Whenever India does something good, Singapore doesn’t stop, it just connects. For UPI also we were the first to connect outside India and for ONDC also we are doing it first, said Sopnendu Mohanty, Chief Financial Officer, Monetary Authority of Singapore setting the stage for the demonstration of linkage of the two revolutionary e-commerce products ONDC and Proxtera of both the countries.
Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC), an initiative of the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Government of India, forays into international B2B exports with Proxtera coming in as its first international Buyer App.
The ONDC – Proxtera collaboration was showcased during the 4th G20 Global Partnership for Financial Inclusion (GPFI) as part of the Global SME Finance Forum, held at Mumbai, India.
“The demonstration today is a step towards enabling digital market access across borders for Indian businesses and SMEs. Proxtera, as the first international buyer app from Singapore, and the roles of SignCatch and Rapidor on the seller side in bridging the gaps between businesses through cross-border trade, are thus highly instrumental in this journey,” said T Koshi, MD & CEO, ONDC.
The joint effort aims to connect SMEs, logistics operators, financial institutions, and cross-border payment providers to ensure seamless exports for Indian businesses.
What will the integration do and how will it benefit businesses?
Proxtera is a meta-hub that will connect B2B platforms and SMEs to explore trade opportunities, secure essential financing, and embrace digital transformation through the ONDC Network.
With the ONDC Network enabling B2B exports, Indian businesses will benefit from increased product visibility and access to newer markets digitally.
Businesses can eventually expect a seamless experience of being discovered, negotiating the best deal, exchanging relevant documents, completing cross-border payments and managing shipments, all facilitated within a fully digital framework.
Who all are on the platform?
SignCatch and Rapidor, with Bech.app and placeorder(dot)com respectively, will be among the first Seller Network Participants to join ONDC for international B2B trade, facilitating the reach of Indian products to global markets.
Liquid Group, a fintech within Proxtera’s financial services network, specializing in digital payments, joins as a cross-border payments provider for B2B buyers in Singapore.
Mohanty highlighted how they have brought in couple of fintechs into this integration like for digital cross border payments (Liquid group).
He said, “Beyond marketplace discovery we can think about how to reduce cost of FX, Paynow-UPI will come very handy now. Singapore got a quite matured vibrant dispute reduction centre and we can use that as well.”
What further, after UPI-Paynow and ONDC-Proxtera linkage?
Proxtera is the first international B2B buyer app for ONDC. Mohanty believes that the linkage will be a global template for all SMEs.
The ONDC-Proxtera linkage is set to redefine trade globally through cross border trade. Mohanty believes that this will trigger on a multilateral level, on countries to think about a global interoperable trade platform.
The linkage of ONDC and Proxtera is second in line, after both the countries payment systems’ linkage, of UPI and PayNow.
“Joint working group of India and Singapore had discussions on how to connect trade after integration of payment systems, and we have done it first. Another discussion is on a national identity system, on Aadhaar of India and similar of Singapore is ongoing, on how we can connect them, discussions are still happening. So its a series of discussions and actions,” Mohanty said.
