[Quest:] Out of crisis comes an opportunity, whatever the phrase was, never miss the opportunity well, you know what the phrase I'm talking about. I'll think of it while we're talking. More Indians are turning to mobile payments as India struggles with a shortage of cash. The crisis started about a month ago, when the government abruptly pulled the two largest rupee notes from circulation. It was the 500 and the 1,000 rupees. They account for 86 percent of all cash in the country. Harold Montgomery is the chief executive of MoneyOnMobile, one of India's biggest mobile payment companies. Good to see you, Sir.
[Harold Montgomery, Chairman, Moneyonmobile:] Thank you, Richard. It's great to be here.
[Quest:] How much of a disaster was this policy, not in its intent, but in execution?
[Montgomery:] This is a very difficult moment for India. People throughout the country are struggling with substituting their old cash for new cash. Let me give you a sense of the scale of the problem. There is 1.2 billion people in India. Every single one of them is affected by this policy decision simultaneously. That's a very rare in human history. We're talking about 23 billion bank notes that have to be exchanged, 8 billion, 15th and 15 billion 500s and 8 billion one hundred. It's a huge, huge task. Farmers can't get their crops to market. There could be food shortages later. Commerce has really come to a halt in many cases.
[Quest:] Are you accepting those notes for people to charge on their mobile accounts?
[Montgomery:] Only banks are allowed to accept old currency for new currency. So, our audience is at the lower end of the pyramid. There are mostly dealing with 100s and 50s anyway. So, this problem isn't as exaggerated where my company operates. We're dealing with the un-banked. But for many, many people this is really a constraint on commerce and everyday life.
[Quest:] Where do you see the cashless society of India, which is so much based, as you just pointed out on small denominations, ordinary traders, ordinary people, frankly, putting money in a sock under the bed in most cases. Where do you see the growth potential?
[Montgomery:] Almost everyone in India has a reservoir of cash in the home that they're trying to exchange for new currency. But what the governments trying to do is to force everyone into the banking system, at even the elementary or entry-level and to force digital transactions. There's a lot of reasons for it. Stopping black money is one, as you mentioned. But stopping counterfeit is another. I have seen estimations of five to eight percent of the notes in circulation in India are actually count counterfeit. That's a huge problem.
[Quest:] So, the volume of transactions that you are now seeing as a result of this policy this change, how would you characterize it?
[Montgomery:] It's growing exponentially. Were seen transactions across the board at all digital payments companies moving forward. I was in India for the policy change. The next day, you could not buy a cup of coffee with cash if it was a 500 or 1,000, you had to use a digital payment method. People who didn't have them yesterday are getting them today. Smart phone sales are growing, because they enable digital payments more easily.
[Quest:] So, when I say this misfortune is your good fortune. I mean, I'm not being nasty.
[Montgomery:] It's an extraordinary stochastic market opportunity for my company and others similarly situated.
[Quest:] I admire your honesty, sir. Thank you very much indeed.
[Montgomery:] Thank you, Richard, thanks for having me.
[Quest:] Smart phone apps. I don't need to tell you it changes about every aspect of your life. In Amsterdam, there is a new generation of office buildings. They are not only smart, they are sustainable and some would say they're almost alive in this edition of "Europe 2020" we meet "The Edge." It is morning in Amsterdam, and "The Edge" is ready and waiting for the hundreds of people making their way to work. The Edge is more than a building, it's like a living, breathing structure that has thought about you before you even set foot through the front door.
[Coen Van Oostrom, Founder & Ceo, Ovg Real Estate:] We have an app where we, in the morning, can say, hey, I'm going to the building today. I want to work in the morning, having my own desk in the afternoon. Then working in a team, and then a suddenly we have the possibility of really getting the workplace we need at the moment that we need it.
[Quest:] Need to find your college? Ask "The Edge" and its app? Booking a room? Want to adjust the blinds? The Edge and the app are your friends. This is the future of smart buildings. At the heart is a system of technology that drives connectivity and efficiency. And obviously, can deploy a robot to patrol the grounds. It all makes "The Edge" the world's greenest and the world's smartest office space.
[Oostrom:] We ended up coming up with new innovations that not only made this building really sustainable, but more importantly made it smart.
[Quest:] Take the lighting. There are no electric cables here. Instead LEDs are powered by an invisible digital ceiling with computer cables rigged up to thousands of sensors.
[Derek Wright, Philips Lighting:] The levels of saving are around about 80 percent in terms of to a conventional lighting system. And about 40 percent of a building's usage is normally about the lighting usage. So, the savings become huge in comparison.
[Quest:] It all adds to the sense that this building is alive. Solar panels are its skin. Providing power for phones, laptops, and cars. The heating system becomes the blood stream regulating the temperature by pumping hot and cold water straight out of the ground. Using the data gather from its human friends, "The Edge" facilitates a new way of working for those within. Employees here are encouraged to hot desk, finding a work space based on their schedule and activity.
[Oostrom:] A company renting in this space can have double as many people on the floor per square meter then we had in the old type.
[Quest:] For its commitment to improving the way people live and work, Amsterdam and projects like "The Edge" have earned the city the title, European Capital of Innovation for 2016. It sets an example for Europe and the world.
[Oostrom:] What we find really interesting right now, is that there will be a new generation of buildings. We used to have dumb buildings, then we went into the world of sustainable buildings, and we now move into the world of smart buildings. I have no doubt that five years from now the new buildings in the world will be smart buildings.
[Quest:] As "The Edge" has learn about our habits at work, we have learned from "The Edge" in designing better buildings and ultimately a better way of life. We'll have a Profitable Moment after the break.