Digital
Fino Payments Bank becomes Rajasthan Royals’ digital banking partner
Mumbai: Fino Payments Bank has announced that it has renewed its association with Rajasthan Royals (RR) for season 16 of India’s biggest premier cricket competition. Fino Bank will be RR’s official digital banking partner.
The Bank made its maiden foray with the mega sporting event last season by partnering with RR as the Digital Payments Partner. The new season’s engagement is expected to be a notch higher as the Bank aims to connect with RR’s large fan base across social media platforms to increase its digital footprint. Importantly, the newly launched FinoPay digital savings account is expected to get more traction through this engagement.
As the digital banking partner, along with the core messages of convenience, accessibility, proximity and trust, the bank would be looking to drive brand visibility and increase FinoPay app downloads. The app helps open a digital savings account, an everyday banking account for routing small, daily spends. Har Din Fino, as the Bank says.
Fino Payments Bank MD & CEO Rishi Gupta said, “Partnerships are critical for our success. Our tie up with Rajasthan Royals last season was an innovative first for us that allowed our brand to engage with cricket lovers across the country. We value this relationship and are excited to renew our association that helps take our engagement with the team’s fan base to the next level. It will be a win-win proposition as we continue connecting with new customer segments and create avenues for cricket fans to explore Fino’s digital banking and savings account offerings.”
“We are delighted to be renewing our association with Fino Payments Bank for the upcoming season. We were extremely pleased with the positive impact we had on the successful expansion of their financial services across the country, especially the far-reaching areas, given the ever-growing need for digital transformation. We are looking forward to accelerating their overall growth in Rajasthan and other parts of India,” said Rajasthan Royals CEO Jake Lush McCrum.
Fino Payments Bank chief marketing officer Anand Bhatia said, “There are synergies in our brand values. Both the brands are a lot about consistency, competency, sincerity and being very down to earth. And importantly always take a long term view of things. Season 16 of the league is a great platform to promote our digital banking proposition, FinoPay. The excitement of engaging with a younger tech savvy audience and sense of pride in the association all works well for both. With RR establishing a base in Guwahati, North East is another common point as it is a growth market for both brands.”
Sportytrip CEO Adarsh Reddy, who has been working with Fino Bank and RR said, “This season Fino Bank is not only engaging with RR on the premier stage but is powering grass root level talent hunt through “Cricket Ka Ticket”. This initiative is aimed at finding India’s next cricketing super star across both men and women talent.”
Rajasthan Royals has a strong and loyal fan base across the country, especially in smaller towns. During the 2022 season, by engaging with RR’s fans across social media platforms Fino Bank improved the quality of its customer base and reduced costs by 20 per cent.
Digital
Ethical AI must benefit society, not dominate it, says WFEB chief Sanjay Pradhan at IAA event
At Mumbai event, ethics expert urges businesses and governments to shape AI responsibly
MUMBAI: Artificial intelligence may be racing ahead at lightning speed, but its direction must still be guided by human conscience. That was the central message delivered by Sanjay Pradhan, president of the World Forum for Ethics in Business (WFEB), during the latest edition of IAA Conversations held in Mumbai.
The session was organised by the International Advertising Association (IAA) and the Artificial Intelligence Association of India (AIAI) in association with The Free Press Journal at the Free Press House on 7 March. Addressing a packed audience, Pradhan called for stronger ethical leadership to ensure AI remains a tool that benefits humanity rather than one that governs it.
“Artificial intelligence has rapidly become one of the most powerful technologies humanity has created,” Pradhan said. “It is unlocking breakthroughs in medicine, science and creativity at a pace unimaginable just a few years ago.”
But he warned that the same technology carries serious risks. AI, he noted, can amplify disinformation faster than facts can travel, compromise privacy, deepen discrimination and disrupt millions of livelihoods. Referencing concerns raised by AI pioneers such as Geoffrey Hinton, often called the godfather of AI, Pradhan stressed that the real challenge is not whether AI will shape the world, but whether humans will shape it with ethics and wisdom.
Structuring his talk around four guiding questions, why, what, how and who, Pradhan introduced the audience to WFEB’s emerging AI Ethics Partnership, a global platform aimed at advancing responsible artificial intelligence. He outlined four priority concerns that demand urgent attention: disinformation, bias and discrimination, data privacy and job security.
To make the idea of ethical AI easier to grasp, Pradhan offered a simple metaphor. Ethical AI, he said, is like a three layered cake. The outer layer represents the visible value ethical AI creates for businesses and society. The middle layer is organisational culture that moves ethics from written codes to everyday practice. The innermost layer, however, is the most crucial, the conscience of individual leaders.
Drawing from Indian philosophical thought through WFEB co-founder Ravi Shankar, Pradhan noted that while artificial intelligence can reproduce stored knowledge, true intelligence is boundless and rooted in conscience, creativity and compassion. Practices such as breathwork and meditation, he suggested, can help leaders develop the calm clarity needed for ethical decision making.
The event also featured a discussion with Maninder Adityaraj Singh, chief of staff and head of innovation at Rediffusion Brand Solutions Pvt Ltd, and Yash Johri, lawyer, Supreme Court of India.
Opening the session, IAA India chapter president Abhishek Karnani, highlighted the need for industries to understand and engage with AI responsibly.
“AI has to be befriended and understood,” added Rediffusion managing director and AIAI national convenor Sandeep Goyal. “Its ethical use will determine whether it becomes a friend or a foe.”
As AI continues to reshape industries and societies, Pradhan ended with a simple but powerful call to action. Businesses, governments and individuals must work together to ensure that the algorithms shaping the future reflect human values rather than just cold logic.
