Fin Tech Shaping the Future of Finance

FINANCE

Fin-Tech Shaping the Future of Finance

Chitranshi Saxena & Preet Kaur Bindra- PGDM, Business Design 2019-2021, Welingkar Institute of Management & Research.

Edtech and Fintech, are some jargons which are used together so frequently these days. Is this a new fad or a reality? To the great astonishment of most, it is a reality. Both of these industries are revolutionizing so quickly.

‘Fintech’ is nothing but Finance + Technology.

Technology today has pervaded in many sectors to make things more digitized, convenient and up-to date. Likewise, ‘Fintech, is an economic industry composed of companies that use technology to make financial services more efficient.’ Paytm, GooglePay, Oxigen, PhonePe, PolicyBazaar, Zebpay are the best examples of Fintech. As per inc42.com, the adoption rate for Fintech products in India is at 59%, which is second highest paced worldwide, and significantly higher than the global average of 33%. A high acceptance rate is a great sign of progressive development.

Convenience is all demanding and necessary, but it can turn revolutionary only when convenient products and services are widely accepted and utilised. Leveraging new digital technologies in the education sector was also an inherent demand so, here we are with transformation in education.

Education + Technology = ‘EdTech’.

Edtechs basically have brought learning to our home and at the comfort of our own couch. Today, we can learn anything to everything using a computer or even our mobile phone that has been connected to the great internet. Is this a ‘very new’ tech? NO. In 2002, MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) began providing online classes free of charge. As of 2009, approximately 5.5 million students were taking at least one class online.

A new tech in India? A slight ‘yes’ to it. But what do you mean by ‘new’? Recently developed or developed over the years? It wasn’t Normal a few years back but its normal now - “New Normal '' what you call it in the Covid Times. There are around 4450 Edtech start-ups currently operating in India. To name a few Indian Start-Ups: BYJU’S, GradeUp, TestBook, Toppr, Unacademy, Vedantu. Some International ones are: LinkedIn Learning, Udemy, Khan Academy, Google Classroom, Coursera.

The above mentioned Fintechs and Edtechs are heard of. And most likely you or people known to you must be using them too. In India, the usage of the fintech platforms has surged post the 2016 Demonetization, for obvious reasons.

Edtech Platforms have gained momentum with a ray of hope especially during the nationwide lockdown due to COVID-19, giving students a blessing in the tough times by engaging them in

a better learning environment, getting an exposure to many courses from International Universities as well. This had also mounted with increased penetration of the Smartphones and Tablets which gave added benefit of acquiring education easily. As per a study by KPMG, the Edtech Industry is expected to grow at a CAGR of 52% to become a USD 2 billion industry by 2021 in India. The Government is also focusing on uniform regulations to boost the Edtech industry in the country. Considering Edtech as the next Fintech, what do we mean by that? Like the Financial Institutions have transformed themselves through technology likewise has the Education sector. The common factor between the two will be their success. Can Edtech be as successful as Fintech? But the question is, is Edtech Successful?

In an article published on Medium.com in Jun 2017, stated that ‘Edtech may well represent the future and an industry that investors can begin to transfer focus into’. And 3 years hence, we can definitely see a boom in the Edtech Startups. In 2017 alone Indian Edtech startups raised nearly $10 Billion in funding - a number which can be recorded. If we focus more on the Edtech Industry, it's important that we understand that we all have become ‘Digital Natives’. By this, we mean technology is all pervasive i.e. present all around us and there is no escape whatsoever. The Edtech Industry too has been added to the digital native clan with lots of innovation and enhancements creating a healthy balance between the students and the teachers, serving students to not let go learning even if physical classrooms are not available or accessible specially during COVID times.

Along with learning a respective course, many Edtech Companies are offering e-certificates which enable building up of confidence among students and working professionals with better skills on plate and further making them job ready as well as up to date. With this comes immense competition at the worksite so many Companies are also collaborating with the online Education platforms to render training and development.

BYJU'S basically operates on a premium business model that requires a paid subscription to access most of its content. According to Economic Times, in 2017, BYJU's generated revenues of about INR 260 crore and doubled it in 2018 financial year, earning 520 crore which further doubled to 1300 crore in 2019. Byju’s delivered handsome returns in a secondary buyout from

their investors in the past one or two years. Talking about Investors they are seeing a big opportunity in these Edtech Startups following the same path to fast-paced success because of their immense potential for a long term Investment. According to the 2019 National Employability Report, for Engineers, 37.7% of Indian Engineers fail to write an error free code compared to only 10.4% of Chinese Engineers, and more

surprisingly 80% of the Indian Engineers according to this report are unfit for taking any job in expanding - knowledge economy. And that really makes EdTech so demanding and also exciting. This is actually a study conducted by Research Agencies so that investors can see the potential returns for their Investments in these Edtech Startups.

Future Investments in the EdTech sector are growing significantly and, with careful planning and legal assistance, investors can navigate through the web of legal and regulatory challenges in the sector and see significant returns on their investment. The Edtech Startups are getting financing, which is a trend now in terms of competition . We are seeing a lot of fintech companies and startups entering this space helping students with microloans, interest-free EMIs for boot camps/online learning platforms, and access to scholarships, we can see in the above pie chart, high funding is from the Venture Capitalists and the Angel Investors. With increasing dependence on these Edtech Startups, there are certain challenges too. Most of the jobs in India still demand a conventional educational degree recognized by a designated board, and most Edtechs don’t have recognition from these boards nor the awareness

to be widely accepted and valued.

So, either Edtechs need to fill this gap or our government should create a framework for this problem to help this new knowledge ecosystem in the country to grow.

Though relatively a new industry as compared to fintech, EdTech is already on its own path of success that coincides with the success path of Fintech and with the COVID in picture, demand for EdTech has shot beyond expectation. So, we can arguably say that Yes, Ed-Tech is the next

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FinTech.

MARKETING

Redesigning the Marketing Funnel for Ed-Tech Industry

Dipali Khatri – PGDM, Research & Business Analytics 2019-2021,

Welingkar Institute of Management & Research

EdTech industry is advancing itself for the “new normal”. Realizing the global threat, institutions like schools and colleges were first to shut and would not be the first to re-open given the potential danger to the students. Hence, this has paved a way for the EdTech companies to put their best foot forward to entice customers into the “new normal” and cherish their experience of online learning which would make the users be a part of EdTech ecosystem even after the physical classrooms start. Therefore, COVID 19 has given the EdTech companies an opportunity to enhance their presence and continue to grow.

To redesign the marketing funnels, we need to understand the models of EdTech industry:

Freemium – A portion of content is given for free initially, and to continue the user has to pay and can subscribe for a month, quarter or a year. Such models are available for students, teacher and schools. For example: Quizlet allows students to prepare for tests using flashcards.

Enterprise Sales – These products are meant for students but are sold to institutions. For example: An online portal of an institute which helps students with submission, feedbacks, tests, etc.

Selling to Other EdTech Companies - The EdTech company sells its product online to other EdTech company in order increase its reach. If the product succeeds, then the EdTech company charges other companies for its distribution. For example: Coursera used this method by partnering with institutions to create courses and distributed to a wide range of users initially for free but are chargeable now. Direct to Consumer – These are the online classes which students take up as extra learning or for better understanding. They usually don’t have tie ups with schools or colleges. They are sold directly to the customer as freemium initially. For example: Vedantu, BYJU’s, Unacademy, Toppr, Doubtnut and TestBook.

Understanding the Audience

The audience can broadly be segmented into three categories on the basis of purchasing decision.

For understanding our audience, we need to understand the difference between a customer and consumer. Customer holds purchasing decision and buys the product. A consumer is the end user who consumes the product. In many cases the customer and consumer are the same entity, but in our case it varies. For KG to Bachelors segments, the purchasing decision of buying a subscription lies with the parents/institutions (Customers) whereas the ones who would use it would be students (Consumers) and for most Master’s students the purchasing decision lies with themselves and they are the consumers too. The needs for online learning from KG to bachelors’ is for better

understanding and learning at own pace, but for Masters there is an additional need which is to enhance their knowledge to qualify for desired jobs. Therefore, redesigning has to consider the target audience and its needs for each product wisely and market them accordingly on online platforms.

Redesigning The Marketing Funnel

Since COVID-19, there is an upward surge on digital expenditure by companies. The Global EdTech spend on digital medium was 152 Billion (2.6%) in 2018 which is estimated to increase up to 342 Billion (4.4%) by 2025 (Source: HolonIQ). Hence, digital spending would be more in the coming years.

The reason for this increase in digital spending would be because the education system was pushed towards technology driven classes due to COVID-19. It left schools, colleges, professors and students with no choice but to adapt to such medium forcibly. Therefore, when your target audience is on the internet most of the time, it is advisable to spend your money on digital platforms.

On the basis of the funnel the customer journey mapping is prepared. The customer journey mapping represents the process and emotions parents and students (Masters) go through; pre, during and post purchase of subscription.

The marketing funnel starts with AWARENESS, customer is introduced to the product online on various platforms. For KG to 12th grade consumers, the product should be marketed to their parents reflecting its benefits for students. BYJU’s uses this strategy and uses TV advertisements majorly for awareness. Furthermore, a digital way to connect with parents is to find potential websites (that they visit) to attract customers to company page. But the customer pain points here are:

Lack of detailed information Hesitations about online education Apprehensive of class quality

In order to overcome the pain points following strategies could be used in AWARENESS phase:

Market the product on relevant social media sites Organize interesting competitions for children and target it to parents Partner with other companies for online courses which may attract masters’ students to do courses from hiring perspective Promoting through referrals codes and coupons

Second is CONSIDERATION, the target audience is interested and considers subscribing for the product and hence it is crucial for the company to convert this small positive response from the buyer into a conversion, which is sales. The pain points in considerations are:

Lack of word of mouth Relying on online reviews Unsure of online learning environment Unsure of instructor’s method of teaching

In order to resolve such pain points, customer relationship management has a role to offer. The human interaction with the company will create a key impact for purchase decision. Sales representative can make or break the deal, as they are the ones who represent the company to the customers. Companies like Vendantu, BYJU’s, Toppr and many others provide free demos or trail sessions for consumers to experience the product. Below are some ways to convert consideration into purchase:

Investing in Sales Development Representative (SDR) programmes Combining SDR with giveaways or discounts Free online demo sessions

After liking the product, the customer affirms to PURCHASE it. But there can be some resistance owing to:

Unsure of online payment security

Limited payment options

Applicability of refunds and cancellations In order to overcome such resistance:

Keep the payment process easy with three simple steps – mode of payment, filling required details and payment confirmation bound by security Provide information on refunds and cancellation Provide multiple payment options Surprise customers with discounts, if not given earlier

In RETENTION, the product offered must be differentiated from competitors and personalized for the consumer. The pain points here are:

If there is any actual learning? How to measure the progress?

To address these, setup a constant monitoring to map individual progresses which can be shared with the parents. In case of Masters’ students, the tests and assignments decide their understanding and progress. Additionally, data collected from each user’s profile like which subject’s videos do they watch, duration, test score, etc. can help understand their strength, weakness and also suggest further videos according to the student’s understanding. This might help in retaining the customer.

Lastly, ADVOCACY is essential as most firsttime users opt for one-month subscription and then decide to continue or not. The pain point can be improper redressal of complains. If a consumer discontinues and chooses competitor’s product, the company loses the customer for a month, quarter or a year depending on his chosen subscription. Hence, re-purchase is significant for the company’s growth.

The EdTech industry is moving up at a fast pace by creating an understanding for each individual and a knowledge-based environment across generations.

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HUMAN RESOURCES

Role of Ed-Tech in Improving Employee Learning and Development Programs

Nitish Kumar & Manjari Mahato - MBA in HRM 2019-21, Xavier School of Human Resource Management (XSHRM), Bhubaneswar.

“The illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read and write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn, and relearn.” -Alvin Toffler

Sometimes with fondness, other times with anxiety, our educational experiences have always had an influence on our career paths. The evolution of physical classrooms into a globespanning industry, the EdTech, an amalgamation of “education” and “technology”, has led to the usage of hardware and software tools to enhance offline learning in classrooms and improve a novice’s learning outcomes. The 2020 Workplace Learning Report by LinkedIn reveals that around 51% of the L&D professionals plan to launch upskilling programs while 43% of them plan on reskilling a portion of their workforce amid the COVID 19 crisis. While many jobs may require a complete revamp of the way they are performed, some jobs with repetitive tasks may not return at all. Voila, EdTech players come to rescue the missing command by reinventing learning!

As COVID 19 pandemic impacts the globe and social distancing becomes the new normal, the know-what, know-how and know why becomes the key to achieving competitive advantage in the market. The ability of organizations to educate and train the employees at workplace gains immense value. To serve this via purposeful innovation, many providers have already started witnessing a sharp rise in the number of registrations by various organizations and industry professionals. One such EdTech giant, Udemy, stated in its special data report “Online Education Steps Up: What the World is Learning (from Home)”, a 425% increase in enrollments for consumers with an 80% increase in usage from businesses and governments globally.

Incorporating EdTech

Just like imagination is more important than knowledge, innovative use of cutting-edge technology in workplace education is important for organizations to gain a serious competitive edge. Chief Learning Officers (CLOs) have begun to realize the importance of EdTech in providing employees with enjoyable, effective learning experiences. A recent KPMG report also projects that the growth of the online education market in India will reach USD 1.96 billion by 2021. This dynamic business environment of EdTech presents itself in a variety of forms:

Bite-sized Online Training:

E-learning modules that are small, selfcontained information capsules, typically ranging from 1 to 15 minutes, usually focus on one to two tightly defined learning objectives. These bite-sized nuggets can provide just-intime support and can be combined and used in flexible ways. For example, one learner can access nuggets 1, 4 and 3, while another user can access 3, 2 and 1, depending on their preferences and immediate needs. According to a report by According to a report by Elucidat, modern