Next Generation Banking Platform - Exclusive Interview With Kumar Gaurav

von Satoshi Nakamoto · 26.09.2018

Today, we are interested in the use of Blockchain and AI technology in the banking sector.

This time we talked to Kumar Gaurav, CEO of CASHAA, Cashaa want to make banking hassle-free, convenient, quicker, economical and profound by digitizing the current banking framework via blockchain technology.

You are welcome to read the interview and travel through the expert mindings by yourself:

SatoshiNakamotoBlog : To begin, kindly tell us briefly about you and your experience ?

Kumar Gaurav : I am an Indian serial entrepreneur, international speaker, and recipient of extraordinary status by the United States government for my work in blockchain technology. I was ranked among the Top 50 Innovators from the Industries of the Future for my contribution in blockchain technology. My keen interest in blockchain technology, Banking, Crypto-markets and digital economy inspired me to deliver speeches at premier institutes like IITs, TieCON, TechCrunch, government forums and numerous conferences across the globe. As far as my work experience is concerned, I am Founder and CEO of Cashaa and Chairman of Auxesis Group.

I started Auxesis Group in 2014, which quickly emerged as a leading enterprise solutions development firm in India and internationally, and which today with its flagship product Auxledger is running over a dozen applications for Indian state governments, including having onboarded over 53 million users. Further, in 2016, I founded Cashaa after I came up with an entirely new concept of digitizing the current banking framework by means of blockchain technology.

SNB: What is the main idea behind the project Cashaa and why did you decide to work on it?

Kumar Gaurav : In 2016, I founded Cashaa with a vision to make banking hassle-free, convenient, quicker, economical and profound by digitizing the current banking framework via blockchain technology. Our upcoming Cashaa banking platform will solve individuals’ and businesses’ problems who want to deal in crypto. For startups or an established business looking to enter this industry, they will be able to get an advanced bank account with Cashaa, which will provide much sought-after business banking facilities in GBP, EUR as well as BTC and other cryptocurrencies. It will also enable to easily conduct legally compliant token sales by having strict KYC and AML rules, wrapped in an easy to use API. Both these areas are frequent problems in the industry, with some of the world’s most innovative companies having to deal with such basic problems.

SNB: The Cashaa team is building a model for financial services which is based on blockchain technology and artificial intelligence. Why are blockchain technology and artificial intelligence necessary for Cashaa and how will these technologies be used ?

Kumar Gaurav : Team Cashaa accepts the fact that blockchain and AI individually are the two extreme sides of the technology spectrum! AI being focused over fostering centralized intelligence on close data platforms while blockchain evolves around promoting decentralized applications in an open-data environment. Now, if we combine these two major technologies we’ll be able to deal with complex problems that previously seemed impossible and impractical. Their coexistence is necessary in introducing a new decentralized learning system such as federated learning by means of AI, which in turn helps in bringing up of a more secure and efficient transaction platform that ensures user-end privacy.

SNB: For those who are not familiar with the terms, can you explain us briefly what is blockchain technology and artificial intelligence?

Kumar Gaurav : Consider a situation in which A decides to offer an amount of 50 US dollars to one of his friends B, now in this situation A need not to take permission of any third person C regarding the transfer.

In a blockchain system, the source and receiver are present for the exchange of encrypted information, which gets validated not by a central party but by a network of participants that regularly reaches consensus on which transactions get validated.

It’s a kind of self-auditing ecosystem of a digital value; the network reconciles every transaction that happens in ten-minute intervals. Each group of these transactions is referred to as a “block”. So we can draw two important properties from this:

Transparent data is embedded within the network as a whole.
It cannot be corrupted because altering any unit of information on the blockchain would mean using a huge amount of computing power to override the entire network.

As as the term “Artificial Intelligence” is concerned it is an interdisciplinary concept that studies the possibility of creating machines capable of interacting with their environment and acting upon the received data in a manner considered intelligent.

It is primarily focused over the development of computer programs that can access data and learn from it automatically, without human assistance or intervention.

Some of the best examples of artificial intelligence are smart home devices like Google’s NEST, self-driving cars like those produced by Tesla, and online games like Alien: Isolation. Broadly speaking these are two technologies that are collectively finding quality space in industries worldwide and are making things more simple and convenient!

SNB: How can Cashaa help and fit the needs of those users unable by the current banking system to access to bank services?

Kumar Gaurav : As mentioned earlier, we are targeting the businesses that have difficulties obtaining a bank account. Our CAS token is the key to get access to our services; users need to hold a certain balance of CAS to be able to use our compliance API, and to unlock their necessary bank account limits.

Our wallet will also enable users to easily manage fiat and crypto, including being able to store, save, spend, receive and borrow local currencies and cryptocurrencies across the globe in a legally compliant way. In this way, we are a hybrid bank, the bridge between new and old money, enabling everyone to get the best of both worlds without regulatory complications. The Cashaa wallet is scheduled to launch in the end of October in Europe, whereas the first businesses have already started to accept CAS tokens in their token sales, to already ensure they will get access to our services.

SNB: Concerning people who do not necessarily have knowledge in the cryptocurrency and blockchain sector, how are they going to navigate these services effectively?

Kumar Gaurav : To use our services, users do not need to know anything about it as we make all completely user-friendly, accessible anywhere, with 24/7 customer support for all banking needs. Anyway the customers we are focusing on, will be working in the space already or having sufficient knowledge about it, building their own blockchain and cryptocurrency products, and doing token sales for themselves.

SNB: In June 2018 Korean crypto exchange Coinrail loses over $40M in tokens following a hack, and in July, Bancor is a victim of hacking and loses nearly 23 million dollars. Cashaa Wallet users can store FIAT and cryptocurrencies, like a bank account, what are the security measures taken by Cashaa to better protect the accounts of these clients?

Kumar Gaurav : As a better bank, we are devoted to procuring and building industry-leading financial infrastructure with enhanced layer of blockchain technology. Our systems are equipped to detect fraud, device verification, and card management tools to give you complete control.

SNB: In your opinion why are traditional banks not interested in most of the unbanked and under-banked population?

Kumar Gaurav : The traditional unbanked and underbanked populations have been seen as too risky and not rewarding for traditional banks, and the same populations also frequently lack the needed documentations to get a bank account. Concerning the unbanked that we are targeting - the ICO and other crypto related companies - are all together seen as risky and are shun away as banks out of principle reject them without making the effort for the necessary distinction between compliant business who fulfil all the necessary standards and those who do not. We are filling this gap and are giving every compliant business a chance.

SNB: How is the competition in your segment of the market? What are the problems you have identified in the existing competition and what are Cashaa solutions to these problems?

Kumar Gaurav : More companies are coming into the space and are trying to build solutions, while many token sales are done and raised enormous capital but missed some of the fundamentals of the Fintech industry like KYC, AML, source of funds. Cashaa has taken care of all of the fundamentals, making us leader and front runner in the space. Also one of the differences we have among Tenx, Monaco etc is that we are not building just the card program, but a complete Banking product which will give users IBAN, “International Bank account” to store & transfer GBP, EUR, BTC and ETH in the same app. While compared to existing banks, we go further and provide hybrid accounts that include both fiat and crypto, and by also providing a compliance API for ICO businesses, we are in an even more unique position that with the ongoing ICO popularity gives us a great opportunity. With us, ICO companies can have a smooth experience conducting their ICO without any banking and compliance issues, and can focus on building their product.

SNB: Tell us about the Cashaa business model, how does it work?

Kumar Gaurav : As mentioned before, CAS token is at the core of our business model - First, the token is the fuel of the Cashaa ecosystem, requiring each user to hold a minimum balance in CAS in their account, depending on the required compliance API usage and banking limit.

There will be various fees including transaction fees, SWIFT charges, FX charges, Corporate or Crypto Cards fees, interest charges, listing fee, account opening charges or monthly fees, which will be discounted if paid in CAS tokens.

In our lending unit to be launched at a later stage, CAS will hugely impact the parameters such as interest rate, LTV, Loan duration and processing time. Ex: CAS Token holder with more than 1 M CAS will get faster processing, lower interest rate and max repayment time vs person who holds lower CAS.

SNB: What can you tell us about your team? Do your team members have relevant background and experience?

Kumar Gaurav : Cashaa has a very strong team of some of the brightest minds from all over the globe. It includes people from Fortune 500 companies that have been known for their expertise in payments and banking with combined over 200 years, including at HSBC, Barclays, Bank Of America, JP Morgan Chase, Capital One and large Indian banks like ICICI and Axis Bank.

SNB: After the OTC exchange launching what next for Cashaa's as development and new product and solutions?

Kumar Gaurav : Aside the OTC exchange, we have also been building the banking platform where we have recently completed our 3rd sprint, and are on track to launch business accounts in the end of November 2018.

ABOUT KUMAR GAURAV:

Kumar is an Indian serial entrepreneur and business magnate who was awarded with an extraordinary status by the United States government and is amongst 100 most influential people in the world excelling his ideas with the growth of freshly emerged blockchain technology. He is currently the CEO of Cashaa and the Chairman of Auxesis Group. With his vision and transparency, Auxesis Group and Cashaa, are both ranked amongst the world’s top 100 blockchain companies.

Kumar is a popular international speaker and an emerging tycoon who has grown his own suffix of technology and was invited at IIT, TieCON, TechCrunch, government, parliament and many conferences, government forums and platforms across the globe. He was recently nominated among the World's Top 50 Innovators from the Industries of the future market and tech era.