Fullerton India Credit Company

Fullerton India Credit Company (FICC) Limited is a non-banking financial company (NBFC), which began operations in India in January 2006. It is a subsidiary of Fullerton Financial Holdings Pte Ltd, which is a fully owned subsidiary of Singapore based Temasek Holdings. In India, FICC offers customized financial products and solutions for the mass market and low income population segments. They have two product ranges-Parivaar, for salaried individuals, and Vyapaar for the self- employed and small businesses.  

Challenge

Having made a relatively late entry into a financial market inhabited by numerous players, FICC targeted a rapid rollout of its branches and services across India. One of the requirements for this was the rapid availability of robust network links for last-mile connectivity to these branches. The company evaluated several network providers, and finally went with Tulip Telecom.  

Solutions

MPLS (Multiprotocol Label Switching) services from Tulip enabled FICC to offer connectivity to its branches quickly. This was one of the factors that enabled the company to make more than 800 branches operational within a short span of 18 months. FICC has around 850 branches across the country today. "Tulip is one of our Top 4 Most Important Partners," says Pramod Krishnamurthy, executive vice-president –technology, Fullerton India Credit Company Limited. "They provide connectivity to over 550 of our branches and several of our core central links. We plan to expand the relationship into other areas of technology services as well," he adds. In end 2007, FICC and Tulip also entered into a 10-year total outsourcing deal, encompassing current and future areas of ICT. Tulip will deliver thought leadership to FICC and ensure that the total cost of ownership for FICC continues to decrease over time. Deployment of connectivity was fast and didn't pose many issues. According to Krishnamurthy, the issues that cropped up "were related to RF mast installation not being permitted by some landlords". FICC has been using Tulip's services for about three years. Krishnamurthy states that the services have met their requirements "very well". Krishnamurthy concludes, "In the current economic scenario, we are looking at ways to get leaner with our IT Infrastructure. Tulip being our key strategic partner, we are sure we will be able to do this with their support."

Result

Enabled rollout of over 800 branches within 18 months –> High reliability of network links with uptimes well over 99 per cent Flexible bandwidth options based on branch size and business requirements, for instance, FICC were able to enhance bandwidth from 64/128 kbps to 256 kbps for over 300 branches within three days.