app once your printer and mobile is in the same network.
• you can also add watermarks on your scanned docs and set pass codes to protect them

Connect your Gmail account and send the scanned doc in your email for backup.

This app also has a paid version providing you up to 10G of cloud space and auto upload feature. I believe the free version has enough features to lasts for a lifetime. So I would really not recommend to buy the app unless you need some service which is only available in paid version.

4. SMS Notifier (SMS Popup)

How many of you are fascinated with the way iOS show any incoming message by directly opening a popup with message details.

This feature is not available in android (at least in the version I am using 4.1.2). 

So I thought of having it installed on my android mobile using "SMS Notifier" app. This app works just the same way as on iOS. Any new incoming message is notified to the user through a popup without the need of user manually reading the message through the message box. Isn't that convenient. 

It's easy to read your incoming messages even when your mobile is locked. Once you install it, the app works in background and performs the task. 

5. Inshorts

Short on watching news on television or reading a newspaper because of time crunch. How about having an online app to read news. "News in Shorts" app (now Inshots) allows you to read news at any time and keeps you updated with the latest happening around the globe.

Catch all the news, local & global, from around the world, presented to you in not more than 60 words. 

You can set filters as to what type of news you want to read about. Sports / Political / Business / Movies, national / international, you get it all here in 60 words. 

This app has this cool feature to swipe left / right to read news in detail. Swipe up / down allows you to move between the news on the app. it's fun to read news here. The news presented here are not cluttered on one screen like flipboard. 

You can also set the theme as you want to view the app in day / night mode.

This app will definitely give you a new news reading experience. A must try.

If you know apps that you think deserves to be on "must have" list, let me know, I would love to check them out. Thanks

Pockets app from ICICI Bank

ICICI Bank has come up with a mobile wallet app called "Pockets". This is similar to popular apps like Paytm & Mobikwik.

Pockets by ICICI is your online wallet (free VISA card as they say it) to do online transactions. It's not necessary to have a Bank account number to access this app. Registration is done through your mobile number (MPIN) if you do not hold an account with ICICI Bank. Otherwise it asks your account login details.

Check out this video:

The app is super easy to use. User friendly interface makes it more easy to do all sorts of transactions. It allows you to recharge prepaid mobile, DTH, data cards, pay postpaid mobile bills & utility bills and shop online. You can transfer money to any Bank account or contacts.

This app gives direct competition to the most popular "Bookmyshow" app as you can book movie tickets through Pockets now. Easy steps makes it like a knife through the cake. The only drawback is if you are on "Book my show" website and land on the payment page, you may not find an option to make payments using "Pockets" wallet. PayU, Mobikwik and other wallets are available to make payments.

You can easily add funds in your Pockets wallet and get cachback, add contacts to favorites if you plan to do frequent money transfers. You can split the bills with your friends even if they do not have ICICI bank account number. it gives you an option to view statements, transactions done within the app.

Through this app, you can apply for Pockets physical card and use it offline. It's free but the Bank do charge you for the courier handling charges. make sure you enter your complete address while applying for the physical card. Personally, i really don't think its necessary to apply for physical card because most of the important transactions you can do through the app.

You can also check out the best offers and deals available through the app. It also sends notifications in your mailbox for any new offers.

If you are having a Bank account with ICICI, this app gives you an option to switch between your Pockets account and your bank account. Switching to Bank account is similar to checking your online account. You can check last 10 transactions done or more, see statements, balance and make online transfers as well.

For any update for eg: you get a gift or friends split bills, the app shows a notification similar to facebook within the app.

You can personalize the app and change your settings, profile, add your photo. you can even create your wish list within the app.

ICICI gives you an option to chat directly with their Customer Care within the app. I have been using this app on my android mobile and till now hasn't come across any situation where i need to speak with Customer Care.

It has login / logout option so everytime you open the app to do transaction or check balance, you need to login and logout once you finish the transaction. So its highly secure and easy to use.

The app can be installed on both Apple IOS and Android through google play store.

A big major issue is the app hangs and shuts down suddenly which is not a good sign while making banking transaction. User feels insecure while making transaction. Also, many users who applied for the physical card are waiting forever to get the card delivered at their footsteps.

I have been using this app to recharge my mobile, book tickets and transfer funds and view statements and transactions, i never came across any issue. I also use other apps like Paytm & Mobikwik depending on which app is giving me more cashback while making transactions.

I would recommend you to install this app and use it only when you find any offer at better discounts or cash backs than other apps.

Thanks