Bharat Fintech Summit 2024: Insights into India’s Rapidly Evolving Financial Landscape
Three points you will get to know in this article:
- Mumbai’s Bharat Fintech Summit 2024 hosted 3,000 participants.
- Talks emphasized digitalization in banking and e-commerce, regulatory initiatives.
- Leaders stressed tech’s role in empowering MSMEs, enhancing customer engagement.
The Bharat Fintech Summit 2024, orchestrated by The Digital Fifth in the bustling city of Mumbai, attracted a crowd of 3,000 enthusiastic participants deeply rooted in India’s fintech community. Spanning from February 7 to February 8, the event’s second installment showcased a remarkable lineup featuring 23 engaging speaker sessions, five fireside chats brimming with insights, and 10 captivating demonstrations.
Resonating Conversations: Key Topics from Panel Discussions
Throughout the panel discussions, an array of pertinent topics took center stage, delving into the vibrant fintech landscape of the nation. Conversations ranged from the evolution of product-led innovations to the imperative collaboration between traditional banks and fintech innovators. Additionally, cybersecurity emerged as a critical focus, highlighting the pressing need for enhanced regulatory compliance in payment systems and digital lending. Such measures not only aim to elevate banking experiences for customers but also safeguard them against the ever-looming threat of fraud, ensuring peace of mind for all stakeholders involved.
The Shift in Fintech Landscape: Embracing Digital Transformation
It’s important to highlight that this event arrives amidst a significant shift in the fintech landscape, fueled by the rapid digitalization of banking and the booming e-commerce sphere both in India and globally.
Looking ahead, banks and financial institutions are gearing up to embrace full-scale digitalization, especially targeting retail and MSMEs in the near future. Notably, regulatory initiatives and public infrastructure like IndiaStack, Account Aggregator, and the ONDC are driving major innovations within the Indian BFSI sector. Moreover, the stage is set for enterprise fintechs to flourish, with forecasts suggesting a substantial market expansion reaching an estimated $20 billion by 2030.
Embedded Finance and Customer Engagement: A Focus Area
Sameer Singh Jaini, co-founder and CEO of The Digital Fifth, the past decade has seen a consistent flow of investments pouring into enterprise fintechs. This influx, alongside the emergence of innovative players across various enterprise sectors, illuminates the previously overlooked potential of this market.
“We host summits that prioritize substantive content and welcome participants from across the Indian fintech landscape, including representatives from 70 to 80 VC firms. These gatherings foster insightful exchanges and collaboration, nurturing business growth within our ecosystem,” he remarked.
The spotlight also shone on Embedded Finance during the event, with a general consensus emerging on the necessity of amplifying efforts to enhance customer engagement through bank partnerships.
In his keynote address, P Vasudevan, Executive Director at RBI, emphasized the importance of seamless credit processes, highlighting its potential to evolve into the next cornerstone of digital public infrastructure.
Attending such a summit was truly invigorating for me, especially being part of a panel where we delved into discussions on tech-driven credit networks, harnessing multi-layered lending partnerships, and pioneering technology shaping the future-ready financial sector.
Perspectives from Fintech Leaders: Insights and Achievements
Alok Mittal, the co-founder & MD at Indifi, expressed, “The MSME lending landscape, along with its challenges, innovations, collaborations, and more, is pivotal. The MSME sector remains the cornerstone of the Indian economy, and the infusion of technology in this realm holds immense promise.”
Indifi, which specializes in providing loans for small businesses, achieved profitability last year, surpassing a significant milestone of Rs 1,500 crore AUM in March 2023.
Ramgopal Subramani, Chief Strategy Officer at Perfios, commended the summit, emphasizing its role in fostering knowledge sharing, forging partnerships, and driving comprehensive sectoral growth. “At Perfios, we value partnerships with events like BFS, which serve as collaborative platforms within the BFSI sector, addressing challenges and uncovering innovative opportunities,” he remarked.
Vaibhav Tambe, co-founder of TransBank, expressed his enthusiasm for the summit, highlighting its potential to be a game changer for the fintech ecosystem in India. He added, “Being associated with The Digital Fifth and this summit has been immensely rewarding, facilitating numerous collaborations.” TransBank, a SaaS-based platform, operates on a minimum guarantee model for its services, charging on a per-transaction basis.
The Growing Fintech Ecosystem: Collaborations and Opportunities
Insights were offered by Movin Jain, the founder of the cross-border payments platform Skydo, at the panel discussion “Entrepreneurial X-Factor: Traits That Attract Early-Stage Investors.” He cited a number of reasons for Skydo’s quick success during its seed round, including a propitious market climate, a solid track record from prior ventures, and pertinent industry experience.
Choosing the correct co-founder is more important than the business concept itself. The best company idea is ultimately determined by complementary abilities, shared values, and matched objectives, stressed Movin.
Representatives from a number of fintech startups, including Trifecta, GetVantage, Zaggle, FinBox, Skydo, Bureau, Fixerra, and others, also attended the summit, indicating a lively interchange of ideas and partnerships.
The Bharat Fintech Summit 2024 in Mumbai drew 3,000 fintech enthusiasts and featured 23 speaker sessions, five fireside chats, and 10 diverse demonstrations. Discussions focused on product-led innovations, bank-fintech collaboration, and cybersecurity’s role in enhancing banking experiences and preventing fraud. The event highlighted the ongoing digitalization of banking and e-commerce in India, with a focus on regulatory initiatives and public infrastructure driving innovation. Enterprise fintechs are poised for substantial growth, with predictions of a $20 billion market by 2030. Industry leaders underscored the pivotal role of technology in empowering MSMEs, fostering collaboration, and showcasing future-ready financial solutions.
