The India FinTech Diaries

In our next episode on AI, we spoke with Ankit Ratan, Co-Founder Signzy. Ankit helped us understand and answer the important question of how GenAI is helping banks with compliance and regulators with monitoring compliance. In our conversation we discussed:

🤖 GenAI and Financial services use cases in India

⚙️ SupeTech and GenAI

🔑 Key considerations for navigating compliance & AI

💡 Signzy and AI

Listen to this episode for insights on the intersection of GenAI and compliance

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In our latest episode on AI, we spoke with Anant Gupta, FSI Head, Google Cloud India to better understand how AI use cases are implemented on the cloud and how financial services firms could leverage the cloud to bring AI use cases to life. During our conversation we discussed:

🤖 GenAI and Financial services use cases in India

⚙️ Implementing AI use cases on Google Cloud

🔑 Key considerations for implementing AI

💡 Parting thoughts on evolution of AI use cases in India

Listen to this episode for perspectives on how GenAI is changing financial services in India

Contact Anant

Generative AI is rapidly transforming many industries across the globe and financial services is one of them. To better understand the impact of GenAI and AI in general on the financial services space, our next few episodes will be focused on speaking to companies and leaders in this space. To begin unpacking this topic we spoke with Raoul Nanavati, Co-founder & CEO, Navana. Navana.ai empowers businesses to create user-friendly digital interfaces for the next billion and is actively working with financial services firms to help them interact with their customers in regional languages. During our conversation we discussed:

🗺️ Raoul’s journey to starting Navana

🫰 Understanding LLMs

💡 Cracking the difficult problem of voice LLMs for Indic languages

🧰 Product overview, traction and technology

💰 Business model of Navana

🧭 2024 for Navana

Listen to this episode for perspectives on how GenAI is changing financial services in India

Contact Navana

Did you know that 95% of women did not access any financial platform? To understand what are some of the barriers to financial product adoption among women and how fintechs can help solve this, we thought that it would be a timely topic to deep dive into on International Women’s day. To help us unpack this topic we spoke with Ridhi Doongursee, Co-founder LXME. During our conversation we discussed:

🗺️ Ridhi’s journey to starting LXME

🫰 Challenges for financial adoption

💡 How LXME is solving adoption challenges

🧰 Product overview, traction and technology

💰 Business model of LXME

🧭 2024 for LXME

Listen to this episode for perspectives on WealthTech in 2024

Contact LXME

This Friday is International Women’s Day, and we thought that in our next episode in the DLAI Fintech Podcast Series, we would discuss the important issue of the credit gap between genders and how we can bridge it. To shed more light on the issue and provide insights on solutions, we spoke with Puneet Gupta, Co-Founder of Kaleidofin. We discussed:

💸 Why do rural women not have access to affordable Finance?

🌏 Solutions seen Internationally and parallels to India

🏦 MFIs and credit access

💹 How Impact Investing can make a difference

⚖️ Imperatives for stakeholders

Join us for this this episode on the eve of the DLAI Fintech Conclave 2024

Contact DLAI

In our next episode in the DLAI Fintech Conclave 2024 podcast series, we examine Artificial Intelligence and how it's powering new and old use cases in financial services. To unpack this, we were joined by Anuj Kacker, Co-Founder of Freo and Neeraj Gupta, Managing Director of Branch International. We discussed:

• Use cases of AI in Financial Services
• Challenges faced by AI in adoption
• Way ahead for AI Adoption

Join us for this discussion on how cutting edge technology is influencing financial service as we count down to the DLAI Fintech Conclave 2024

Contact DLAI

We are back with a special podcast series in collaboration with the DLAI Fintech Conclave 2024. In the first episode in the series we caught up with Jatinder Handoo, CEO of DLAI on the recently announced framework for Self Regulatory Organizations (SRO) and its implications for Fintechs. We discussed:

• What is an SRO?
• Salient features of the SRO framework
• Benefits for the Fintech ecosystem

Join us for this timely conversation as we count down to the DLAI Fintech Conclave 2024

Contact DLAI

In the last few years the entire landscape of retail investing in India has changed. From being able to invest in stocks at the click of a button to opening an FD digitally to being able to invest in new avenues like invoice factoring, P2P lending, alternative assets etc. the Indian retail investor has come a long way. We spoke with Satyen on what’s changed in the investing landscape and how Cube Wealth is providing a platform that integrates a lot of these trends. During our conversation we discussed:

🗺️ Satyen’s journey from Silicon Valley to Fintech in India

🫰 The generational shift in investing behaviour in India

💡 The problem statement that Cube Wealth addresses

🧰 Product overview, traction and technology

💰 Business model of Cube Wealth

🧭 How Cube Wealth approaches roadmaps

Listen to this episode for perspectives on WealthTech in 2024

Contact Cube Wealth

2023 was indeed a roller-coaster year for Fintech in India, with several interesting developments across the entire spectrum of Fintech Subsectors in India. To recap the most interesting and important developments of the year we caught up with Navin Surya, Fintech Thought Leader, Mentor and Investor. We spoke with Navin about:

💰 Fintech Funding in 2023

💸 Digital lending in 2023

📒 Changing fintech models

⚙️ Account Aggregators & ONDC

🏦 RBI & Fintech regulation

💡 Fintech models to watchout for in 2024

Contact Navin

Last week the SENSEX breached the historic 70,000 mark. This week was a different story, with the market displaying high volatility and even losing 931 pts on 19 Dec. With this amount of volatility, what avenues are available for investors seeking more steady and sedate returns? To discuss this we caught up with Saurabh Jain, Co-founder of Stable Money. During the podcast we discussed:

💡 The problem that Stable Money Solves

⚙️ How it works

📒 Product, Customers, Technology and traction

💰 Revenue model

🚩 Future roadmap

Contact Saurabh

As digital payments have expanded across India, increasing penetration of payment acceptance across India has become all the more important. To discuss the current state of the payment acceptance landscape and how acquirers can continue to be relevant, we caught up with Ketan Patel, Co-founder and CEO of Mswipe. We spoke to Ketan about:

💸 The current state of acquiring landscape in India

📈 Products, growth and traction of Mswipe

🛤️ Road ahead for Mswipe

Contact mSwipe

In our latest episode, we delve into the world of digital commerce and explore the Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC), a revolutionary concept that has the potential to transform the ecommerce landscape in India. Our guest, Susmit Patodia, Director at Antler India, provides expert insights on the disruptive power of ONDC and its implications for both ecommerce and fintech in the country. Join us as we unpack the ONDC framework and discuss its key features, benefits, and challenges. From the potential to reduce transaction costs and increase interoperability to the potential to create 100 unicorns, we cover a wide range of topics that will be of interest to anyone interested in the future of digital commerce in India.

• What problem is ONDC trying to solve
• What ONDC is
• How does it work
• What does the ONDC landscape look like
• What the opportunity for Fintech is
• Why you should be gung-ho about ONDC

Don't miss this informative and thought-provoking conversation on what could be a $80bn+ Opportunity!

Additional reading

In our final episode in this collaboration with the Digital Lenders Association of India (DLAI) on the occasion of the #DLAIFintechConclave23, we caught up with Presha Paragash, CEO of Credit Saison India. Presha had a candid conversation with us on:

• What’s exciting about India as a market for Digital Lending
• Key highlights from the Fintech Conclave
• Her top takeaways from the event

Join us for this for this wrap up of the DLAI Fintech Conclave 2023

Contact DLAI

Data protection and privacy are the forefront with the recent guidelines on digital lending from the RBI and impending Digital Data Protection Bill. To help understand this crucial area better, in our fourth episode in this collaboration with the Digital Lenders Association of India (DLAI) on the occasion of the #DLAIFintechConclave23, we caught up with Prashanth Ramdas and Supratim Chakraborty, Partners, Khaitan & Co. In addition to discussing the whitepaper “Interplay between Data Protection and Digital Lending” that was co-authored by DLAI and Khaitan & Co, we also discussed:

• What Data Protection and Privacy means
• Implications of recent guidelines by the RBI
• Overview and salient features of the draft Digital Data Protection Bill
• What Fintechs can do be ahead of the curve on compliance
• And more …

Join us for this very timely conversation on data protection and privacy as we wrap up the DLAI Fintech Conclave 2023

Contact Prashanth

In our third episode in this collaboration with the Digital Lenders Association of India (DLAI) on the occasion of the #DLAIFintechConclave23, we caught up with Anurag Jain, Founder of KredX and Executive Committee Member, DLAI, We discussed:

• What integrated or embedded finance means
• Use cases and value pools for integrated finance
• The role played by digital public goods
• Policy and regulatory support needed 
• And more …

Join us for this interesting conversation as we wrap up the DLAI Fintech Conclave 2023

Contact Anurag

In our second episode in this collaboration with the Digital Lenders Association of India (DLAI) on the occasion of the #DLAIFintechConclave23, we discussed the very important topic of financial inclusion and what it means for both consumers and small businesses. We caught up with Sucharita Mukherhjee, Co-founder and CEO, Kaleidofin and Manish Lunia, Co-founder Flexiloans as we discussed:

• What financial inclusion means for consumers and businesses
• How fintechs are helping address financial inclusion
• Challenges faced while addressing financial inclusion
• Impact on the next 100 million

Join us for this interesting conversation as we count down to the DLAI Fintech Conclave 2023 tomorrow

Contact Sucharita

We are kicking off 2023 with a special series collaboration with the Digital Lenders Association of India (DLAI) on the occasion of the DLAI Fintech Conclave 2023. In the first episode in the series we caught up with Sashank Rishyasringa, co-founder of axio and President of DLAI on what’s in store for digital lending in 2023. We discussed:

• What happened in 2022
• Themes and trends for 2023
• Wishlist for the regulator
• Top predictions for 2023

Join us for this interesting conversation as we count down to the DLAI Fintech Conclave 2023 !!!

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This year has been a roller coaster ride for Indian Fintech. Join us as we take a look back at the Year that was with our special guest, Osborne Saldanha from EMVC. In the episode we discuss:

• Funding and the funding environment
• Regulatory changes in the year
• M & A, new fintech ideas and the macro environment
• Our views on what 2023 holds for Indian Fintech

Take a walk down memory lane with us as 2022 draws to a close. And a very happy new year from India Fintech Diaries !!!

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Over the last five years UPI has revolutionised how Indians pay digitally. Last month, UPI actually crossed 7 billion transactions in a single month !!! This week we have Anup Nayar, CEO - Domestic, In-Solutions Global to discuss the meteoric rise of UPI and how firms like In-Solutions Global (ISG) are playing a key role in that journey. In our conversation with Anup we discuss:

• Anup’s background and overview of ISG
• Overview of UPI
• Factors leading to UPI’s growth
• New UPI innovations like UPI credit and UPI Lite
• Role played by ISG in the ecosystem

Do listen to this episode to get an insider's view on the UPI journey.

Contact Anup

Continuing in our series on Fintech Investing we caught up with Melissa Frakman, CEO & Founding Partner of Emphasis Ventures. In this episode with Melissa, we discuss :

• Melissa’s background and long standing links with India
• Her views on the evolution of Indian Fintech
• Interesting comparison & contracts with US Fintech
• Her approach to early stage venture investing
• Her views on the road ahead for Fintech in India

Do listen to this episode to get a fresh take on Fintech investing in India.

Additional Reading

Raghuram Rajan Committee (2007), A Hundred Small Steps

Contact Melissa

A lot changed in the Indian Fintech world as new regulations were introduced by the RBI in the past few months. To decode the impact of these changes and understand the way forward, we caught up with Mathew Chacko, Partner - Spice Route Legal. In our conversation with him we discuss :

• Impact of regulations on various models like PPI, BNPL, Digital lending
• Deep dive into Digital Lending Guidelines
• Some potential solutions to meeting regulatory asks

Do listen to this episode to get a nuanced understanding of the impact of recent regulations.

Contact Mathew

What’s happening in the world of Fintech Investing? How are venture capitalists approaching investments in these turbulent times? Are they still gung-ho on India? To answer this and more, we caught up with Sandeep Patil, Partner and Head of Asia at QED Investors. In our discussion, we spoke about:

• Funding Landscape in India
• Impact of regulations
• QED’s Investments in India
• QED’s Investment philosophy and approach
• Road ahead for Fintech in India

Do listen to this episode to get a glimpse into the inner workings of Fintech VC.

Contact Sandeep

Continuing in our series on cross-border payments, Hemant and Elroy caught up with Pratik Gandhi, Co-founder and COO, NIUM. NIUM provides a modern, modular platform for global business payments. With a payment network that spans over 190+ countries, NIUM is Asia’s first B2B payments unicorn. In our conversation with Pratik we discussed:

• Market landscape of B2B cross-border payments
• Challenges in B2B cross-border payments
• NIUM’s Product Proposition
• Managing regulatory complexity
• NIUM’s journey and challenges

Do listen to this episode to understand how fintech is making cross-border simpler and easier.

Contacting NIUM

With international travel gradually normalising, cross-border payments are back. In this quick introductory episode Hemant and Elroy lay out the overall contours of cross-border payments in India. During the episode they discuss:

• The scope and scale of cross-border payments
• Regulatory aspects of cross-border payments
• Types of Fintechs operating in the space

Do listen to this episode for a quick introduction to the world of cross-border payments

Related Episodes

While consumer insurance has seen a renaissance, with a plethora of Fintechs looking to simplify all aspects of the insurance journey, business insurance still remains poorly understood. We caught up with Ravinder Kumar, Founder & CEO, Justt  to discuss how Justt is demystifying business liability insurance in India. In our conversation we discussed:

• Ravinder’s background
• Understanding business liability insurance
• The problem solved by Justt
• Products & types of business liability insurance
• Business model, customer profile & traction
• The future for Justt and the Industry

Do listen to this episode for a masterclass on business liability insurance.

Additional Information

Contacting Ravinder

Let’s face it, Insurance claims are a nightmare !!! But what if claiming Insurance could be as easy as Pie? Well, a number of Fintechs around the globe are solving exactly this problem. We caught up with Anuj Jindal, Co-Founder & CEO, SureClaim to discuss how SureClaim is streamlining the claims process for Health Insurance in India. In our conversation we discussed:

• Anuj’s background and the genesis of SureClaim
• Health Insurance penetration in India
• The problem solved by SureClaim
• How SureClaim works
• Business model, customer profile & traction
• The future for SureClaim and the Industry

Do listen to this episode to see how innovative InsurTech firms are making insurance claims easier in India

Additional Information

Contacting Anuj

Before the advent of tech enabled investing, we used to rely on investment advisors to help choose and get access to wealth generating investment opportunities. But what if we could get the best of both worlds - tech enabled investing with a human touch? We caught up with Aditya Agarwal, founder of Wealthy to discuss how Wealthy is using technology to power the next generation of wealth advisors. In this episode we discuss:

• Challenge of getting quality financial advice in India
• Hypothesis behind Wealthy
• What Wealthy offers
• Traction so far
• Customer profile
• Business model
• Road ahead

Do listen to this episode to understand how tech enabled investing can enhance wealth advisory

Additional Information

Shark Tank India brought investing in startups to the mainstream conversation in India. If you ever wondered how a platform can help in startup investing, look no further!! In our next episode in the WealthTech series we speak with Karan Mehra, CEO and founder of Tyke, a firm that is looking to disrupt private investing in India :

• Challenges faced by domestic & international investors
• How Tyke is solving for the challenges
• Customer profile of Tyke’s customers
• Traction and growth seen by Tyke
• The road ahead for Tyke

Do listen to this episode to understand how Tyke is aiming to be the Stripe for private investing in India

Terms & Acronyms

Thematic investing or investing in a basket of stocks helps diversify investments, providing more stable returns while reducing risk. This week in our ongoing exploration of WealthTech in India, we are joined by Vasanth Kamath, CEO & co-founder, smallcase. In the episode we discuss:

• Hypothesis behind smallcase
• Introduction to smallcase’s proposition
• Early days and technical challenges
• Key milestones in the growth journey
• Customer profile and behaviour
• Smallcase’s business model
• The road ahead for smallcase

Do listen to this episode to understand how smallcase is making diversified investments in equity easier for Indian investors

Additional Information

How can you invest in assets or investment opportunities other than gold, equities and mutual funds ? Is there a simple way to do this? Well, this week we try to answer that question as we look at Fintechs solving the problem of alternative asset investment. To learn more about this, we caught up with Nikhil Aggarwal, Founder & CEO of Grip, a Fintech company bringing unique alternative investment opportunities to Indian investors. In this episode we discuss:

• Alternative asset investments in India
• Building Grip during the pandemic
• How Grip works
• Risk management
• The role of technology 
• Legal, Regulatory and Tax implications
• The road ahead for Grip

Do listen to this episode to understand how alternative investments are being made easy by Fintechs

Additional Information

Continuing in our series on WealthTech, we remain focused on investment platforms. This week we look at how wealth management is evolving in the fintech space. To discuss this we caught up with Subramanya SV, Co-founder & CEO of Fisdom. Fisdom is leveraging cutting edge technology to provide personalized financial advice. In our conversation we spoke with Subu about:

• Scope of the WealthTech market in India
• Insight into the evolution of customers in India
• How WealthTech platforms work
• Overview of Fisdom’s product offerings
• The role of technology 
• Next big thing for Fisdom

Do listen to this episode to understand how technology can deliver personalized financial advice at scale

Additional Information

This week we look at how Digital Asset Exchanges work and try and understand what has been the uptake of crypto in India. And to shed more light on this we caught up with Ashish Singhal, Founder and CEO of Coinswitch Kuber, one of India’s largest Digital Asset Exchanges. We discussed:

• His entry into the world of Crypto
• Types of Digital Asset Exchanges
• Business Models
• The story behind Coinswitch Kuber
• Uptake of Crypto in India
• The road ahead for Crypto in India

Do listen to this episode to understand digital asset exchanges

Notes

• We recorded this episode a few weeks back, just as the craze around the SQUID token was taking off. Shortly after recording, the token crashed to almost zero, further underscoring the speculative nature of some digital assets.
• Also, after we recorded this episode, the Government of India indicated that it would table a bill in the Indian parliament, reportedly banning crypto assets. We caught up with Ashish and here is what he had to say on the topic - “India has an opportunity to be at the forefront of crypto innovation by adopting a regulation that enables innovation while protecting customers. Our discussions over the last few weeks indicate there is broad agreement on ensuring customers are protected, financial system stability is reinforced, and India is able to take advantage of the crypto technology revolution. For now, Crypto investors in India should wait for a government statement on this matter and not rely on secondary sources of information” - Ashish Singhal, Founder and CEO, Coinswitch; and Co-chair of IAMAI's Blockchain and Crypto Assets Council (BACC)

Additional Information

If Crypto is everywhere, Decentralized Finance or DeFi is positively exploding. So what exactly is DeFi? To answer this question we invited some answers from our listeners and tried to get a better view of the subject by speaking with some experts and practitioners. We caught up with Paul Brody - Global Blockchain Leader at EY, Rohas Nagpal - Chief Blockchain Architect at WRAP and Moresh Kokane - Technical Architect at OpenDAO as we tried to decode this interesting topic

• What is DeFi
• Building Blocks of DeFi
• Use cases of DeFi
• DeFi vs CeFi
• DeFi & Regulations

Do listen to this episode to get a quick introduction to the world of Decentralized Finance

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