'India needs fintech facilitator,' say bankers at national meet
New Delhi: Fourth Bankers Meet was held on Thursday at New Delhi. The meet was inaugurated by Dr Charan Singh, Chairman, Punjab & Sind Bank and concluded with a key note by Arijit Basu, Managing Director, State Bank of India. The meet had a representation of all leading private and public sector banks together with NBFCs, MFIs, Mutual Funds & Fintech companies.
The meet was convened by TKWs Institute of Banking & Finance with the aim of creating a BFSI Vision Roadmap for engaging a billion customers digitally. The delegation of 70 industry representatives and 18 thought leaders agreed that people can be engaged, only if future products are designed for tiny transactions. The challenge of distribution cost has already been solved by mobile as a platform. But the way forward is not by replicating existing banking products on digital platform. We need to develop innovative products to match needs, languages and cultures of distinct customer groups across the country. According to the think tank, a key challenge in BFSI Vision would be working with multiple regulators who work in silos. Speaking at the meet, Mr Abhijit Singh, Head of Technology, ICICI Bank suggested the need to create a Fintech facilitator to coordinate amidst multiple regulators. VG Kannan, CEO, Indian Banks' Association also highlighted the challenge of reskilling existing manpower employed in banks and financial services industry. Others present at the meet included PV Bharathi, (MD, Corporation Bank), Chetna Gala Sinha (Chairperson, Mann Deshi Bank), RM Vishakha (MD, IndiaFirst Life Insurance), Manish Khera (Founder, Happy), Harpreet Singh (President, YesBank), Jasmine Shetty (Head, HDFC), Naveen Goel (Country Head, Indusind), Ashish Goyal (Cofounder, Early Salary), Swati Aggarwal (Head Technology, RBS), BK Bajaj (Risk Head, Infomerics), Mayanka Aggarwal (Credit Head, Barclays), Asha Bhandarkar (Director, PNB), Salil Jha (Director, Indian Bank) and others.
Bankers Meet is a think tank which crystal gazes the future of India from the lens of BFSI. Explaining the outcome Prof Amit Goyal, Founding Director, TKWs Institute of Banking & Finance said, "The meet was very successful. But we will be happy only when the roadmap propels our country to a new growth path. Niti Aayog has invited TKWsIBF society to present the outcomes. We will follow it through the government and industry and ensure that actionable difference
is made."
