CXO Outlook – April 2022 – India Edition – Must-Watch Fintech Companies in India

FINTECH COMPANIES SPECIAL

INDIA EDITION

INSIGHTS. IDEAS. INSPIRATIONS

QUILINX

FIDYPAY

Virender Jeet, CEO

D I G I T A L LY T R A N S F O R M I N G B U S I N E S S E S T H R O U G H I N N O VAT I V E L O W C O D E - B A S E D N E W G E N O N E P L AT F O R M April 2022

CXO OUTLOOK April 2022

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Must-Watch Fintech Companies (Indian Edition) Head of Advisory Board Dr. Manoj Varghese, Ph.D

Managing Editor Sarath Shyam

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LETTER FROM THE EDITOR

Opportunities in the Trillion Dollar Industry

nstigated by demonetization and catalyzed by the pandemic, India’s Financial Technology market has made a quantum leap in the last few years. We are now comfortable managing our money and business online. No wonder India has a Fintech adoption rate of 87 percent, which easily trumps the global average of 64 percent. For instance, transactions under the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) crossed the five billion count for the first time in March 2022. According to the data shared by the National Payments Corporation of India (NCPI), UPI recorded 504 crores transactions up to March 29 for a value of Rs 8,88,169 crores. As per the industry reports, India’s overall fintech market opportunity is estimated to be USD 1.3 Trillion by 2025, growing at a CAGR of 31 percent from 2021 to 2025. Of this, lending tech is likely to account for 47 percent (USD 616 Billion), followed by insurtech at 26 percent (USD 339 Billion) and digital payments at 16 percent (USD 208 Billion). During the pandemic alone, the FinTech market has seen many new startups sprouting up all over the country and global investors pouring in over USD 28 billion. India companies also made waves on

the global stage, with four of the top ten fintech deals in the Asia-Pacific region coming from the country. While India is poised to become one of the largest digital markets in the world, we have come up with a special issue featuring ‘10 Must-Watch Fintech Companies in India – 2022.’ With the help of an expert panel of advisors, we have identified companies with innovative and disruptive techniques in constantly changing business scenarios. On the cover, we feature Newgen Software, a leading provider of a unified digital transformation platform with native process automation, content services, and communication management capabilities. The company has wholly-owned subsidiaries across the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, United Arab Emirates, and Singapore. Enjoy Reading.

Sarath Shyam

CXO OUTLOOK April 2022

Dr. Varughese K.John, PhD, MBA, MPhil, MCom, LLB. Dr. Kuldeep Nagi, Ph.D, MBA, BSc.

Former Program Director, MS in Management Program, GSATM - AU

Former Program Director of Ph.D, Recipient of Fulbright Fellowship Award & Dan Evans Award for Excellence and Writer columnist.

Mamta Thakur Former CEO (ASEAN), Arc Skills

6 Dr. Ajay Shukla, Ph.D, MBA, BE. Co-founder and Chief Strategy Officer at Higher Education UAE

Mr. Amulya Sah, PGD PM & IR, PG Diploma in PM&IR (XISS Ranchi)

Chief Human Resources Officer, Former Head HR group Samsung R&D Institute India,Transformative HR Leader, Change agent, Digitization facilitator, Engagement architect, Trainer and Diversity champion.

CXO OUTLOOK April 2022

Mr. Sreedhar Bevara, MBA, B.Com Dr. Manoj Varghese, Ph.D

Senior Director - Global Partnerships, Advisory & Consulting - Connecta®, Head of Advisory Board Higher Education Digest® & K12 Digest®, Adjunct Faculty Assumption University, Former CIO - Athena Education, Former Global Director Technology - GEMS Education

CEO at BMR Innovations, Ex Senior General Manager at Panasonic, LG, The Hindu, TATA, Author: Moment of Signal & The Roaring Lambs, Motivational Speaker & Leadership Consultant.

CXO OUTLOOK April 2022

Virender Jeet, CEO

COVER STORY

D I G I TA L LY T R A N S F O R M I N G BUSINESSES THROUGH I N N O VAT I V E L O W C O D E - B A S E D N E W G E N O N E P L AT F O R M

CXO OUTLOOK April 2022

QUILINX

HELPING BUSINESSES GROW FROM THE ROOTS HARSH SINGH, FOUNDER

38 FIDYPAY

REVOLUTIONIZING THE FUTURE OF FINTECH INNOVATIONS

MANAN DIXIT, FOUNDER & CEO

CXO OUTLOOK April 2022

IN MY VIEW

RAHUL BHARGAVA, CHIEF PRODUCT AND TECHNOLOGY OFFICER, INCRED

ROHIT GARG, CO-FOUNDER & CEO, SMARTCOIN FINANCIALS

HOW FINTECHS ARE ENSURING REPAYMENTS WITH FLEXIBLE OPTIONS TO BORROWERS

HOW FINTECH ACCELERATION CAN HELP IN AN ‘AATMANIRBHAR BHARAT’

FINTECH PLATFORMS ARE PLAYING A KEY ROLE FOR YOUNG WOMEN-LED BUSINESSES AND IS FACILITATING POSITIVE CHANGE FOR WOMEN

API BANKING: HOW IS IT REVOLUTIONIZING INDIA'S BANKING SECTOR SACHIN GAIKWAD, FOUNDER & CEO, BUILDD.IN

POSHAK AGRAWAL, CEO & CO-FOUNDER, FLORENCE CAPITAL

LEADER'S INSIGHTS

AMIT NIGAM, COO & EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, BANKIT

JAY PRAKASH GUPTA, FOUNDER, DHAN

RAJ N, FOUNDER, ZAGGLE

WHAT PRACTICES SHOULD FINTECH STARTUPS ADOPT TO SUSTAIN AND GROW IN THE NEW NORMAL?

CXO OUTLOOK April 2022

CAN TECHNOLOGY ALTER HUMAN BEHAVIOUR AND PSYCHOLOGY TOWARDS INVESTING?

REINFORCING BETTER REGULATORY FRAMEWORK FOR FINTECH IS THE NEED OF THE HOUR

EXPERT OPINION

THE IMPACT OF COVID-19 ON FINTECH AND THE FUTURE OF BANKING SOLUTIONS

WHAT LEGACY BANKS CAN LEARN FROM FINTECH APPS’ EXPLOSIVE GROWTH

HARISH PRASAD, HEAD – BANKING SOLUTIONS APMEA, FIS

APRIL TAYSON, REGIONAL VP - INSEA, ADJUST

NEO BANKING MYTHS, BUSTED! JITIN BHASIN, FOUNDER & CEO, SAVEIN

VISHWAJIT PURETI, CO-FOUNDER & MARKETING (CEO), PENCILTON

ASHISH NAYYAR, CO-HEAD, OAKNORTH INDIA

ZAFAR IMAM, CEO, FINSHELL

HOW IS DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION HELPING FINTECH TO ATTRACT THE NEXT-GEN

REIMAGINING FINTECH CULTURE THROUGH THE PANDEMIC AND BEYOND

IN A SHARING ECONOMY, HOW CAN INVESTMENT AND LENDING SUPERCHARGE THE FINTECH WORLD

CXO OUTLOOK April 2022

IN MY VIEW

HOW FINTECHS ARE ENSURING REPAYMENTS WITH

FLEXIBLE OPTIONS TO BORROWERS Rahul Bhargava, Chief Product and Technology Officer, InCred

he impact of the global pandemic is most conspicuous in the finance sector. Due to the worldwide ban on social interaction and physical contact, it is almost impossible for many to ensure their financial goals, might it be a business or an individual. Hence, the situation calls for innovations to somehow defuse the problems that occur and hamper fintech players to an incapacitating extent. That said, while there are a good number of solutions with high practicability quotient, elucidated below are two solutions that yield the best results.

CXO OUTLOOK April 2022

Digital fulfilment – the alternative to mainstream B2C physical interaction The COVID-19 lockdown has prevented the continuation of normal business functions, making it impossible for lenders to carry out routine loan fulfilment processes that entail KYC documentation, loan agreement, and contact verification. Against this backdrop, InCred has emerged as a market leader by ushering in proprietary technologies to streamline digital KYC, digital field investigation, repayment setup and agreement signing, which are typically processed in

The COVID-19 lockdown has prevented the continuation of normal business functions, making it impossible for lenders to carry out routine loan fulfilment processes that entail KYC documentation, loan agreement, and contact verification

In his 20+ years of leadership experience, Rahul has built multi-billion dollar product lines & managed large product/engineering teams across Amazon, PayPal & American Express. He has also been involved with successful startups in US & India. Rahul holds an MBA from Harvard Business School, MS in Engineering from Carnegie Mellon, & a BTech degree from IIT Delhi.

CXO OUTLOOK April 2022

The urgent need for digital solutions is such that there is a looming possibility of consumers opting for financial institutions that deliver services that customers can avail without leaving their homes

14 a physical environment with participation from both transacting parties. With these digital innovations in place, it is possible to bypass the need for a face to face interaction. Now, the loan application and processing are independent of physical touchpoints as a complete procedural revolution is achieved with the end-to-end contactless digital process. Easy EMI for borrowers The economy has taken a hard hit due to the lockdown following the onset of COVID-19. Several businesses are on the brink of cessation, resulting in either loss of job or reduction of pay across several sectors. This stalemate has drastically affected borrowers’ abilities to commit to loan repayments, thereby making EMI obligations virtually impossible to service. Because of such plight that befalls borrowers, InCred has launched a relatively simplified EMI product, which entails a moratorium period of 12 months. In this scheme, borrowers are obliged to pay only the interest component of payments for one year, after which regular EMI payments resume. As things stand, this repayment option is the only borrower-oriented

CXO OUTLOOK April 2022

approach that can serve the interests of both parties involved. Lenders continue to streamline repayments while, at the same time, customers enjoy and make use of a more borrower-friendly repayment option. Another notable aspect of the program is that the transition from regular loan to the revised EMI is done digitally, and it is completely contactless. Conclusion As things stand, a digital solution is the only practicable model to meet consumers’ needs who are physically restricted in the COVID era. With this digital approach, it is possible to take on-board new customers, get payments, and process loans without the need for faceto-face interaction in a physical environment. The urgent need for digital solutions is such that there is a looming possibility of consumers opting for financial institutions that deliver services that customers can avail without leaving their homes. For the last several years, there has been a trend to adopt digital technologies to reform the traditional banking system, which revolves around branches and clients’ physical identification. Now the pandemic has made that trend impossible to ignore.

CXO OUTLOOK April 2022

Virender Jeet, CEO

CXO OUTLOOK April 2022

D I G I TA L LY T R A N S F O R M I N G BUSINESSES THROUGH I N N O VAT I V E L O W C O D E - B A S E D N E W G E N O N E P L AT F O R M

CXO OUTLOOK April 2022

“I

nnovation is at the heart of everything we do," states Virender Jeet, CEO, Newgen Software Technologies. Trusted by successful enterprises worldwide, Newgen is a leading provider of a unified digital transformation platform with native process automation, content services, and communication management capabilities. The company has wholly-owned subsidiaries across the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, United Arab Emirates, and Singapore. Virender has been with Newgen for over 26 years and manages the overall strategic and operational functions for the company's entire portfolio of offerings. Taking a trip down memory lane, Virender reveals, "I am glad to be associated with Newgen since its inception. Mr. Diwakar Nigam, Chairman and Managing Director, dreamed of building a world-class software product company. I would say Newgen is a result of his vision." Newgen was established in the early 90s, a watershed decade for the Indian economy, when businesses found a new outburst of energy and enthusiasm that was unprecedented in the post-Independence era. Many service companies were sprouting in the country's major cities. However, Newgen chose a different path. "We wanted to be a product company and not just services. Our focus has been on strengthening our platforms' capabilities. As a result, leading industry analysts have consistently recognized our platforms. Also, we wanted to cater to the global market's needs and thus extended our reach with our partner network," explains Virender. To date, 23 patents of Newgen have been successfully granted in India and the US. Annually, the company invests 9-10% of its revenue on R&D and has a dedicated team of about 500 people with deep domain expertise. Newgen has continued to progress organically based on its solid foundation, innovative product roadmap, and vision, and today they have a presence across 72 countries. "When we started Newgen in 1992, we believed in creating an ecosystem where every enterprise is connected—one world, one workplace. Even after three decades, it still holds value. We continue to transform businesses globally by innovatively connecting systems, processes, people, and things," pinpoints Virender.

A New-age Platform Built from Passion & Entrepreneurship NewgenONE, a natively-built comprehensive digital transformation platform, is a one-stop solution for enterprise-wide needs. The platform combines process

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automation, content services, and communication management capabilities. It enables enterprises to leverage low code for developing and deploying complex, contentdriven, and customer-engaging business applications on the cloud. "We natively developed our NewgenONE Digital Transformation Platform, which is a result of 30 years of passion and entrepreneurship," proudly asserts Virender.

TO DATE, 23 PATENTS OF NEWGEN HAVE BEEN SUCCESSFULLY GRANTED IN INDIA AND THE US. ANNUALLY, THE COMPANY INVESTS 9-10% OF ITS REVENUE ON R&D AND HAS A DEDICATED TEAM OF ABOUT 500 PEOPLE WITH DEEP DOMAIN EXPERTISE

NewgenONE empowers professional IT developers with speed and agility. It allows enterprises to develop and deploy customer-facing applications with a consistent user experience across multiple channels. Furthermore, it facilitates seamless integration with various back-end and third-party systems and applications. NewgenONE has been consistently recognized by leading industry analysts such as Gartner, Forrester, & Aspire, conferring it as a Niche Player, Strong Performer, and Leader for

its low code, content management, and communication management capabilities. Offering a Competitive Edge to its Partners At Newgen, there is an extensive partner ecosystem, including global system integrators, consulting and advisory partners, value-added resellers, and technology partners. "To support them, we offer various training and certification programs, comprehensive sales kits, run lead generation and digital marketing campaigns, organize customer meetings and demos. Additionally, we do co-marketing on target accounts by organizing events, webinars, or panel discussions to create awareness, generate interest, and craft more opportunities," adds Virender. The company also has Newgen labs set up at partner premises that allow their partners to work on Newgen's products in real-time and provide training for actual deliveries. Over the years, the innovative software company has transformed enterprises across multiple industries by enabling automation of complex and content-centric business applications with speed and agility. Currently, Newgen is catering to the needs of financial institutions, insurance organizations, government institutions, and shared service centers. Crafting a Culture of Innovation & Excellence A healthy working environment enables employees to showcase their skills, perform exceptionally, defeat challenges, create opportunities, and offer loyalty to the company. At Newgen, employees are encouraged and motivated at every step. "During the pandemic, we conducted sessions on mental health, meditation, yoga, and others. We also arranged for free vaccination drives, onboarded qualified doctors for teleconsultation, and provided a testing facility," states the dynamic CEO at Newgen. The leading software company offered interest-free loans to its employees and made some exceptions in payroll processing in the hour of need. Newgen also keeps track of its employees' engagement and performance to understand their areas of strengths and scope for improvement. Additionally, its rewards and recognition program recognizes the contributions and efforts of its employees at regular intervals. Virender further adds, "We ensure that employees always feel appreciated, valued, and motivated." Customers Always Come First Customer satisfaction is one of the top pillars of Newgen's success. To meet client requirements on a global scale, Newgen's CRM team stays connected with them through

CXO OUTLOOK April 2022

SINCE ITS INCEPTION, NEWGEN HAS SHOWN CONSISTENT GROWTH ACROSS ALL GEOGRAPHIES, ESPECIALLY IN MARKETS LIKE NORTH AMERICA, THE EU, AND ANZ, WITH SIGNIFICANT CONTRIBUTIONS FROM EMEA AND INDIA

advisory boards, customer meets, communities, and newsletters; the team periodically measures the success of their implementations through customer satisfaction surveys and also celebrates various milestones with awards and accolades. "We also offer value-added dashboards to our customers that help them monitor and track every aspect of an implementation. This allows us to recognize key contributors, and it also opens up the door for future opportunities within the client company," asserts Virender. Newgen launched the Moments of Truth Survey (MoTS) to enable effective listening at key "Moments of Truth" across the customer lifecycle to aid in this endeavor. With MoTS, the CRM team at Newgen can acknowledge customers' concerns and ensure timely resolution. Likewise, during the pandemic, when businesses faced difficulty in ensuring uninterrupted operations, Newgen's team enabled clients to transition to the remote working model in no time and keep the lights on. Sharing one of the notable case studies, Virender states, "Recently, a leading health insurance provider developed and launched a core health insurance system using Newgen's digital transformation platform with low code capability. We delivered on the customer's expectations within eight months of expressing the need, even though most of our teams were working remotely due to the pandemic. The low code development methodology and its suitability for rapid application development and deployment perfectly suited this innovative case."

Present Growth & Future Plans Since its inception, Newgen has shown consistent growth across all geographies, especially in markets like North America, the EU, and ANZ, with significant contributions from EMEA and India. For Q2 20212022, its total income increased by 22%, and profit after tax increased by 28% compared to the same period last year. Also, the low code-based digital transformation platform provider company has witnessed a spike in its cloud business and a steady increase in customers adopting the cloud model. "We are reworking our business model and moving towards a more annuitydriven one, primarily in markets like the US, Europe, APAC, and the Middle East," Virender further continues. Not long ago, Newgen acquired India-based Number Theory, an AI/ML (artificial intelligence and machine learning) data science platform company. In the coming days, Newgen will continue to focus on driving innovation and embracing disruptive technologies such as AI, ML, process analytics, digital sensing, and more to further enhance their offerings. With their global implementation experience and vast domain knowledge, they have ready-to-deploy solutions to enable a faster go-live. They continue to enhance their custom-fit industry applications to enable streamlined operations across various customer journeys.

CXO OUTLOOK April 2022

LEADER’S INSIGHTS

WHAT PRACTICES SHOULD FINTECH STARTUPS ADOPT TO SUSTAIN AND GROW IN THE NEW NORMAL? Amit Nigam, COO & Executive Director, BANKIT

With 22+ years of rich experience, Amit has worked at top management in Telecom, FMCG and Fintech companies like Airtel, Aditya Birla group. He was one of the founding members of Spice Money. With a proven track record of turning Greenfield projects into a profit-making company and running the BANKIT business his leadership qualities.

he human race is facing the biggest crisis of this generation, and the world post-pandemic will never be the same. There has not been a single nation or industry which is unaffected and unharmed from this pandemic. The decisions and actions taken today by governments and businesses will shape the future of the world we live in. Covid crisis has caused disruption, and what can work better than technology in a disrupted market. Fintech is one segment that has leveraged technology most optimally to produce business models focusing on distribution and aggregation of financial services products.

CXO OUTLOOK April 2022

Fintech startups have been the forbearers of the Indian unicorn ecosystem and are increasingly growing in number. As more entrepreneurs are inclining towards fintech business models, the market has now become highly competitive. This, combined with the changing business environment, makes it challenging for fintech startups to grow sustainably in the new normal. It is, however, a suitable time for fintechs to leverage their unique assets and seize new opportunities. Here are some practices that fintech startups can adopt to sustain and grow in the new normal.

Fintech is one segment that has leveraged technology most optimally to produce business models focusing on distribution and aggregation of financial services products

CXO OUTLOOK April 2022

• Innovation and Advancement The pandemic has pushed fintech startups to continue innovating and providing essential financial services to customers in the new post-Covid world. This will help users shift towards digital payments, online transactions and even new livelihoods. As innovators, fintechs bolstered the quarantined population and provided them with a whole range of financial services from the comfort of their homes. The future of fintech lies in innovation that will further facilitate holistic financial services via a single mobile interface for users in India, enabling crossselling of services over one platform. New-age fintech platforms offer consolidated fintech solutions to users, allowing them to carry out a range of operations such as spending, lending, investing, fund transfer, etc. Fintechs assisting e-commerce on existing B2B2C platforms is another advancement observed in a post lockdown ecosystem.

Identify New Market Segments In 2019 the number of rural users surpassed urban internet users by a margin of 10%, and this number has only grown in 2020, making the country’s rural space ripe for disruption by new-age fintech players. Effective digital solutions designed particularly for rural customers will lead fintech towards capturing this market segment. AePS & mATM comprises one such solution that has the potential to thread through all of these requirements. In India, financial services offered by AePS delivers a robust channel to reach out to the underprovided and underserved segment. Since many people, including those belonging to remote regions, are already linked with Aadhaar, AePS can play an instrumental role in enabling the much-needed paradigm shift towards a new, hassle-free transactional routine in the postpandemic new normal. • Safer and Secure Practices Digital transactions contain data risk. Amidst the data theft scare, fintechs will have to educate customers of the risk involved and how to protect themselves from malware and other related frauds. Fintech companies need to focus more on security features and managing customer data safely and securely. This will, in turn, build customers’ trust in transacting financial information through online platforms, which is essential in the new normal, where customers are not left with much choice but to transact online.

CXO OUTLOOK April 2022

Amidst the data theft scare, fintechs will have to educate customers of the risk involved and how to protect themselves from malware and other related frauds

with the safety and security of the products. FinTech outsourcing can be used as a business strategy by financing technology companies to hire a third-party service provider to handle the various technological operations. • Supporting government initiatives Fintechs can be imperative in disbursing government aid and supporting government initiatives. Governments want to provide quality financial services, and fintech can expand reach to the unbanked or under-banked and the uninsured or under-insured while also supporting positive social and economic outcomes. Fintechs can work in partnership with government agencies and help devise policies concerning financial aid and assistance. This will make the entire process efficient and sufficiently robust and act as an enabler for customers to benefit from government policies online without any hassle. The government will also be able to financially help families who lost livelihoods due to the spread of the virus, giving more comprehensive access to funds. • Internet Of Things Over the last few years, the Internet of Things (IoT) has been ubiquitous and can revolutionise the fintech space with easy payment options for various utilities. The Internet of Things can be found acting as mobile pointof-sale systems and cybersecurity tools that safely process and encrypt payment information. According to Fortune Business Insights, the new age world is demanding more sophisticated processes, and therefore, by 2026, IoT is expected to reach $116.27 billion in banking, insurance and financial services.

• Transparency and decentralisation To cope with the new normal, fintech needs to integrate blockchain technology and ensure decentralised data and transparency in processes to cope with the new normal. This will not only protect against fraud but also create a ledger of all transactions. The most high-profile use of blockchain in fintech has been cryptocurrencies, which allow users to hold money without a bank. Fintech startups can adopt it for safe processes as well as for money management. • Outsourcing Outsourcing reduces the workload for a company’s inhouse team and is considered effective for startups and small businesses. Outsourcing IT and other services brings efficiency and ensure talent is used to full potency along

• Developing Customer Trust It may take some time before people feel safe again to visit banks and other financial institutions. As everything moves online, customers who are used to face-to-face interactions will find it challenging to engage a lot of money in online transactions. This is where fintechs can fill the gap of building customer trust by interacting with them more sensitively. Fintech can adopt video conferencing tools that enable communication between banks, insurance companies and mutual fund providers and their customers, facilitating a face to virtual transactions. The potential of fintechs in providing secure, low-cost, and contactless financial services has become even more apparent during the crisis. Considering present trends, unlocking a safer, more accessible, and inclusive fintech ecosystem is no longer a matter of possibility but merely that of time.

CXO OUTLOOK April 2022

EXPERT OPINION

The Impact of COVID-19 on Fintech and the Future of Banking Solutions Harish Prasad, Head – Banking Solutions APMEA, FIS

CXO OUTLOOK April 2022

Harish Prasad heads the Banking Solutions business for FIS in the AP-MEA region. He is actively involved with Financial Institutions across the region on adopting innovative new capabilities. He is a veteran of the Banking technology industry in India and has extensive experience working with building technology ground up for banks, as well as with establishing alternate delivery models such as SaaS.

he COVID-19 pandemic has delivered an economic shock which is truly unprecedented. The connected world that we had become meant that the impacts of these shocks are being felt globally, irrespective of the state of infections on the ground, across every market. Looking ahead and beyond the immediate crisis, B2C businesses globally will see the impact of changing consumer behaviour and it is widely expected that discretionary consumer spends will come under pressure, and in turn, impact many B2B businesses. The impact to FinTech will be driven by the nature of the service they offer and the upstream and downstream impacts of COVID-19, for example, COVID-19 has had a dramatic and adverse impact on Lending FinTech for instance as the stressed business environment puts their portfolio at risk while the moratoriums cause a huge liquidity crunch. Payment FinTechs have been a mixed bag as the drop-in overall business activity triggered has caused large drops in volumes, some have benefited by the move away from the use of currency. In general, Fintech whose revenue models depended on disrupting conventional operating models via digitization will see long term benefits as the world re-defines their choices. Uncertain demand environment is also impacting many FinTech investment plans and is forcing a zerobase re-evaluation of these investments considering the realities of the new business environment. Their focus will likely be on preserving business viability in a reduced demand environment and forcing down operating costs to minimize damage and to get through these unprecedented times. Technological Disruptions in Banking It is quite evident from recent history that advances in infrastructure (exponential increase in computing power and capacity, mobile technology, data connectivity etc.) and new technologies drive the disruption of how banks engage with and service customers, as well improvements to internal processes and operating models. The spread and impact of these advances are very broad and affect most facets of financial services. Specifically, in the area of banking solutions, there has been tremendous disruption via the applications of analytics and AI (A), business model innovation (B), cloud technology capabilities (C) and digital engagement (D). Without getting into specifics, innovations in Banking can mostly be correlated to these ABCD factors, and every banking institution is applying these across their enterprise to get and stay ahead of the competition.

CXO OUTLOOK April 2022

Data is wealth waiting to be monetized for organizations today, and advances in Analytics and AI are driving innovations hitherto unseen across product processing cycles – be it in customer support, Compliance or Fraud detection. Secondly, banks see they can no longer sustain operating models that have them work in isolation and are evolving upstream and downstream partner business models, be it with FinTech or with service partners, and increasingly offering what we call as “Banking as a Service”. Thirdly, Cloud platforms are today enabling easy access to a vast set of advanced technologies that were too far-fetched and expensive for organizations to adopt, and this is levelling the field today. Lastly, we are seeing a wave of digitization that has transformed how consumers access banking services, driven by the trend of convenience becoming paramount. The advent of the Gen-Z who are so entrenched in the Social media ecosystem is leading Banks to re-look at their models of customer engagement and working on transforming customer experience and to make Banking becomes seamless and just another facet of “living”.

Blockchain: Future of Financial Industry AI is a key factor of disruption having a broad-based impact on Financial Services. Blockchain, on the other hand, has had a bit of a bumpy ride through the hype-cycle as financial institutions initially struggled to find meaningful applications of the technology. The biggest application of blockchain was, of course, crypto-currency and it has been a true roller-coaster ride for Crypto on the back of multiple headwinds across regulatory push-back to the more practical issues of lack of broad-based acceptance as a medium of value. But I believe we are reaching a point today where the applications of blockchain that continue to see investments and activity are those around a mature and well thought through set of use cases that cover Crypto-currencies, Global real-time Payments, Trade and Supply Chain, Smart Contracts and Reg-tech. These seem to be where the most traction and to believe these will see increasing adoption of Blockchain-based innovation. The premise of Blockchain has been its ability to drive better efficiency, speed up processes and lower risks across the various applications it has been used for. Blockchain technology can dramatically improve settlement processes through the universal and real-time nature of updates, speed up processes by eliminating the need for manual reconciliation and providing instantaneous global visibility, and lower risks through inherent immutability and transparency in its design. In effect, all of these go towards enabling the overall Financial Services system work more

CXO OUTLOOK April 2022

efficiently and reduce the cost of products and services to customers and deliver a lot more value at lower price points and customers eventually will see the benefits of these innovations. The Indian financial services industry has had a rather patchy record of adopting Blockchain. We are largely still in an experimental phase and adoption has evidently been mainly around a. Global payments (e.g. RippleNet or Stellar participation by a few banks) b. Some pilots around adopting Blockchain in Trade finance use-cases and c. Identity and KYC related experiments. Interestingly, the experimentation on Blockchain use in other sectors especially around the Government has been more promising. I believe adoption will improve gradually in the financial service area but will largely be led by global trends as opposed to Indiaspecific trends. Large scale adoption will need industrywide acceptance to establish Blockchain-based “rails” in specific areas. Fintech Trends to Look Out For Cloud, AI, IoT and 5G look very promising and while AI is already seeing widespread adoption as we discussed earlier, applications of IoT and 5G will pick up over the next few years as these technologies mature and see higher adoption and consumption. These are technologies that have the potential to drive significant change to customer engagement and experience, and I expect these will lead to transformative change in time in this area. Your car reminding you via a voice message that your insurance renewal is due and giving you a visual comparison of insurance quotes on your car’s entertainment unit screen, and you concluding the renewal with a verbal instruction to pay the insurer using a preferred credit-card – all while driving your car – that’s the kind of transformative convenience that these technologies can drive, and we will see a lot more of these emerge! A Piece of Advice Banking solutions will continue to evolve fast to leverage advances in technologies – be it Cloud, AI or IoT and 5G. Every solution provider needs to critically review and align their offerings to exploit these advances and build in the benefits that these can deliver, into their propositions. Not doing so will soon make many of these providers irrelevant in an increasingly complex and competitive world. FinTechs that are looking to use the advantage of a levelplaying technology field should press home their advantage and lead by innovation, and this will bring benefits to the industry overall and to end-consumers.

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QuilinX: Helping Businesses Grow from the Roots

CXO OUTLOOK April 2022

n India, 25% of the students want to start something of their own but don’t know how to conceptualize, build and launch their dream idea. Harsh Singh, an alumnus of the prestigious Indian School of business, Hyderabad, saw this as a massive opportunity in 2018. He partnered with Gautam Sethi, another startup enthusiast, to set up an innovative venture called QuilinX. Today, the co-founder duo, Harsh Singh and Gautam Sethi, work towards getting on with some of the largest fintech’s, e-pharmacy, hospitality, eCommerce, logistics startups in India. Most recently, QuilinX has seen enormous opportunities for them with the growing demand for talent and an increasing number of startups popping up everywhere. “We are doing our best to keep pace with this demand; however, we don’t want to lose our quality differentiation while executing this path,” says Mr. Harsh. Mr. Gautam adds, “We are growing at 30-40% month-on-month revenue with a sustainable bottom line. QuilinX is self-funded, and we are not looking for any immediate funding. We are a profitable business generating self-sustainable cash flow.” Having Focus As a new company, QuilinX understands how new startups work. While there are many thirdparty resource providers in the market, the company doesn’t compare with its competitors. They focus on engineers who are rated as the top performers by clients. Besides, QuilinX takes care of all onboarding compliances and account management, including weekly approved timesheets, multi-time zone collaboration using client preferred tools & HR/ Legal compliances. “We focus on the happiness of our people and build QuilinX as a career growth platform for capable individuals,” says Mr. Gautam.

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We focus on the happiness of our people and build QuilinX as a career growth platform for capable individuals

CXO OUTLOOK April 2022

HARSH SINGH, FOUNDER Harsh Singh is an alumnus of the prestigious Indian School of business, Hyderabad, graduated with academic honor. He has 18+ years of technology experience of working in companies like Accenture, KPMG, Reliance & other small & midsize companies and startups. In his corporate life, Harsh led and managed multiple million-dollar programs for top business customers across the world. Harsh regularly advises non-technical founders for digital transformation & how tech can benefit their businesses. As the founder, Harsh is focussed on strategizing & implementation of QuilinX vision, overall growth in multiple geographies, client satisfaction , delivery, & overall smooth operations of the firm. He is a firm believer of the fact that if his employees are happy and motivated, clients will be happy as well.

CXO OUTLOOK April 2022

While QuilinX still helps early-stage founders with their products, its focus is to build a strong developer community for the best startups brands in the country. The company has launched something called the ‘Bar Raiser,’ a developer community for prominent, funded startups to match brilliance to opportunity. It was introduced to challenge engineering capabilities and provide resourceful candidates to high-growth startups. With such a system in place, Harsh says, “The model is immune to the ups and downs that are synonymous with the functioning of startups; if one industry shows signs of recession, the developer can easily move to another startup working in another industry.” Thus, it gives startups some stability to move forward in the business and aim for success. With numerous players in the market, there is a need to continuously improve products to make them more user-friendly, effective, efficient, and attainable. In this regard, QuilinX takes monthly feedback from all their clients regarding the performance of their engineers. They continue to be in touch with client CTO and CHRO and develop trust with clients who request more resources, thus easing their hiring criteria. Mr. Harsh says, “They have shown confidence in our shortlisting and technical evaluation procedures as we have a hit rate of 90% success in client interview and 100% success in deliverable

quality for our clients. They believe that meeting the founders, CXO directly and explaining our services minimizes marketing spending to a bare minimum. They use Linkedin to find and meet new people to grow their business.”

GAUTAM SETHI, CO-FOUNDER Gautam Sethi is a Hospitality Graduate with a Post-Graduation in Human Resources from XLRI. Gautam has worked with Global organizations like IBM, AON Hewitt and Regional giants in the UAE such as The Landmark Group in managing and leading People function and talent initiatives. Gautam has been an entrepreneur and has run his own recruitment firm and is currently leading various other startups. As the Co-founder & partner based in Dubai, Middle East, Gautam is focused on growing the international business, Client Management and works with Harsh on the growth strategy, people engagement and HR related execution.

Stepping forward In the last 4 years, QuilinX has mastered the art of helping businesses grow. Now, they are looking to expand their target market and move to the Middle Eastern Startup market. With Mr. Gautam stationed in the UAE, this became an obvious choice for them to develop to. There is a huge demand for talent in India and UAE, requiring engineers working for highgrowth startups. “We are growing our client base every month and can win multiple clients in industries primarily fintech, eCommerce, logistics, hospitality, e-pharmacy,” says Mr. Gautam. Mr. Harsh says, “We call it as a QuilinX family with our people learning from each other, i.e., brilliant peer group.” With such an attitude towards the company, employee career growth, happiness and wellness is key to our success. Through technical discussions, talks, case studies, and the like from time to time. The company also plans to start a formal career growth learning program for developers in the coming year. “Our endeavor is to help clients build life-changing products for our nation. This is only possible if the startups have the right team with the right attitude and skills. We aim to help drive the same agenda for our clients,” Mr. Harsh.

CXO OUTLOOK April 2022

Acko General Insurance

BharatPe

Website: www.acko.com

Website: www.bharatpe.com

Keyperson: Varun Dua, MD & CEO

Keyperson: Shashvat Nakrani, Co-Founder

Description:

ACKO is India’s first and fastest-growing InsurTech company which makes buying and using insurance effortlessly. The company has sold more than 60 Crore insurance policies to date.

CXO OUTLOOK April 2022

Serving over 50 lakh merchants across 35 cities, BharatPe has grown business 30x in 2019 and is a leader in UPI offline transactions, having processed 5 crore+ UPI transactions a month (annualized TPV of US$ 5+ Bn).

Chargebee Technologies

CRED

Website: www.chargebee.com

Website: www.cred.club

Keyperson: Krish Subramanian,

Keyperson: Kunal Shah, Founder, CRED

Co-Founder& CEO

Description:

Chargebee is a recurring billing and subscription management tool that helps SaaS and SaaS-like businesses streamline Revenue Operations.

Description:

CRED is a members-only club that rewards individuals for their timely credit card bill payments by providing them with exclusive offers and access to premium experiences.

Digit

FidyPay

Website: www.godigit.com

Website: www.fidypay.com

Keyperson: Kamesh Goyal, Chairman

Keyperson: Manan Dixit, Founder and CEO

Description:

Digit is a general insurance company offering car insurance, travel insurance, home insurance, commercial vehicle insurance, and shop insurance. The company is driven by a mission to reimagine products and redesign price processes.

FidyPay has built the API stack which enables the business of Bharat to change the way consumers transact and create a more digitally aware society by deploying plug & play solution.

CXO OUTLOOK April 2022

Groww

MobiKwik

Website: www.groww.in

Website: www.mobikwik.com

Keyperson: Lalit Keshre,

Co-Founder and CEO

Description:

Groww provides insights about mutual funds, systematic investment planning, equity-linked savings, and everything from the personal finance world, which helps new investors make investing simple by maintaining a simplified user interface.

Keyperson: Bipin Preet Singh, Co-Founder,

MD & CEO

Description:

MobiKwik is focused on addressing the unmet credit needs of the fast growing digitally paying users by combining the convenience of everyday mobile payments with the benefits of BNPL.

Newgen Software

Upstox

Website: www.newgensoft.com

Website: www.upstox.com

Keyperson: Virender Jeet, CEO

Keyperson: Ravi Kumar, Co-Founder

Description:

Newgen Software is a leading provider of a unified digital transformation platform with native process automation, content services, and communication management capabilities.

CXO OUTLOOK April 2022

Upstox is a fin-tech company to allow innovative investment options for its users. It also provides securities brokerage and stock trading services.

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CXO OUTLOOK Higher Education Digest April 2020 2022 November

FidyPay

Revolutionizing the Future of FinTech Innovations

idyPay, one of the leading FinTech brands operated by Jambopay Express Pvt Ltd, is all about financial inclusion and digital payments. FidyPay’s API stack enables the business to change the way they transact and creates a more digitally aware society by deploying plug-andplay solutions. Since its inception, the company has processed over Rs. 1000 crores worth of transactions. “We focus on enabling businesses onto the financial services using the technology. Although we started a completely different model, we promoted it through the front-layer models. Finally, we understood that the FinTech API Platform is much better suited,” says Manan Dixit, Founder, and CEO, FidyPay.

CXO OUTLOOK April 2022

FidyPay API platform has been created to empower businesses, corporates, or government organizations with financial services products. Whether it is API Banking or something as simple as including payments in the workforce or invoices, or as complicated as providing customized solutions to the organizations for the collections, automated collections, and recurring payments, FidyPay is the way to go. “When we started FidyPay in 2015, we were more into the experimental and R&D phase until 2017-18, when we started building our API platform and started on the product line. By 2019, FidyPay started commercially deploying the solutions to enterprises and government organizations,” adds Manan.

Manan Dixit, Founder and CEO, FidyPay

Manan Dixit is a level-headed entrepreneur and businessman. Manan has had varied experiences through his life and has travelled widely across India. He holds a nuanced understanding of the Indian market. In his previous avatar, he was engaged with top IT companies in a technology role and won accolades for his work across teams and clients. Manan has now ventured into the exciting world of eCommerce and Payments and is focused on growing his organisation across India and abroad.

CXO OUTLOOK April 2022

FidyPay provides products & services for the entire BFSI sector. The company is also coming up with the micro-insurance products, including the current range of banking,payments and collections. Besides, FidyPay provides API banking solutions wherein any organization can directly integrate their banking APIs with their ERP to make direct payments without going to any banking platform. “We have a lot of customized solutions. For instance, one of our clients wanted to automate and digitize their local tax collections. We worked extensively with them for over 6 months to understand their domain, requirement, and customization and finally deliver the final product to them, which exceeded their expectations,” reminisces Manan.

CXO OUTLOOK April 2022

FidyPay API platform has been created to empower businesses, corporates, or government organizations with financial services products

The Banking Pedigree With his father working as a banker, Manan has traveled across the country every three years during his childhood, which helped him understand the domain and the necessity of product lines. Having traveled so much, he understood what works out and what doesn’t quite easily. “I have traveled over 40,000 km across six states to understand what will work out. It had helped in the journey as we got into deep research before we launched the product,” opines Manan. Focusing more on the small corporates and government along with the enterprises’ businesses, FidyPay’s entire thought process runs around financial inclusion and digital payments in the semi-urban and rural areas. They try to work and enable clients in these regions to position themselves in a better scenario with the upcoming challenges in any sort of digital payment. “The biggest benefit any client or corporate gets with us is that their go-to-market time reduces drastically. If I put a number, it reduces above 60%. So what they intend to do in six weeks, we could deliver it in one week. We give them the basic integrations which are required to get their products live, and using the single pipe, they can enable multiple services for their consumers at large,” adds Manan. With an internal sales thought process within the core team, Manan ensures that the company’s product lines are being shown to the client accordingly, and they keep concentrating on different clients. Whenever they come up with a new product, FidyPay ensures that they at least have a client or two in place by the time the product launches. Valuing regular feedback from the clients, the sales team at FidyPay and Manan have been talking to many of their clients about their service. They keep talking to them regularly. “We are in constant communication with them, trying to understand what more can be done. If the volumes are low, we try to understand why the volumes are low. Is there anything we can do to increase it out? So we work extensively with all our clients,” says Manan. Despite the growth and the challenges, FidyPay always kept the lines of communication open among their employees. They keep them updated, motivated and keep them informed at all times. “We have a team of around 20 people. Besides, we always give room for our people to grow. We don’t push them. We always aid our employees to work

CXO OUTLOOK April 2022

Focusing more on the small corporates and government rather than the enterprises’ businesses, FidyPay’s entire thought process runs around financial inclusion and digital payments in the semiurban and rural areas at their comfort level so that deliveries are being made properly,” says Manan. Clubbing the product lines to their clientele, FidyPay tried to understand and research their client in advance and shape their strategies according to their needs, which is beneficial to the company and their client. Technology is advancing at a breakneck pace, bringing us groundbreaking FinTech innovations that guarantee convenience and safety, not just in metro cities but also in the country’s hinterlands. That being said, the future of the fintech industry will certainly include all-in-one payment solutions that simplify the overall process of banking. From doorstep cash delivery to insurance coverage, Recharges & Bill payments and even emerging fintech players offer almost all financial services under a single umbrella, right at the customer’s doorstep. “It is going to be another thrilling journey ride for us. We have many products in developing stage and about to be LIVE soon. We intend to take our growth further and make a billion-dollar company in coming two years,” concludes Manan.

CXO OUTLOOK April 2022

LEADER’S INSIGHTS

CAN TECHNOLOGY ALTER HUMAN BEHAVIOUR AND PSYCHOLOGY TOWARDS INVESTING? Jay Prakash Gupta, Founder, Dhan

Mr. Jay Prakash Gupta is Founder of Dhan (www.dhan.co) (A technology platform for super traders and long term investors) and Co-Founder, Raise Financial Services. Alumnus of IIM Ahmedabad. A seasoned market expert, Jay carries with him over 18 years of rich experience in the financial sector. An extremely knowledgeable and thorough professional, he is widely exposed to the practical world of equity, commodity, currency and other financial segment. Mr. Gupta founded Moneylicious Securities with a vision of a company that understands the need from an investor’s perspective and then offers the best available ethical financial solution. Through impactful initiatives, he has grown Moneylicious manifold over the years apart from being recognized internationally as a team to reckon with. Moneylicious is now part of Raise Financial Services where Mr. Gupta is a Co-Founder.

e are living in a digital age and technology is driving and reshaping our lives faster than we could imagine. The way we Shop, Work, Choose Activity, Meet People, Communicate, Travel and Manage our Health and Finances have become technology dependent. Artificial Intelligence and

CXO OUTLOOK April 2022

Data Science is helping corporations to gain fresh insights into consumer behaviour and is being applied to every part of company’s value chain. Companies today focus on consumer pain points and try to address them by building Apps and products which removes the friction from transactions. There

The innovative technology has helped companies in simplifying everything from Payments to Insurance, from Investing to banking

CXO OUTLOOK April 2022

has been a democratization of information which has reduced Information asymmetry significantly. Access to information is universal and is available real time whether someone is in Silicon Valley or in a small town in any developing nation which has internet connectivity. AI and Automation is helping corporations create a superior customer experience by reducing customer response time. The impact of technology in Financial Services has been profound. For a long period of time large banks and brokerages ruled the financial services Industry and New Entrantsfound it difficult to break in. Technology has helped these new entrants in getting into and disrupting the domain once controlled by established players. The innovative technology has helped companies in simplifying everything from Payments to Insurance, from Investing to banking. With such revolutionary changes and with access to information and tools to execute transactions, have we become smarter in making better investing decisions

CXO OUTLOOK April 2022

than our predecessors or are we still the same indecisive lot driven by emotions, greed, and fear? Often while investing, our brain does exactly opposite to what it is supposed to do. We believe that one should invest when markets are at a low and should sell when it is at its peak, but we shy away from buying stocks when markets correct. We know that panic selling is a bad idea, but we try to jump the wagon impulsively even at a trivial news which we come across. $4 bn worth of market value of Coca cola was wiped off in a day when a renowned footballer kept two bottles of Coke aside during post-match press conference. We know chasing hot stocks is a bad idea but, we buy impulsively when we see our neighbour, friends and people around buy the same stock. We sell stock when it goes up by a nominal percentage and hold on to investments even while it keeps falling. How do we explain such behaviour? Though it may not make any logical sense but makes emotional sense. Unlike machine, it makes us irrational. It makes us

Human. It is not that people with no formal education, no investing experience does it. People with the best of education, best of investing experience and connections also behave the same way. Two people with similar IQ, similar qualification will behave differently with their money and investments. While one individual sells his holdings when certain crisis or negative news hits and at the same time other person holds on, remains indecisive till the value gets wiped out. Investing is not hard science and not guided by rules and laws unlike Physics and Mathematics. It is more to do with behaviour. Our brains since ages were designed to improve our odds of survival and avoid whatever worsens the odds. We react to threats either perceived or real. It is our Reptilian brain or Ancestral brain where such signals originate. Emotional circuits in our brains make us instinctively crave for rewards and ignore situations which increases the chances of losing the reward. Our frontal brain or the modern brain, which is rational has no match to the emotional power of the parts of the ancestral brain. That is one of the reasons that when we are in a zone of indecisiveness, and overwhelmed with negative news around, our brain perceives threat to financial well-being. Our instinctive ancestral brain takes over the rational frontal brain and we act emotionally rather than rationally. The action translates into selling as it gives a feeling of protecting your financial wellbeing from further harm. Survival matters more than finding logic. Advances in Data Science and advancement in finance help us in calculating Beta and historical prices. We can calculate portfolio allocation using co-variances and various statistical tools. We know co-relation between Inflation, Interest rates, valuations, gold prices and Equity. It is not what we know about concepts that ensures financial success, rather what goes inside our brain when we try to make investing decisions and how we control it makes all the difference. More knowledgeable but less patient Along with all the great achievements and breakthrough in technology, also comes the unfathomable access to information. Our brain is not prepared to handle and process so much of information. It tries to absorb the ones which needs less energy and those which are easy to understand. We are accustomed to speed; we want quick results. Humans today are less patient than what they were two decades before. We look for Instant gratification. We upload something on social media and expect likes instantly, we buy something and want

to sell and make a quick buck on our investments. We want faster computers, faster internet, and telephone networks. A few seconds delay in uploading or receiving information makes us impatient. We invest with an objective to create wealth, and wealth creation requires patience. Focus on short term volatility, paying too much attention to prices, are detrimental to the returns and in turn the objective of Investing.

We know chasing hot stocks is a bad idea but, we buy impulsively when we see our neighbour, friends and people around buy the same stock

Can technological advancement help us in altering the behaviour towards Investing? Technology with the help of neuroscience can alter human behaviour. It would bring another set of challenges, most prominent among them would be controlling the intent of those who would have authority (state or corporation) to alter human behaviour. Human beings today inhabit modern world along with ingrained behaviour and traits of its ancestors. Most of the concepts in technology related to finance are new, like other traits, Humans shall adapt to it naturally over time. Till then let us enjoy the moment as Human Beings, after all it sounds better than being called as Human Machines.

CXO OUTLOOK April 2022

EXPERT OPINION

What Legacy Banks Can Learn from Fintech Apps’ Explosive Growth April Tayson, Regional VP - INSEA, Adjust

CXO OUTLOOK April 2022

April Tayson is Regional VP INSEA at Adjust. Based in Singapore, April is responsible for Adjust’s SEA sales operations, go-to-market strategy and growing the company’s market share and revenue. With over 15 years of experience in digital marketing, April is passionate about promoting Southeast Asia’s vibrant and fast-growing mobile ecosystem, while bringing more transparency and trust to the industry.

n 2020 we saw a huge shift in our app usage patterns and habits. The pronounced changes to our day-to-day led to an increase in how many apps we installed and how long we used them for. Fintech was a huge winner in this regard, seeing the largest increase across the board. Adjust’s Mobile App Trends 2021 Report found that app installs grew by 51% from 2019 to 2020, and are already up by another 23% so far this year. According to Adobe’s Digital Trends Report, TSB Bank had to completely reshape their banking application process as they saw a massive increase in customers using online banking for the first time. The average mobile user has 2.5 finance apps installed – between the pandemic and wider exposure to personal finance, users are diversifying and exploring other finance management sources now more than ever. Adobe data show that toward the midpoint of 2020, a quarter of banking app downloads were digital banks in contrast with just 2% in 2017. These trends show no signs of slowing down as we move into the second half of 2021. Playing Catch-Up The digital finance trend is growing globally. China, India and Japan boasted significant increases in payment-app adoption, reaching highs of 81%, 3.6% and 25.4%, respectively. Even in markets like France and Germany, where mobile payments are traditionally not as popular, saw growth of 20%. With fintech reaching new heights the pressure is now on traditional financial service players to keep up. More and more banks have either launched their own digital services and online user engagements or partnered with other fintechs. But just how effective is this transition and what can they learn from the disrupters in the financial sector? With our collective move to mobile there are industry standards we have become accustomed to. It’s up to legacy banks to adopt a mobile-first mentality to meet their users’ needs in order to stay competitive. Adobe’s digital trends report uncovered that the top marketing priority is to enable customer acquisition (34%). A banking app should take a different approach to user acquisition (UA) than fintech apps that provide different services (e.g., investment, insurance). These subtle differences can then be capitalized on further to yield impressive results. Banks that target the right users for their services can depend on users’ loyalty and lifetime value (LTV). It’s all about focusing on their app’s function and unique selling points. A Spotlight on User Journey and Experience Over 45% of consumers in a survey by FIS stated that they’ve “permanently changed” how they do their banking since the pandemic, and 31% have also expressed interest in using more mobile banking apps in future. It’s clear that the traditional

CXO OUTLOOK April 2022

banks need to revamp their digital experience to be the ‘goto’ for financial advice and provide assistance to their users for every step of their journey. The market is there — it’s time now for traditional banks to turn this new found interest into lasting trust. By benchmarking fintech apps against the industry standards and expectations, marketers and developers for traditional banks can better understand, develop and tweak their strategies and their approaches to UA and retention. Pain points for legacy banks traditionally include onboarding and providing convenient service access around the clock. With mobile, we have unparalleled, instant access to just about everything— why not finance, too? Insights like these highlight the moments in which users could potentially churn, or drop off the app. Data from Adjust’s global app trends report show that fintech app sessions grew by an impressive 85% year-overyear in 2020 — and they’re continuing to surge in 2021, reaching 49% growth already. Figures on overall session length show that banking increased from 4.95 minutes per session in 2019 to 5.5 minutes in 2020. As of H1 2021, this has decreased slightly to 5.2 minutes, but is still performing well above the 2019 average. It’s no accident that user sessions are reaching brand new highs. Fintechs are constantly innovating and working on offering their users better experiences. As long as they can maintain this, they will continue to grow. User experience research and development is crucial for any legacy bank considering branching out digitally. But success means developing a digital-only mindset, says Christopher Young, director of industry strategy and marketing, financial services, at Adobe. “We work with some of the largest financial institutions that offer a range of digital and traditional channels. The discussions have been around shifting to a digital-first, but not digital only mindset. The reality is that they are competing with disruptive companies that are mobile ONLY. This needs to push the industry to focus more on the mobile experience and evolve it beyond purely transactional interactions.” The Need for More Flexibility and Adaptability Entirely mobile-first businesses offer their users increased control and better understanding of their money. In today’s finance landscape, customers can open a bank account and use their digital wallet in a matter of minutes. Rapid innovation via microservice architecture and APIs gives digital-first banks flexibility — and this is the kind of agility we expect as consumers. By contrast, legacy banking platforms are normally built on complex, stacked systems. These systems are less agile than digital-first banking services, but, more importantly, far more costly to run. If

CXO OUTLOOK April 2022

User experience research and development is crucial for any legacy bank considering branching out digitally

legacy banks wish to compete with the banks shaping the finance industry, monitoring and adapting systems is crucial. Understanding your users’ needs, expectations and in-app habits is more important than ever as digital banking continues to grow. Features like account fee plans, international purchases, instant payments, insightful interfaces and capabilities are the new norm. Legacy banks can look at these models to craft user-centric, data-driven strategies. Adobe’s Young says it best: “Coming out of the pandemic, the focus of the financial services industry is to create more meaningful digital experiences that improve the financial health and well being of their customers. As mobile becomes the primary channel for customer interactions, the mobile experience needs to shift from money movement to helping consumers make smarter financial decisions.” Opportunities to grow By 2026, the global mobile banking market is expected to grow to $1.82 billion with a compound annual growth rate of 12.2% from 2019 to 2026. The time is now to analyze and learn from customers’ habits. From onboarding to user journeys and UX, insights and data points can be used to segment users and paint a clear picture of your company’s needs as customers adapt. If you’re struggling with retention in your bank’s app, it’s time to start understanding how users are behaving inapp, when they’re returning and why. By putting a spotlight on your retention rates, you can troubleshoot onboarding issues, work out whether you’re providing enough fresh content to keep users engaged, and test the success of referral/onboarding offers. The banks that continuously innovate and offer better user experiences are those that will see the most success as markets around the world emerge from lockdowns.

Higher Education Digest July 2020

CXO OUTLOOK April 2022

IN MY VIEW

HOW FINTECH ACCELERATION CAN HELP IN AN

‘AATMANIRBHAR BHARAT’ Rohit Garg, Co-Founder & CEO, Smartcoin Financials

ndia’s journey towards nationwide fintech adoption and financial inclusion is no walk in the park and contains its own set of obstacles. The major challenges faced by the fintech industry delivering its products and services in such areas are the lack of banking credentials and financial literacy amongst a major part of the population. Fintech companies exhibit a wellestablished operational framework that can help them expand their permeation scale by generating greater awareness about financial products and services. This is a critical aspect of increasing financial literacy in Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities. It

CXO OUTLOOK April 2022

not only assists finance companies to witness higher revenue levels but also accelerates India’s march towards financial inclusion and visible economic growth at a global stage. The ensuing pandemic has fast-tracked the digital transformation, compelling the microfinance Industry to capitalize on the fintech boom. In wake of this rampant digitization, an in-depth reexamination of conventional processes is required. Novel waves of tech-powered fintech that are reliant on digital processes for fastpaced loan dispersal are witnessing a greater upsurge in financial

While countless challenges impede the progress of the panIndian fintech movement, the collaboration of new-age financial startups and their traditional legacy equivalents are catalyzing a speedy deployment of advanced fintech solutions

Rohit Garg is the Co-Founder and CEO at SmartCoin Financials, India’s first fully-automated next-gen Fintech company focused on providing financial access to the millions of innumerous self-employed micro-entrepreneurs, micro-merchants and middle/lower-income salaried individuals using alternative credit assessment aided by data science and machine learning. In his leadership capacity, he is responsible for overseeing the day-to-day management and executive processes at the company. He also spearheads the overall strategy and conceptualization, product design, business development, capital/ resource management, and other crucial aspects for the firm.

CXO OUTLOOK April 2022

operations. The rising cover of API solutions for user on-boarding through KYC authentication and instant loan disbursal is spearheading a fintech revolution for the extant underserved quarters of the country. While countless challenges impede the progress of the pan-Indian fintech movement, the collaboration of new-age financial startups and their traditional legacy equivalents are catalyzing a speedy deployment of advanced fintech solutions. There are numerous factors that are obstructing the country’s mission towards financial inclusion and economic reliance. The most evident amongst them is the fact that a substantial segment of the Indian population does not enjoy access to basic banking and financial services. According to a report by the World Bank, over 190 million adults in our country are without an active bank account. Almost 20% of the masses are devoid of essential banking services from the very onset due to multiple factors. While 80% of our population has access to banking, only a negligible 5% can avail of unsecured credit services. Even though a plethora of banking and financial players address the needs of the top and the bottom end of the country’s economic spectrum, it is the middle segment that lies bereft of financial services. This group mainly comprises self-employed microbusiness owners, Blue, and Grey-collared workers, etc. who are hitherto deprived of general banking and finance on account of their income instability, lack of documentation, and absence of dependable credit history. By addressing various hurdles that are typical to the underserved section such as major setup costs, inept manual processes, the earlier mentioned lack of credit history and a dearth of fintech innovation are preventing payment and banking companies from tapping into the magnanimous $100 billion market potential of micro-loans. But thanks to the rapid rise in finance technology, new-age payment companies and out-of-the-box financial players have the potential to tilt this situation over its head. By delivering specialized and fast-speed loans for short durations with almost zero paperwork and legal formalities, these entities are breaking prelaid financial conventions and resolving a vast surfeit of underserved consumer requirements.

CXO OUTLOOK April 2022

The Indian hinterland as opposed to the government’s nationwide digital India campaign is particularly notorious for its heavy dependency on cash-based transactions

Serving the underserved is one of the most central challenges that mark India’s quest for economic and financial inclusion. The Indian hinterland as opposed to the government’s nationwide digital India campaign is particularly notorious for its heavy dependency on cash-based transactions. With about 20% of the rural and almost 65% of the urban Indian population having access to internet-based services, the need for greater digitization through diversification of essential infrastructure and digital awareness at a pan-India scale is penultimate. As per a report released by KPMG, cashless digital transactions are witnessing a steady rise at an annual CAGR of 12.7%. The report further reveals that the number of merchants compliant with digital cashless payments has risen from 1.5 million in 2016-17 to over 10 million in about two years’ time. Similarly, nationwide fintech adoption and permeation have risen from 52% in 2017 to about 87% in 2019 as per the EY Global Fintech Adoption Index 2019. Moreover, the adoption rate between the sexes slightly differed with about 88% of men utilizing fintech apps in contrast to 84% of female users. The highest consumer demographic that has adopted the digital fintech model belonged to the 25-44 age-group with 94% of them using it for their daily financial transactions and payment needs. The biggest driver leading this large-scale fintech adoption is seamless money transfers and easy payments. About 94% swear by the fintech model owing to the streamlined transactions. This is followed by insurance at 76%, savings and investments at 67%, financial planning at 63%, and borrowings that account for about 61%. The fintech industry has been further transformed with the advancement of hi-tech innovations such as Big Data, Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning. By optimising these cutting-edge technologies in data sciences and machine language, fintech companies can collate enormous amounts of user-generated data. These alternate data reserves can be then used by the various payment companies for credit monitoring before authorising micro and small-ticket loans to the underserved population. With such overarching growth in technology and infrastructure, tech-powered fintech players are

witnessing stupendous growth across all quarters. Interestingly, about 60-70% of this growth has been attributed to tier 2/3/4 cities on account of greater internet connectivity and increasing digital awareness. This is one of the most crucial steps in India’s race towards financial literacy and an ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat’. As the journey towards financial inclusion at a pan-India scale speeds up with 80% of Indians gaining financial access, its multiplier effect can definitely rejuvenate the ailing economy. By accomplishing its various pre-laid sustainable development goals, India as a fast-developing economy can not only foster economic growth but also engage in the eradication of poverty amongst the underprivileged sections of our society. A vast surfeit of fintech corporations are driving the country’s campaign for an ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat’ by focusing on uplifting the current levels of employment and productivity. They are doing so through digital technological innovation and financial engineering of personalised loan products that can effectively address the financial needs of an aspiring Bharat. Financial inclusion doesn’t just mean people having access to a bank account. It can only be achieved when every citizen of this country has complete and unbridled access to inexpensive and hi-utility financial products and service suites with regard to their payments, transactions, and wealth management. The government can host various incentives and initiatives to empower the fintech industry. These range from regulating fintech activities with flexibility, augmenting awareness levels to further financial literacy using popular media pathways, and including financial literacy as full-fledged courses in the curriculum of academic institutions. The rapid development in various aspects of financial technology is paving India’s road to financial inclusion and an ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat’. As fintech platforms are not deterred by traditional legacy processes and systems that are characteristic to other financial institutions such as banks and NBFCs, they can address the immense market potential more smoothly and easily. Having already established their diversified range of products and services in tier-1 cities, they are now gradually penetrating the rural as well as the remote regions.

CXO OUTLOOK April 2022

EXPERT OPINION

Neo Banking Myths,

busted! Jitin Bhasin, Founder & CEO, SaveIN

CXO OUTLOOK April 2022

N Jitin Bhasin is the Founder & CEO of SaveIN, a fast-growing neo-banking platform in India that aims to revolutionize the way Indians transact, bank and save money. An engineering graduate and MBA from the prestigious Indian Institute of Foreign Trade, Jitin has rich experience in Banking, Insurance, Consulting and Fintech. He has grown rapidly in his career through consistent and excellent performances across domains. In the year 2014, he was adjudged as The Economic Times Young Leader across India. Before setting up SaveIN, Jitin was the MD and CEO of Rupeeredee – a new-age digital lending platform and Fincfriends Private Limited, one of India’s first digital NonBanking Financial Company. Under his leadership, these companies scaled up rapidly, serving millions of Indians across the country, while delivering profitable business results.

eo banks are virtual or digital banking platforms that operate in partnership with licensed banking institutions while providing unique products and experiences in a customer friendly interface. Sometimes, it can seem unrealno hassle of physical branches, lean cost structure, end to end digital processes and easy access through your smartphone, but all this is the exact reason for neo-banks to exist! While globally neo-banks have been around for almost a decade, it is a relatively recent, albeit, fast growing industry in India, riding on high penetration of the internet, changing preferences when it comes to banking and consumption patterns of Indian customers. As a relatively new industry, it is not unreasonable to assume that some people would be sceptical about the relevance and reliability of such platforms. Some of those misconceptions and apprehensions are covered below. Myth 1: Neo banks are unsafe and not secure Neo banking being an online platform that offers financial services, data protection is one of the main questions on everyone’s minds and concerns regarding its security are not entirely misfounded. It is pertinent to note that in India, neo-banks provide products and services in deep partnership with licensed banks and other financial institutions through the use of Application Programming Interface (APIs), hence all key actions are governed by the partner bank and in adherence to strict protocols. Data is adequately protected with the help of digital security encryption and used in a customer consent driven architecture. Moreover, two-factor authentication provides additional security for any transactions taking place on this platform. Some neo-banks also undergo voluntary certifications and audits, to enhance their data security measures and access controls, hence it is safe to assume that compliant neo-banks are at par with banks, when it comes to safety. Myth 2: Neo banks have a poor customer service Most neo banks have a discerning focus on providing top tier customer service, so as to differentiate themselves from the traditional banking service model. Where traditional banking in most cases is limited to branch visits, routine phone-calls and

CXO OUTLOOK April 2022

Most neo banks have a discerning focus on providing top tier customer service, so as to differentiate themselves from the traditional banking service model

emails, neobanks are changing the game by expanding to more digital channels. Customers can reach these online platforms at the click of their fingers via messenger apps such as WhatsApp, inbuilt chat services, and social media platforms for a faster response, round the clock. This multi-channel approach helps them stay on top of customers’ concerns and increases their response rate. Myth 3: Neobanking is complicated For those who are not so tech savvy, a fully online banking service might seem a little daunting. However, digital banks

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take pride in providing easy-to-use banking products and educating their users on how to manage their finances. Furthermore, highly personalised interactions, analysis and recommendations form an integral part of digital banking— business insights are zeroed down to bite-sized actionable tasks, simplifying decision making. A completely digital platform allows neobanks to better understand customer behaviour and make necessary changes to its user-interface based on customer feedback. Advances in technology further helps neobanks to adapt to changing customer needs faster than any traditional bank.

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LEADER’S INSIGHTS

REINFORCING BETTER REGULATORY FRAMEWORK FOR FINTECH IS THE NEED OF THE HOUR Raj N, Founder, Zaggle

Raj is a seasoned professional with over 24 years of experience working in India and the US. He is a Serial Entrepreneur and has built and sold businesses in areas such as Financial Services, Prepaid Internet Retail, Loyalty, Merchandising, Reward and Recognition, Open Banking, and Expense Management. Raj is currently the Founder and Chairman of Zaggle, an award-winning FinTech Company which helps companies digitize spends and automate processes related to payments. Being a 5x Startup Founder, he is part of multiple Founders and Angel Investor Groups and being part of the group, he learnt about the challenges faced by Founders to access credit, to meet their business expenses.

he emergence of FinTech has changed the way businesses operate in the present day and age. The synergy of financial services and technology has brought about a paradigm shift in how enterprises and corporations carry out their various operations in the contemporary times. A simple example would be getting instant loans through various digital platforms

CXO OUTLOOK April 2022

without undergoing the process of paperwork. Such is the power of FinTech whether it is about getting a loan approved or about transfer of funds it can now be done instantly, thereby making the process faster, seamless and effortless. The financial services industry grew as a result of technology-driven developments and business

FinTech Industry has caused massive disruption in India and it seems the most promising sector in the post pandemic era CXO OUTLOOK April 2022

model adjustments. Indian FinTech investments increased by 60% during COVID-19, from $919 million in 2020to $1467 million in 2021. According to a new study by RBSA Advisors, India overtook China as Asia’s top destination for FinTech deals. The quarter ended June 30, 2020, saw about 33 agreements valued at $647.5 million in India, compared to $284.9 million in China. This statistic further highlights the effective growth of the financial technology industry in the country. FinTech Industry has caused massive disruption in India and it seems the most promising sector in the post pandemic era. However, the restrictive rules and regulations that are predominant for this sector limits its expansion. Regulatory forces have been very stringent in regards to the FinTech industry. The underlying reason for this is the impending threats the FinTech industry can subliminally bring to its customers. For instance, FinTech companies store a humongous amount of sensitive data and they are vulnerable to various cyber security threats which could likely put the customers at an increased risk from cyber criminals and other acts of digital frauds. The digital availability of financial details of businesses and individuals aggravates cyber security risks and data frauds. To prevent such risks, the government has imposed regulatory frameworks that have eventually led to the sluggish growth of the ecosystem. Although such frameworks have been put into practise thinking about the greater good of the financial ecosystem, there is a need for the concerned regulatory bodies to come up with laws that will not create a hurdle in the further expansion of the FinTech sector. To ensure the growth, innovation and success of the FinTech ecosystem, the government must administer regulatory changes or offer guidance which enables this sector to reach newer heights. • Rules and Regulations for the use of Blockchain Regulatory bodies must provide clear guidance when it comes to the use of blockchain technology. Having no clear-cut regulations will only instil the fear of penalisation among companies using this cutting-edge technology for its products.

CXO OUTLOOK April 2022

ALTHOUGH THE NEED FOR A REGULATORY FRAMEWORK IS UNEQUIVOCALLY THE NEED OF THE HOUR, MUCH OF THE GROWTH AND EXPANSION OF THE FINTECH ECOSYSTEM DEPENDS ON THE FINTECH PLAYERS THEMSELVES

Hence, guidance in terms of access to the block chain and standard procedures for information transfer via blockchain are few areas in which government’s rules or directives would be beneficial, to bolster the further growth of FinTech Industry. • Redressal Mechanisms The issue of ‘smart contracts’ around private encrypted Distributed Ledger Technology has become a common grouse for FinTech companies which does not have any definite solution. And the lack of a solution further leads to unnecessary complications and technical intricacies when consumers seek complaints and grievance redressals. The absence of a designated officer for such complaint redressal further makes the matters worse. Hence, the only way in which this problem can be solved is when the legal systems become more agile and adapt to the emerging trends in technology, to provide quicker solutions to such problems. • Encouraging innovation and growth Regulatory systems must come up with new activities that not only enhance but also improve FinTech sandboxing. The norms and requirements of testing or sandboxing could be eased upon, which could encourage firms to try out sandboxing and other such efforts before introducing their innovative products and services in this space. So, the need of the hour is to enable unauthorized innovators to be a part of sandboxing; to test the true potential of their products. At the same time, regulatory bodies should also ensure that any kind of unwarranted favours are not offered to any FinTech firms for bolstering competitions. Besides, Institute for Development and Research in Banking Technology (IDRBT) set up by the Reserve bank of India needs to be in frequent contact with banks, RBI and other financial solution providers, to ensure e smooth implementation of new services and offerings, which would eventually lead to growth and innovation of this sector. • Self-Regulatory mechanisms Although the need for a regulatory framework is unequivocally the need of the hour, much of the growth and expansion of the Fintech ecosystem depends on the Fintech players themselves. Practising a set of self regulatory rules and a certain code of conduct becomes quite essential. Incorporating regulatory rules and a code of conduct in daily operations ensures transparency and

accountability which can extend credibility to the company and its innovative services. Furthermore, it will help regulatory bodies in understanding the robustness which lies in the services of the concerned firm and accordingly informs customers in terms of the security mechanisms, plus it will enable potential firms to enter the market without imposing exorbitant compliance costs. Thereby, making it difficult for new age start-ups to penetrate the market. Apart from these suggestions, there are few other ideas which can be adopted by the regulatory body to offer a better framework. To begin with, this could include publishing reports, papers and case studies surrounding the developments in the FinTech industry. Secondly engaging with new and existing FinTech companies regularly and making changes in the process and systems of supervision as per the needs of the ecosystem. Lastly, implementing a fresh set of rules to keep abreast with this fast paced industry, which factors in recent advancements as well as current market offerings to ensure a level playing field. Hence, to ensure parity and a fair chance for financial technology companies (Fintech) and large technology organisations, better laws are critically required. Recent advances in data analytics and artificial intelligence (AI) are bringing a transformation and bringing a digital shift that delivers financial inclusion even to the most remote areas. FinTech offers significant benefits to consumers, investors, as well as financial services firms and financial market infrastructure. However, the growing use of FinTech solutions and emerging technology comes with it dangers, to which regulators and supervisors should be responding. India is witnessing rapid increase in digital appbased lending, prepaid payment instruments and digital payments. The trend shows that even cash driven economy like India is moving to digitisation wherein cash is merely used as a way to store value as an economic asset rather than to make payments. To conclude we can say, innovation and technology go hand in hand which has led to rapid advancement in the financial services ecosystem. The pace at which this sector is growing requires severe attention from the regulators. The need of the hour is regulatory policies and intervention that will facilitate the development as well as keep checks on activities in the FinTech space. Lastly to fit in the with the FinTech business models a thorough understanding of this industry and businesses is very crucial.

CXO OUTLOOK April 2022

EXPERT OPINION

How is Digital Transformation Helping Fintech to Attract the Next-Gen Vishwajit Pureti, Co-Founder & Marketing (CEO), Pencilton

CXO OUTLOOK April 2022

D Vishwajit Pureti is the Cofounder & Marketing (CEO) of Pencilton since 2019 and the team set up is based at Hyderabad. His career has seen a healthy mix of entrepreneurship, business development, and productspecific sales & marketing. A BE(Hons) in Mechanical Engineer, Vishwajit completed his PGDM from IIM Kozhikode in 2017. As an undergrad, along with other co-founders Pallavi and Viraj, he ran various enterprises, and as a result is very well-versed in marketing especially to the 10-19 years age segment. Prior to cofounding Pencilton, he rejected the PPO to work on Kubero, where he co-founded and built the GTM and led partnerships & marketing strategy. He managed to partner with 38 schools and state government during the pilot run of the project. It is now successfully adopted by many leading institutions in India.

igitization in India is propelling higher growth in a wide variety of Indian industries, even some traditional ones. This fast growth gains accelerated momentum from fast adoption of these technologies by Indian consumers. Reports peg Indians as the 2nd fastest digital adopters among 17 major digital nations. The pandemic has acted as an added catalyst in the above mix in making adoptions still faster. The most significant impact of digitisation has been the automation in the delivery of financial products and services by the fintech industry. In fact, India has one of the highest fintech adoption rates in the world at 87% vis a vis the global average of 64%. With a sizeable population of tech savvy Indian youth population and other conducive factors, Fintech is gaining immense popularity with the next-gen of the country. The growing smartphone adoption among teenagers in India Various studies have found that rising smartphone penetration in India, especially among the youth is driven not by young adults but by teens. India has 451 million monthly active internet users, out of which 66 million are between the age of 5 to 11 years. In addition to this, the highest smartphone penetration rate in India was estimated at 37% and was found to be in the 16–24-year age group. This is primarily because smartphones are no longer a luxury; the pandemic has turned it into an essential tool in our daily lives. Smartphone usage by children, earlier restricted to gaming, is now their closest pal and facilitator. With the right parental controls, this can be a huge advantage for children as they can be taught basics of money and how to manage it at an early age for a strong and secure financial future. The increasing pocket money allowance for teens Why is learning to manage money at an early age important? Today’s children are receiving higher allowances than ever before. An ASSOCHAM survey found that children in the age group of 1017 years receive on an average, Rs. 1500 as pocket money now as compared to a mere Rs. 125 in the year 1998. Among 16- to 21-year-olds, this amount has gone up to Rs. 6000. Children are spending money on buying smartphones, online gaming,

CXO OUTLOOK April 2022

eating out, cosmetics and apparel which makes it crucial that parents make them financially literate and independent at the earliest. Evolving fintech landscape that makes payments a breeze Ever since Digital India started in 2015, there has been a strong policy push towards making India a cashless society, spurring the growth of payment solutions like UPI. It allows instant payments without the need to input data, making it the most used digital payment solution in India. Contactless payments like Near Field Communication (NFC) further provide safe and convenient alternative payment methods. Interoperability of QR codes is expected to further promote digital transactions. It means you can now use just one QR code to make payments across merchants and without the hassle of downloading multiple payment apps for digital transactions. The recent RBI mandate providing for interoperability of balances in digital wallets like PayTM, PhonePe and others (called PPI or prepaid payment instruments) through the UPI network is likely to make acceptance of digital payments grow higher. These steps to enhance safety and the sheer ease of transacting have made acceptance of fintech and digital payments among teens or the Instagram generation truly a breeze.

User friendly apps of various banking services which were previously tedious and lengthy processes Compared to the lengthy paperwork and tedious processes of yore for making investments, fintech has made investing as easy as the click of a button. Fintech apps like Zerodha are a huge hit among the young professionals because they make investing in stock market easy. Insuretech apps enable purchase of insurance on their app without the need for long drawn documentation and approvals. Also, there are a number of digital wallets like PhonePe and PayTM that enable purchase of insurance, mutual funds and gold at the click of a button. Pocket money management apps such as Pencilton, Fampay and Junio which teach children personal finance using their e-pocket money help teens get a debit card even without a bank account. Tech-powered KYC processes facilitate easy onboarding and seamless flow for a tech-friendly generation Earlier, KYC processes in Indian banks entailed numerous visits to the bank with physical copies of original identification documents for verification. Now OTP based KYC and Video KYC, allowed by RBI, simplify and make it universally accessible for all. This has led to a seamless

CXO OUTLOOK April 2022

user experience for teens and adults alike. This ease of doing KYC is crucial for a smooth experience that lets the next generation sign up and try out and engage with various new apps from the convenience of their smartphone.

Compared to the lengthy paperwork and tedious processes of yore for making investments, fintech has made investing as easy as the click of a button

Easier plug & play API stack (for various fintech tools such as cards, UPI, credit, etc) that evolved just in the last 2 years The last two years have seen the emergence of not just UPI but various fintech tools based on plug and play API stack. Open APIs have truly brought about innovative solutions by fintech companies that have made digital payments faster and easier. Banking as a Service (BaaS) has been a crucial contributor too. Fintech players act as conduits in helping non-bank businesses partner with fully licensed banks to offer wallets, debit cards, loans and payment services at low costs and even quicker turnaround times. These innovations bring new age tools and features within easy reach of the next generation at an accelerated pace. Financial literacy has been a critical gap in the younger generations’ education. Now they have golden opportunities – combine the age-old learnings of their parents with the best experiential activities fintech tools offer through easy accessibility via their smartphones. From a high-cash economy to one of the world leaders in fintech adoption and innovations, we are uniquely poised to help our coming generations build their lives with greater financial control for a better future.

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Higher Education Digest October 2020

CXO OUTLOOK April 2022

IN MY VIEW

FINTECH PLATFORMS ARE PLAYING A KEY ROLE

FOR YOUNG WOMENLED BUSINESSES AND IS FACILITATING POSITIVE CHANGE FOR WOMEN

Poshak Agrawal, CEO & Co-Founder, Florence Capital

Exceptional Women 1959 – seven housewives from Mumbai gather on the roof of their building complex. Sitting together, they expertly form papad after papad, laying them out in the sun to dry. They’ve done this hundreds of times before, but there’s a difference today. Instead of being eaten at home, this papad will be packaged and sold for profit. A sympathetic social worker has lent them Rs 80 to buy the ingredients, and they’ve borrowed utensils and stoves from neighbours and friends. The women are determined to make this a success.

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Today, Lijjat Papad is a household name. Its products are sold in local kirana stores, Big Bazaar, and Grofers. With an annual turnover of Rs 1800 crore, it provides meaningful employment to 45,000 women across India. Women who are not just employees but co-owners of the brand. Entrepreneurs. But the women of Lijjat remain exceptions. Even today, out of India’s 136 Unicorns, only 5 are led by women. Exceptional women. Where Women Win Women thrive in ecosystems designed to their strengths and

Finance—down to the smallest detail or decision—is seen as the domain of the provider, and the provider has traditionally always been male

Poshak graduated from Princeton University in Economics and Finance. Back in India, he founded his first company, Athena Education, one of the most renowned in its segment in India. During his years at Princeton, he worked at Fortress Investment Group, as one of the only two summer analysts.

CXO OUTLOOK April 2022

We need women-led and women-first design in the fintech space in order to take advantage of and empower these women who’re entering the market 70

needs. Capital that isn’t complicated to access, business models that use their existing skill sets and resources, safe working spaces, empathetic business partners committed to upskilling them, and support from friendly peer-to-peer communities. These systems are best designed by women themselves or at least with their input and guidance on the very real challenges and barriers that women face. Over the last 50-years, a lot of work has been done by private players (10,000 women – Goldman Sachs), the government (SEWA), and international agencies (Led by Her – UN Women) to build such systems, but truth be told, they are still fledgling and nascent in India. Challenge: A Millennia of Culture Millenia of cultural and gender norms mean that women in India have been excluded from not just business spaces but also basic finance. Finance—down to the smallest detail or decision—is seen as the domain of

CXO OUTLOOK April 2022

the provider, and the provider has traditionally always been male. The impact of these norms can be seen in social and structural barriers. Socially, women’s mobility has been restricted to the home and immediate community, thereby denying them the opportunity to earn, save and build a financial history. This translates into market constraints such as a lack of personal collateral, credit history, ID documents, low entrepreneurial skills, and access to market know-how. All of this adds up and prevents women from accessing capital through traditional institutions. Meenakshi is one such woman – a housewife of twenty years, she took the plunge five years ago to start a small eatery and contribute to her family’s financial security. She has basic ID documents but doesn’t receive a regular salary. Her business took a big hit during the pandemic, impacting her bank balance. Her dream is simple – to sustain her business, ride out the

rough times, and plan for growth. On paper, Meenakshi is not a creditworthy candidate to any bank. This is the status quo that fintech is poised to disrupt. With the right vision, fintech in India can take successful women entrepreneurs from exceptions to the norm and help them live empowered lives. Fintech Plugs the Gaps Broadly speaking, fintech refers to any business using software or modern technology to augment or enhance financial services. Fintechs often bridge the gaps between brick and mortar financial institutions and underserved communities by making financial processes simpler, less time-consuming, and therefore easier to access. This is best illustrated by the Indian government’s ambitious India Stack project principles – presenceless, paperless, cashless, and consent-based infrastructure. Building on this infrastructure and using alternative data, Indian fintechs have designed services that make it commercially viable to provide credit to women like Meenakshi. Other fintech offerings, such as payment gateways, online marketplaces, mobile POS, P2P payment, digital wallets, and account management services allow women to grow their businesses from safe working spaces such as their homes and communities. Wealth management, aggregators, and policy management fintechs help them grow their financial knowledge and assets. And finally, digital women-led communities create safe spaces where women can find the right peer-topeer encouragement and mentorship that is critical to helping them overcome the traditional and cultural norms holding them back. This means that Meenakshi can now apply for a loan from the comfort of her home using her smartphone. The paperwork is minimal and all online, and even though she does not have regular salary slips, lending fintechs use alternate data to assess her creditworthiness and approve her loan. The amount is disbursed within 24 hours and she is all set to continue to build her business. Her reliance on Fintech doesn’t end here. To attract more customers, she starts accepting digital payments. As her confidence grows, she begins to use account management services to scale and make sure her business runs smoothly. If her business and profile grows, she might turn to the all-women financial communities that have sprung up to advise and mentor women like her. These safe spaces take women through the basics of financial

literacy, investing, and growing; moreover, she’ll begin using wealth management services to invest, grow her money, access insurance, and become a real player: an equal, empowered, productive member of society. Fintech in Numbers Currently valued at $31 billion, the Indian fintech industry is expected to grow to $84 billion by 2025. Fuelling this growth is the rise of mobile penetration in India, from 19% in 2015 to 45% in 2021 to a projected 70% in 2025. Out of the existing mobile users, 43% are women—an encouraging number that must be improved. Also rising is the number of Indian women who own a bank account, from 26% in 2014 to 77% in 2017. This has led to a threefold increase in the number of women applying for loans in the past 6 years, and according to a report by Swaniti Initiative, today around 3 million MSMEs either have full or partial female ownership, which in turn provide employment to over 8 million people. The Fintech Future: From Exceptions to Every Woman These are encouraging numbers, but there’s a lot more that can be done. For fintech to truly take off and contribute to women’s entrepreneurship and empowerment, we first need to improve women’s access to technology, digital literacy, and ID documents. The Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojna and other such projects are already driving massive change here. We need women-led and women-first design in the fintech space in order to take advantage of and empower these women who’re entering the market. It’s heartening to note the rise of several fintechs being led by women—CashKaro, Mobikwik, Zest Money to name a few. Finally, the importance of peer-to-peer interactions and the safety and comfort that community brings to women can’t be ignored. Women need encouragement and support to challenge the norms that have held them back and often still exist in their families. Historically, technological and process innovation has driven social progress for women. Birth control extended their life expectancy and freed them from childcare; labour-saving devices such as washing machines gave them more time to devote to careers; and maternity leave helped them balance work and family. Today, fintech is the next chapter in this saga.

CXO OUTLOOK April 2022

EXPERT OPINION

Reimagining Fintech culture through the Pandemic and Beyond Ashish Nayyar, Co-Head, OakNorth India

CXO OUTLOOK April 2022

O Ashish has 20+ years of experience in setting up and managing diverse businesses across the knowledge, consulting, financial services, and technology domains. Ashish Co-Heads OakNorth India where he built and scaled a high-performing team of over 500 individuals across credit analytics, portfolio monitoring, engineering, data science, and machine learning. As a member of the leadership team, Ashish brings strong judgment, customer obsession, and strategic oversight helping teams achieve OakNorth’s mission of transforming SME lending globally.

ver the past 18 months, the pandemic has tragically taken the lives of millions, forcing governments around the world to enact unprecedented measures to slow its spread. The numerous lockdowns have led to an increase in unemployment, the closure of countless businesses, and triggered the worst global recession in three centuries. Despite these hardships, we have witnessed communities coming together, and incredible resilience, creativity and kindness. The challenges we have faced and will continue to face have led to a cultural shift across the fintech industry, and a newfound appreciation for several areas which I have outlined below.

Playing your part The pandemic created an opportunity for fintech businesses to demonstrate their value to both individuals and businesses. Fintechs all over the world participated in government emergency loan schemes, helping to deliver vital capital to the businesses that needed it most. Many banks were initially overwhelmed by the huge surge in demand for loans, leaving small-business owners frustrated by technical difficulties and preferential treatment for larger clients. So, fintechs – with their straightforward processes, cloud-hosted infrastructure, and digitally led propositions – were able to step up to the plate and help. In the US for example, the likes of Square, PayPal, and Stripe played a significant role in the Small Business Administration’s Paycheck Protection Program, helping process applications, service loans, and give potential borrowers the information they need to access funds. Within just two months of the launch of the programme, over $1.7B had been approved through fintech companies. We extended our software, the ON Credit Intelligence Suite, to develop an end-to-end solution to support US lenders. The process design ensured banks retained complete control of key decision-making and riskmanagement processes. One of the banks we supported was Customers Bank which through embracing partnership with fintechs such as ourselves, was able to provide over 100,000 loans and become the sixth most active PPP lender in the US. The pandemic forced fintechs and banks to collaborate and work together, rather than competing with one another, and that’s a huge change from before. Pre-COVID, so much of the narrative around fintech was about how they were planning to “overthrow the banks” and “eat their lunch”, but the last 18 months have really changed that. In fact now, a lot more of the narrative is around celebrating the fintechs that are enabling the incumbents and enabling them to service customers better.

CXO OUTLOOK April 2022

In the last few years, the balance between profit and growth has shifted in favour of growth at all costs – in large part, due to the huge amount of money chasing few great opportunities 74

Profitability In the last few years, the balance between profit and growth has shifted in favour of growth at all costs – in large part, due to the huge amount of money chasing few great opportunities. Fintech is now one of the most popular sectors for investors globally, attracting $105 billion in 2020 – the third highest year on record despite unprecedented lockdowns and economic closures. Against this backdrop of a seemingly infinite pool of funds, profits have almost become a nice to have, rather than a need to have. However, the pandemic has changed this narrative and is creating a cultural shift where building a sustainable, profitable business has become much more important. This has largely been driven by an unwillingness to be dependent on VC capital to fuel your runway. Many fintech businesses were either faced with having to furlough staff, put growth plans such as opening new

CXO OUTLOOK April 2022

offices and launching new products on hold, make team members redundant, or raise capital at a discounted valuation in order to ensure they were in a good position to weather the challenges the pandemic would bring. Taking care of each other and our environment The pandemic gave us all a newfound appreciation for our local communities, our key workers, and the environment. Months of lockdown meant we were unable to leave the locality of our home, and therefore got to know our neighbours and our neighbourhoods better. Seeing families, friends, colleagues and our local communities mourn the losses of loved ones made us all the more determined to work together to beat the virus. Witnessing key workers keeping our vital services going made us all eternally grateful to these courageous individuals. The lack of travel meant the world began to heal with air pollution and noise pollution levels reaching record lows.

CXO OUTLOOK Higher Education Digest April 2019 2022 December October January 2020

IN MY VIEW

API BANKING:

HOW IS IT REVOLUTIONIZING INDIA'S BANKING SECTOR Sachin Gaikwad, Founder & CEO, Buildd.in

“C

hange is the only constant,” this age-old adage holds true in most, if not all, of life's situations, and the banking and finance industry is no different. Technological infestation that started off in the industry as the inclusion of small features such as NEFT, RTGS, and IMPS has transformed into API-enabled software and cloud computing over time. This paradigm transition is all set to transform the banking industry’s present and future landscape. The advent of the Covid pandemic has only accelerated the need and pace for the use of technology in all sectors of the world, including banking. As the

CXO OUTLOOK April 2022

world and all of its processes were halted to accommodate the needs of the pandemic, a shift to digital means became more of a necessity than an innovative venture. The fact that technology carries a host of benefits is just a cherry on the top in this scenario. A broad view of how the API-enabled technologies are revolutionizing the banking sector of India is presented below. API: Concept, relevance, and working API or Application Programming Interface refers to the technical interface between software programs. The key aim of API is to serve as a means to connect third-

API has served as a boon to the banking and finance industry as it comes packed with several benefits that the industry is now thriving on

A serial Fintech entrepreneur with two successful startup exits & ex VP HSBC bank, having held leadership roles in Retail banking & Lending. The adept leader is somebody who stays positive, works hard, and believes in making the impossible happen.

CXO OUTLOOK April 2022

products on one common platform at competitive prices. party applications. In other words, API banking includes API banking is revolutionizing the banking environment a series of protocols that facilitate the availability of a by granting users insights into their financial transactions bank’s services to third-party companies operating in the and thus giving customers an increased amount of power financial sector via APIs. This enables the banks as well and the option to switch service providers. Even from as the aforementioned companies to extend their services a business point of view, the virtual maintenance of and offerings to a wider set of audiences, something that accounting information can help minimize redundancy they wouldn't be able to provide if they were to operate and enhance ease. on their own. API-based banking carries benefits for the banks too. API has served as a boon to the banking and finance In the absence of API banking, banks will have to provide industry as it comes packed with several benefits that these services by themselves which the industry is now thriving on. By would add to their costs and work. The providing greater flexibility in the cost of innovation, development, and provision of services, increased ease of maintenance is strikingly high when fund management, and reduced costs, it comes to technology and can thus API-enabled software has made banking processes inherently more economic The introduction of prove to be problematic for banking units to undertake on a regular basis. and efficient. Further, any inclusion API has enabled Moreover, if banks were to provide of technology in working processes naturally comes with the benefits of the decentralization these services on their own, they would have to invest in hardware enhanced speed and better precision, two of the control of to prevent the clogging of servers. qualities that are of utmost importance, Thanks to APIs, banks are freed of all especially in the field of finance. data and has these duties without any compromise made it possible to on customer service and satisfaction. BaaS or Banking as a Service Additionally, the infusion of APIBanking as a Service (or BaaS) refers to bring all products based technology into banking also a model which includes the integration of on one common makes the entire process substantially the digital banking services of licensed economic and amplifies the ease of banks directly into the offerings of thirdplatform at scaling the customer base. party non-bank businesses. This enables competitive prices Lastly, the transition to integrated a non-bank business to offer its customers data will also aid the overall virtual banking services like mobile bank transparency. Any discrepancy in accounts, debit cards, loans, and payment the available data will be recognized services without having to obtain their quickly, and thus the probability of a own banking license. timely solution will also increase. This An API based BaaS platform seeks to integration will raise the precision and efficiency of the remove any barriers for businesses that want to offer their entire financial industry. own financial solutions. Licensed banks can integrate their digital banking services directly into the products Summing Up of other non-bank businesses by leveraging the power of The advent of the pandemic combined with robust such a platform. The bank’s system communicates via innovation has placed technology at the core of all APIs with that of the businesses, enabling their customer industries seeking growth. Recent times have witnessed to access banking services directly through their website an inclusion of API-enabled tech in the banking and or app. finance industry and the benefits as derived have been so stark that the technology is now speculated to be The role played by API banking is revolutionizing capable of bringing about a revolution in the industry the banking sector and changing it for the better. The benefits carried by the Up until today, all the data of customers was stored in technical infusion include increased flexibility of scales, the core banking system in a centralized manner. The reduction of monetary and time resource consumption, introduction of API has enabled the decentralization of and greater pace. the control of data and has made it possible to bring all

CXO OUTLOOK April 2022

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CXO OUTLOOK April 2022

EXPERT OPINION

In a Sharing Economy, How Can Investment and Lending Super-Charge the FinTech World Zafar Imam, CEO, Finshell

CXO OUTLOOK April 2022

e are dwelling in a quite exciting phase in human history. The global business ecosystem is undergoing rapid changes, wherein the physical boundaries are fading faster than we can think. Everything continues to be more sophisticated, evolved, and time-efficient – as technology drives a majority of these changes. So, it is quite natural for our financial world – which forms the very basis of day-to-day human exchanges – to experience such tectonic shifts as well. A new financial order has come to the fore. It goes by the name of FinTech. Now, financial transactions rely less on typical red-tapes and more on nimble algorithms. But how can investments and lending in a sharing economy supercharge this promising segment?

Zafar Imam is the CEO at FinShell, a leading financial services brand that introduced smartphone-based financial services in India powering two platforms OPPO Kash & realme PaySa. Zafar is one of the co-founders of the company and he was the Chief Business Officer and a Director in the company since April 2019. Zafar has two decades plus of experience in consumer banking and FinTech space. He served at Axis Bank for more than 13 years and worked in different roles building the consumer finance business.

Sharing Economy: The building blocks of a hyper-efficient financial system To begin with, most financial transactions are driven by the need to conduct an exchange. It is usually an exchange of products or services amongst at least two parties, i.e. the provider and the receiver. An economic value is designated to the said product or service and the trade-off takes place. Regardless of whether you are purchasing a house, applying for a new line of credit, or booking a vacation abroad, all systems are overall comparable and fall within these guiding principles. Simply put, people (or entities) associate, they establish trust, and then they partake in some form of exchange. In the financial world, the greater part of such exchanges takes place through representatives such as banks. However, new FinTech startups are redefining the ecosystem from the ground level up. Utilizing innovation instead of institutional gravitas, they have been making significant contributions to the ecosystem Such innovations are further being supported by an ever-increasing influx of technology. For instance, more FinTech players are incorporating blockchain technology to ensure the infallibility of their datasets. Blockchain is known to eliminate data manipulation from the system. It also paves the way for real-time authentication of multi-party interactions, thereby eliminating third parties from the economic value chain. So far, banks and other traditional FIs have held exclusive rights in this space. Now, their status is getting tested by such innovative, tech-driven, and disruptive business models.

CXO OUTLOOK April 2022

Open banking can unlock avenues for all stakeholders including the banks, FinTech players, and their end-customers 82

To set everything straight, we should extensively characterize how a future sharing economy would reflect in our financial transactions. In different business sectors, for example, ride-sharing or room-leasing, sharing-economy-based market players keep finding new uses for existing resources as in the case of Uber and Airbnb. In doing so, they redirect market interest by leveraging innovation. In our context, synergies between banks and FinTech organizations could mark the rise of a whole new business opportunity under the sharing economy. Open banking can unlock avenues for all stakeholders including the banks, FinTech players, and their end-customers. The latter sets up a more extensive biological system of banks and FinTech organizations, wherein banks benefit from the technological ingenuity of startups while startups benefit from a large pool of customers and extensive banking data to backtest their algorithms.

CXO OUTLOOK April 2022

When this ecosystem is set up, banks and fintech organizations can work together symbiotically. The following are the 5 pointers that sum up the idea of a FinTech-oriented sharing economy: • Quickly developing, time-efficient, and open market • Adjusting itself as per macroeconomic and microeconomic data points, primarily rooted in human reasons and importance • Technology increasingly eliminates obstructions to confiding in individuals or new companies • More noteworthy degrees of development, client centricity, and nimbleness to change • Diminished costs In a nutshell, the sharing economy can extend farreaching benefits to everyone from banks and FinTech platforms to the broader market at large. So, let us eagerly wait and watch how it transforms our financial world in its all-new avatar.

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CXO OUTLOOK Higher Education April Digest 2022 October 2020

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CXO OUTLOOK Higher Education Digest April 2022 October 2020