In recent years, banks and Non-Banking Financial Companies (NBFCs) have made significant strides in enhancing their technological infrastructure. This progress aligns with the FinTech industry’s transformation of financial services, offering streamlined user experiences across data aggregation, banking-as-a-service, lending, mutual funds, and more. The impact of these changes is particularly noticeable in sectors like wealth management, lending, and payments.
The Importance of Collaboration
As the demand for diverse financial products grows, collaboration between FinTechs and traditional financial institutions becomes essential. This partnership is crucial not only for expanding product offerings but also for meeting compliance and regulatory standards, particularly those focused on consumer protection. However, bridging the technological gap between these entities remains a significant challenge, often hindering the development of joint solutions.
Strengthening Technological Infrastructure
Over the past 4-5 years, banks and NBFCs have significantly fortified their technological infrastructure in response to these challenges. Regulatory pressures, highlighted by the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) directives to major banks like HDFC and Kotak, underscore the need for ongoing technological modernization in the financial sector.
The Growing Need for Digital FinTech Infrastructure
The importance of FinTech infrastructure has been further underscored by recent security breaches in 2024. Financial institutions have responded by increasing their technological budgets, driven by several key factors:
Rise of Open Data Ecosystems
In an interconnected data landscape, robust FinTech infrastructure is essential for seamless integration. Initiatives such as the Account Aggregator emphasize the need for financial entities to share real-time data across the ecosystem, enhancing service delivery and operational efficiency.
Enhanced Data Protection and Security Measures
As cyber threats evolve, there is a growing demand for advanced security protocols and encryption techniques within FinTech infrastructure. These measures are critical for safeguarding sensitive financial information and maintaining consumer trust.
Technological Challenges and Innovation
Recent setbacks at major financial institutions highlight the need for innovative infrastructure solutions to meet diverse customer needs. Serving “Middle India” requires a different product portfolio compared to the top 100 million customers, necessitating continuous innovation and investment.
Increased Regulatory Scrutiny
With regulatory requirements becoming more stringent, financial institutions and FinTech companies must strengthen their infrastructure to ensure compliance and mitigate regulatory risks.
Adoption of Product-led SaaS Solutions
The increasing complexity of financial products is driving institutions to adopt cloud-hosted, third-party solutions that complement their existing technology stacks. This trend is particularly evident in the adoption of Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) products, which cater to various sub-segments within the financial industry.
Innovations in Lending and Financial Services
The lending sector has seen significant growth in third-party infrastructure solutions, covering loan underwriting, management, collections, and embedded products. Modern loan origination systems assist banks and NBFCs in underwriting loans for new-to-credit segments by leveraging extensive unstructured data. Advanced loan management systems use hyper-personalized algorithms to analyze repayment behaviors, predict portfolio risks, and reduce non-performing assets (NPAs).
Advances in Other Financial Products
Innovations are also occurring in credit card management, co-lending programs, loans against digital assets, and investment products. Advanced Registrar and Transfer Agent (RTA) solutions streamline mutual fund issuance, distribution, and management. The insurance sector is seeing the development of digital frameworks for co-creating and distributing microinsurance products.
Key Technological Features
Several key features have enabled these solutions to emerge:
- Modular Architecture and API Integration: These solutions are characterized by modular structures and API-driven functionalities, allowing for easy customization to meet specific requirements.
- Data Consumption and Processing Capabilities: With a focus on data-driven decision-making, these solutions boast advanced capabilities to efficiently process large volumes of data, enabling insightful analytics.
- Integration of Gen AI Use Cases: Leveraging artificial intelligence, these solutions incorporate Gen AI to enhance operational efficiency, process unstructured data, and unlock new insights.
Increasing Technological Investments
The imperative for technological evolution has led to a consistent increase in technological spending. According to Gartner, the banking and investment services sector in India allocated $11.3 billion to technology in 2023, with IT spending in banks reaching up to 10% of their operating expenses.
Leading digital-friendly banks like HDFC Bank and Axis Bank have made substantial investments in technology, spending Rs. 5153 Cr ($600 million) and Rs. 2428 Cr ($300 million), respectively, in FY 2024. This surge in spending highlights the critical role of robust digital infrastructure in modern banking and presents significant revenue opportunities for startups entering the digital infrastructure space.
In conclusion, the need for advanced digital infrastructure in FinTech is more pressing than ever. As financial services continue to evolve, the collaboration between traditional institutions and FinTech companies, supported by robust technological frameworks, will be essential for meeting customer needs, ensuring regulatory compliance, and maintaining competitive advantage in the rapidly changing financial landscape.