India Fintech Diaries Podcast: Insights on India's Financial Transformation

Why copy when it’s time to innovate? We’re the largest population in the world, buzzing with ambition and intelligence — yet, when it comes to innovation, we often look outside our borders. At the Global Fintech Fest, the RBI reminded us: “Fintechs must innovate for the unserved and underserved.” That’s not just a policy direction — it’s a wake-up call. Because the next wave of fintech isn’t about faster apps or prettier dashboards, it’s about solving India’s real problems — payments that empower small merchants, credit that reaches tier-3 towns, compliance that’s simple yet robust. Our SME sector doesn’t need another imported solution. It needs ideas born in India, built for India, and scalable to the world. It’s time we stop chasing trends — and start creating them. Let’s innovate, not imitate. 🇮🇳 #Fintech #Innovation #RBI #GFF2025 #DigitalIndia #SME #Payments #MakeInIndia #FinancialInclusion

Fintech isn’t done. It’s just getting started. Every year, there’s chatter about how fintech is oversaturated, overregulated, or past its prime. But then you walk into #Global Fintech Fest - and those narratives fall apart instantly. The energy, the innovation, the sheer ambition on display this week in Mumbai were a reminder of just how big India’s fintech opportunity really is. We’ve only served roughly 300 million Indians so far. But we still have a billion more waiting to be brought into the fold. And that’s not going to happen through traditional banking alone. It’ll happen through digital financial services - powered by technology, data, and now, AI. This year’s theme - “Empowering Finance for a Better World Powered by AI” - couldn’t have been more relevant. We’re at a stage where India’s IT services DNA and financial infrastructure are coming together to shape what the next 50 years of innovation will look like. GFF 2025 was a powerful reminder of what makes India different - our scale, our speed, and our ability to keep reinventing. Fintech’s next chapter is not about saturation. It’s about inclusion. And we’re just getting started.

Indian Fintech is more than an industry — it’s a movement. From UPI payments in small towns to AI-driven wealth platforms in metros, we are proving that financial innovation can truly be inclusive. 💡 Every tap, every scan, every digital transaction isn’t just convenience — it’s confidence in a new India. 🚀 Every startup idea isn’t just a business — it’s a step toward financial freedom for millions. The journey is just beginning. The world is watching. And India is showing how technology + trust = transformation. If you’re part of Fintech, remember: You’re not just building products. You’re building the future of finance. 💪 #Fintech #India #Motivation #Innovation #FinancialInclusion

📈 India’s Fintech Evolution: The Road Ahead The fintech industry in India is no longer the “next big thing”—it is the big thing. From digital payments to lending, wealth tech, and insurance tech, fintech is reshaping how Indians save, invest, and transact. Some key trends to watch: Digital payments dominance: UPI continues to scale, now exceeding billions of monthly transactions. Embedded finance: Non-financial platforms are offering banking services seamlessly. Fintech consolidation: Startups are merging, aiming for scale and profitability. Regulatory clarity: RBI and SEBI are defining frameworks, giving investors confidence. For investors and professionals, the fintech space is a playground of innovation, disruption, and opportunity. Companies that prioritize user trust, technology, and compliance will lead the next wave. India is poised to become a global fintech hub, and understanding these dynamics early can make the difference between following trends and setting them. #FintechIndia #DigitalFinance #Innovation #InvestingTrends #FutureOfFinance #IndustryInsights

Emergence of co-lending business models in India Opportunity for FinTechs As the digital lending industry evolved, new business models and partnership structures were formed between FinTechs and lenders – be it a bank or an NBFC. One such popular collaborative model is when a FinTech acts as a sourcing partner for the lender and nudges or collects information about borrowers on its behalf. The co-lending business model is a shift that enables increased financial inclusion while improving the overall efficiency of financial services. FinTechs are leveraging their increased technological prowess to drive this shift through innovations within space. Discover how co-lending is poised to redefine the future of financial services in India Source - PWC Well Done Mihir Gandhi | Vivek Belgavi Vikram Pandya | Vaibhav Tambe | Vaibhav S J. | Ankit Ratan | Akhil Handa | | Madhusudanan R | | Ritu Dubey | Sanjeev Kumar | Syed Musheer Ahmed | Sachin Seth | Ankoor Das | Neeraj Malhotra | Rohit Taneja | Raja Debnath | Jose Thattil | Nachiket Deshpande | Shrikant Patil | Vijetha Shastry | Dr Ritesh Jain | Aakarsh Naidu | Sudin Baraokar | Dr. Tinoo Ubale, Ph.D. | Sougata Basu | Aishwarya Jaishankar | Prasanna Lohar | 🇮🇳 Prabhu Elangovan | Rakesh Ranjan | Rajesh Johnny

India’s fintech story is changing, and it’s a lesson for all of us in finance. For years, fintech was about one thing: growth. How fast can we launch? How many users can we onboard? How big can we raise it? But now, the question has changed. It is no longer How fast can we grow? Can we sustain that growth responsibly?* KPMG’s new report, India’s Fintech Evolution: From Growth to Resilience, captures this perfectly. It highlights the shift from innovation for speed to innovation for stability. From chasing valuation to earning trust. As someone who works with global finance and compliance, I see this every day. The future belongs to fintechs that can combine speed with structure and treat compliance and governance not as hurdles but as growth enablers. Because trust scales faster than technology. And governance is not paperwork; it is peace of mind for investors, partners, and customers. India’s fintech ecosystem is entering its maturity curve. And just like in transfer pricing or cross-border operations, the winners will not be those who move first, but those who move right. For those working in or with fintechs, what do you think matters more in today’s age: speed or structure?

India should have been the fintech capital of the world. So why aren’t we? UPI has made digital payments universal. GST has digitized every invoice. Aadhaar gives identity to every citizen. On paper, no country is better prepared for fintech to thrive. And yet, most real innovation is happening outside India. In the US and Middle East, fintechs are building billion-dollar businesses in SME lending and embedded finance. In India, the same models struggle to even get off the ground. Rohit Arora, Co-founder of Biz2Credit & Biz2X put it bluntly: India has the tools, but not the imagination. His company scaled to $100M+ ARR by expanding abroad, not at home. I compare Indian and US fintech landscapes with Rohit on the Founder Thesis Podcast - a must-listen for anyone building in fintech. Full episode at: podm.in/biz2x

UK-based Tide to invest £500m in India's growing fintech market - Instagram: ... in key business areas. With a strong focus on fintech, Tide is well-positioned to capitalize on India's growing digital economy.

“The Untold Story of FinTech Customers’ Experience” 🚀 India’s FinTech Story: Customers Speak Through 5.7 Million Voices India is now the world’s 3rd-largest and fastest-growing FinTech hub 🌍 with: 👉 10,000+ startups 👉 26.4 billion app downloads in 2023 (2nd largest globally) 👉 Finance apps alone crossing 481 million downloads 📲 A recent RBI study analysed 5.69 million app reviews using AI/ML (DistilBERT & BERTopic) and here’s what customers are telling us: ✅ Positive vibes dominate → Trust (49%), Joy (42%), and Anticipation (44%) lead the experience. ⚠️ But challenges remain → ➡️ Customer support (poor grievance redressal, limited escalation) ➡️ Tech glitches (crashes, login failures, OTP/KYC issues) ➡️ Loan concerns (delays, low credit limits, data mismatches) 📊 The study also shows ⚫ Reviews are polarised: 67% are 5-star, 20% are 1-star → customers either love or hate their FinTech apps. ⚫ Market share helps build positive sentiment, but its impact diminishes over time. ⚫ Apps with major updates and balanced data privacy practices score significantly higher in user satisfaction. 💡 Takeaway for FinTechs Sustained growth won’t come just from scale and funding. Winning the trust of India’s digital Bharat means investing in customer support, robust tech infrastructure, and transparent lending practices. India’s FinTech market is projected to grow from $110 bn to $420 bn in 5 years (31% CAGR). The next leap will belong to those who make customer experience their core strategy. #FinTech #DigitalIndia #RBI #CustomerExperience #FinancialInclusion Sunny Mittal

What You Didn’t Learn at the Global Fintech Forum The Global Fintech Forum was a showcase of ideas, optimism, and PowerPoint perfection but also a reminder of what’s missing beneath the surface of all the talk about disruption. India’s fintech journey continues to inspire globally. UPI, in particular, stands as a landmark example of how homegrown innovation redefined payments. Yet, beyond UPI, the momentum of true innovation seems to have flattened, much like the excitement of each new iPhone launch. The upgrades keep coming, but the breakthroughs feel fewer. While AI dominated conversations as the “next frontier,” its scalable, inclusive impact still seems distant — especially for the communities fintech aims to empower. 1. UPI Hasn’t Reached 70% of India Despite being India’s pride, UPI’s reach remains limited. Nearly three-fourths of our population in Tier 4, 5, and 6 towns still transact largely in cash. The infrastructure exists, but adoption gaps persist due to patchy connectivity, digital illiteracy, and low trust. Fintech may have simplified urban payments, but Bharat is still waiting. 2. Innovation Is Happening , But It’s Repetitive There are now 40+ payment gateway licences and 17 prepaid instrument licences impressive numbers that reflect scale, not novelty. While incremental improvements continue, genuine innovation the kind that changes how people live and transact has plateaued. Many new solutions feel like repackaged versions aimed at the same urban audience. 3. Lending Hasn’t Solved the Agrarian Crisis Access to responsible credit remains a major challenge in rural India. Despite digital lending platforms, credit flow to agricultural and informal sectors stays weak. Many farmers and small entrepreneurs face distress due to limited collateral, rigid norms, and lack of localized risk models. 4. Inclusion Needs More Than Connectivity Digital inclusion doesn’t equal financial inclusion. Millions have smartphones and accounts but little financial literacy or long-term planning access. The next wave of fintech must move beyond access to impact, understanding, and empowerment. The Real Lesson We’ve built a strong digital foundation — from Jan Dhan and Aadhaar to UPI. But the next leap requires listening more to Bharat and less to boardrooms. Fintech must evolve from a story of technology to one of trust, reach, and relevance — where every Indian, regardless of pin code, feels included not just in data, but in dignity. #GlobalFintechForum