MUMBAI: Bengaluru-based fintech ToneTag has launched a tech stack that allows shopkeepers to use their UPI soundboxes for conversational banking without requiring the tech savviness needed for mobile or internet banking. ToneTag’s speciality is enabling payments using sound-based contactless data transfer without a network, the latest offering builds on its proprietary technology.The product, branded eKosha, converts existing payment acceptance devices into always-on banking touchpoints powered by ToneTag’s proprietary analog Edge AI, allowing merchants to access services such as credit, overdrafts, cheque book requests and scheme information through natural language voice commands.Speaking to TOI, founder and CEO Kumar Abhishek said the company has embedded its core protocol directly into soundboxes already deployed across the country. “We packed this protocol into the sound boxes which you see in the ecosystem. And now we have like more than 3 million touch points covering 73% of India’s pin code already there in the ecosystem. We are doing roughly close to 28 million daily interactions on these. And on a value term, we almost $4 billion worth of transactions flow through this every month,” he said.Kumar framed the launch against the broader need to improve MSME productivity as India scales up economically. “If you look from a macro perspective, we are talking about India moving from $4 trillion to $10 trillion. And today also 30%, close to 40% of contribution to the GDP comes from the work which the MSME does… which means they need much more quicker access to working capital, at a much more lower cost,” he said.At the core of eKosha is a low-cost edge-processing architecture that enables conversational AI on devices that typically cost about Rs 1,000. “By just adding another 350 to 500 rupees to your nominal soundbox cost… we are able to provide conversational access to our MSMEs in a language which they understand,” Kumar said, adding that the system pre-processes speech locally using the company’s IP before sending it for further computation. ToneTag said it holds 21 global patents around its sound-based data transfer and conversational processing stack.The company is betting on the scale advantage of soundboxes over traditional POS terminals. “POS machines cost you north of 7,000 rupees… roughly three to three and a half million from your 60 million MSME network can pay for it. But sound boxes… have already scaled north of 16–17 million now,” Kumar said, positioning affordability as the key driver of mass adoption.He likened the evolution of soundboxes to the role ATMs played in retail banking. “These boxes are very similar to what ATM did for consumers… these boxes are now going to become a branch banking channel for India’s MSME,” he said. “Now a merchant… with the press of a button, can talk to his bank and enquire for a credit, can enquire for an overdraft, can request for a checkbook.”ToneTag said the platform enables banks to build continuous engagement with merchants, turning each transaction into a potential interaction point. It supports UPI, UPI 123Pay and CBDC flows, while layering banking services such as loans, support and government scheme discovery via voice, without requiring app downloads or digital literacy.For banks, the company claims the model can reduce merchant servicing costs by up to 60%, double cross-sell opportunities and cut churn significantly by enabling direct, data-rich relationships without relying on intermediaries.
