About The Smart Shop - Telugu Team in Gajuwaka, Visakhapatnam

WE ARE HERMES


MONEY TRANSFER, BILL PAYMENTS AND SO MUCH MORE.

Back in 2006, we at Hermes felt compelled to provide the hundreds of millions of underbanked Indians, who do not have the ability to make payments online, with a solution so they could also benefit from the advent of low-cost travel, retail and financial services offerings on the Internet.

We believe that the Internet can change peoples lives – sometimes the Internet needs a little help though: To reach out to every corner of India – and lately the Philippines - we integrated a wide range of services together on a robust transaction platform and built a nation-wide retail partner network under the brand "The Smart Shop".

In the process we have created self-employment opportunities for thousands of people and enabled new sources of income for small and mid-size shopkeepers in India and the Philippines.

While our customers products and services are promoted over the Internet, the medium of payment for people can now be cash, and many services such as plane or train tickets are now delivered directly at any of our retail partners across India and the Philippines within the convenient reach of millions of consumers. This is what we call retail-assisted e-commerce.


FINANCIAL INCLUSION
PROVIDING FINANCIAL SERVICES FOR EVERYONE

Today, roughly 600 million people in India and the Philippines don't have bank accounts. For most, this is because they don't have steady jobs or regular income, no government-issued ID or if they live in rural areas, they may not be within walking distance of a bank or may not be inclined to trust big institutions like banks.

Who they trust are the people they know; their friends and family - and the small shopkeepers from whom they regularly buy goods. Hermes provides more than 200000 people daily with access to affordable financial services and other related services through its nation-wide retail network and offers tens of thousands of retailers the opportunity to earn extra money by driving financial inclusion in India and the Philippines.

Hermes is the exclusive distribution and recharge network for ICASHCARD, India’s leading semi-closed-loop prepaid wallet operated by our associated company GI Technology. We are proud that in 2014 GI Technology was named "Winner Financial Inclusion through Innovation" at India‘s Financial Inclusion Conference and was awarded NPCI’s (1) National Payments Excellence Award 2014 for being the largest processor of IMPS (2) payments in India in 2014.

(1) National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI)
(2) Immediate Payment Service (IMPS)



E-COMMERCE PAYMENTS
SHOP ONLINE - PAY IN CASH

The e-commerce market in India and the Philippines is poised for exponential growth, exceeding a combined USD 20 billion in 2015*. With Visa and MasterCard payment cards penetration still being low in India and the Philippines, cash remains the payment method of choice for more than 75% of all purchases on the Internet.

Hermes enables consumers to pay with cash at any of our tens of thousands of retail partners for goods and services bought over the Internet. Furthermore, Hermes is the exclusive distribution and recharge network for ICASHCARD, India‘s leading semi-closed-loop prepaid wallet for payment on the Internet and money transfer.

Thanks to Hermes thousands of e-commerce retailers in India and the Philippines can now reach out to and accept payments from hundreds of millions of people without access to payment cards.

*) Motilal Oswal Securities, 2014



TICKETING
LOW-COST TRAVEL FOR EVERYONE

India‘s domestic and foreign travel market is expected to reach a stunning USD 28 billion by 2015 with the Philippines growing rapidly, aiming for USD 10 billion. As people‘s incomes grow and airline and train fares decrease thanks to the Internet, tens of millions of people have suddenly access to affordable long-distance transportation.

Hermes brings affordable travel within the convenient reach of millions of consumers through our nation-wide retail networks. As the leading ticketing partner for Indian Railways and more than 120 domestic and international airlines, including Air India, Indigo and Jet Airways, Hermes fuels the growth of our travel industry and opens the world to millions of people.

With each one of our retail agents distributing in average tickets exceeding thousands of US Dollars per month in value, income derived from our ticketing and travel payment services significantly contributes to the livelyhood of our retail partners.

*) PhoCusWright Global, 2013