ETtech Morning Briefing: Paytm foreign exchange foray, Infy digital services & more

1. Paytm all set to get into foreign exchange

Paytm is set to foray into foreign exchange and cross-border payments under its payments bank entity and has already received the authorised dealership (AD Category II) licence from the Reserve Bank of India.

What else is Paytm doing?

The move by Paytm into this space comes after the company introducing savings, wealth management and a host of other services. Read more.

2. Digital services way forward for Infosys?

What's the news?

Infosys CEO Salil Parekh could unwind more of his predecessor’s strategy, even attempt to sell some of the internal product development he had invested in, as Parekh moves away from the software-and-people model built by Vishal Sikka to focus more on digital services, analysts say.

What was the 'Sikka' way?

Former CEO Sikka’s vision was predicated on building products that would raise revenue per employee and margins. The company acquired application automation programme Panaya and retail e-commerce product Skava for $200 million and $120 million each. On Friday, Infosys said it has put both up for sale and taken a $90 million write-down on Panaya on a standalone basis. Read more.

3. Infy looks to hire more people abroad

What's the news?

Infosys has focused on controlling the amount of work done in the US and Europe and employee costs overseas, even as it plans to hire more people in those geographies in its localization plan.

The information technology major has said it will hire 10,000 people in the US in the next 18-24 months, but the headcount addition onshore comes at a significant cost. Infosys has already reduced its targeted margin to 22-24% for FY19 from 23-25% as it needs to pay higher wages onshore.

What do the numbers say?

Onsite effort—work done in countries such as the US and Europe—fell to 28.7% at the end of the fourth quarter of 2018, compared to 30% in the prior year. The onsite mix was 29.3% at the end of the year. Read more.

4. Whistleblower Allegations ‘Unfounded', says Shaw

What's the news?

Infosys’ lead independent director, Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, termed the allegations by a whistle-blower against the board of India’s second-largest software services exporter as “unfounded”.

Why did she say so?

“The whistle-blower is confusing governance issues related to business evolution,” Shaw, who is also the chairperson of Biocon, said in an email response to questions from ET. Shaw said she was overseas and would “respond through proper channels” to the allegations.

In a letter addressed to both Indian and US stock market regulators on Saturday, the whistleblower claimed the Infosys board had shown inconsistency in approving the decision to seek buyers for Panaya — an Israeli technology startup acquired by the company in 2015 — within a year of defending the acquisition. Read more.