The year-end reaction and outlook of 2023 from the industry leaders

Anand Kumar Bajaj, Founder, MD & CEO, PayNearby

“Driven by greater convenience, favorable government policies, and evolving consumer sentiments, Bharat is gearing up to walk hand-in-hand with India. This has brought a behavioral shift in consumers, with more and more citizens adopting assisted digital means for their banking and lifestyle requirements. In addition to the increased uptake of financial and banking products, a host of other services, like, online education, online entertainment, and online commerce are now reaching the last mile, thanks to our able Distribution-as-a-service (DaaS) network. Services that were earlier limited to metros and tier I cities are now easily accessible in tier II regions and beyond. Reiterating this is the sharp growth of over 200% in our cash collection business including collection from logistics and e-commerce companies Also, we witnessed a growth of 263% in micro-credit for MSMEs which demonstrates the unmet demand for credit, being tapped by fintechs like us.

The quick and easy Current & Savings account opening with a simple Aadhaar-led authentication (e-KYC) is furthering India’s financial inclusion mission by providing an active bank account for every small business and household in Bharat. With simple documentation and assisted journeys, all obstacles that prohibit the large-scale adoption of financial solutions are being addressed, thus pushing the masses towards true financial empowerment.  

Aiding this growth are our retail partners and the local kirana stores, which have evolved into a multi-utility point for consumers to meet their financial and digital needs. For India to transition to the next stage of development, we will continue to strengthen our efforts to simplify high-end technology so that more services can be sachetized and democratized and made available to all through our well-entrenched DaaS network. Come 2023, with our grit and determination, we will continue to hustle and innovate to bridge the urban-rural divide and build an inclusive India, together.”

Mandar Agashe, Founder MD & VC of Sarvatra Technologies

“The year 2022 has been positive for the digital payments industry. There has been significant push by the Government and the Central Bank to promote innovation and competitiveness in the ecosystem. Transactions through Unified Payments Interface (UPI), Aadhaar-enabled Payment System (AePS), Immediate Payment Service (IMPS), etc. have witnessed sustained growth especially across the semi-urban and rural regions of the country. This indicates the behavioural shift in the way Indians are making their payments for both financial and non-financial transactions. In rural India, AePS has emerged as a favourite mode of transaction as the average usage reached more than 11 million per day indicating how the larger rural population in India are migrating to digital modes of payments (including remittances).

One of the most outstanding innovations happened this year, i.e. the introduction of Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) or the Digital Rupee by RBI as well as the operationalisation and scaling up of the Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC), tokenisation, account aggregator framework, among others, have further enhanced merchants’ and users’ convenience and safety.

UPI has been consistently achieving milestones in terms of transaction count. Within a year, the value of transactions went up from INR 456 crores in December 2021 to a whopping INR 730 crores in November 2022. UPI has become the largest retail payment system in the nation demonstrating its widespread adoption. Newer features like UPI123Pay, UPI Lite, cardless cash withdrawal facility at ATMs through UPI and the linkage to credit cards, will further amplify its usage in the upcoming year.

The next year is going to be the year of fintech companies inventing better products as per changing needs of the users. There is scope for better adoption of new-age technologies, such as cloud computing, big data, and AI-based solutions. Payment platforms such as BBPS and UPI going international will make cross-border payments faster. Many infrastructural developments such as CBDC and digital wallets are spaces to watch out for in 2023. Fintechs have a responsibility to create innovative payments solution that is also safe from data threat and provide convenience to users.”

Bhavin Patel, Cofounder and CEO of LenDenClub

“The investment diaspora has witnessed a behavioural shift of wealth creation this year where investors are searching for new opportunities to diversify their portfolios. As a result, P2P lending is increasingly becoming popular as an alternate investment class as citizens are incorporating it into their portfolios to mitigate risk while optimising returns.

Also, there have been significant developments from the regulatory perspective. Be it the Guidelines on Digital Lending introduced by RBI or the Digital Personal Data Protection Bill, 2022, introduced by the Government, these are all aimed at safeguarding the customers’ interest. While several efforts have been made to promote innovation and competitiveness in the industry, including streamlining the Account Aggregator framework. In the coming year, digital lending companies will continue to abide by these guidelines and fully support initiatives from the Government and the Central Bank.

The Indian p2p market is expected to grow to $10 Billion by 2025; however, I see this happening much sooner. As P2P lending companies will be offering a distinctive fusion of cutting-edge technologies and speedy financial solutions to strengthen the alternate investment path for investors of India as well as fulfil the unmet credit needs of the Indians.”