Raj N, Founder, Zaggle

Zaggle which is an award-winning FinTech company digitizing spends to unlock value and drive business growth. Zaggle uses Deep Tech and Artificial Intelligence to provide platform solutions to businesses for Expense Management & Employee Reimbursements as well as for Rewards & Recognition.

The coronavirus pandemic has disrupted normalcy in every sphere of our life. At a time when every sector is facing a huge fundamental shift, FinTech companies have been witnessing an unprecedented spike in demand from organisations to help them navigate this uncertain period. Though the value of FinTech has been widely acknowledged, many firms are now, stepping up to achieve their full potential by widening the scope of innovations to help organisations overcome the present barriers. One very important factor that is leading to higher demand for the services of FinTech firms is the willingness to revamp the traditional systems and processes and bring in cost effectiveness of product and service delivery, make it faster, more efficient and easily accessible. Innovative propositions or ensuring contactless transactions to ensure social distancing norms is being seen to be a top priority for organisations today.

Large scale quarantining, massive travel restrictions, school closures and other factors have impacted businesses of many organizations. These have now come to realise that technology can help them adapt better to survive the current situation. Many Industries are now preparing for it with the help of technological developments like Blockchain, AI, IoT, Cybersecurity, VR, AR etc. The culture of work from home, online education is rising in India. While the virus may have forced us to adjust to the new normal, it hasn’t halted either our progress or our commitment to this cause. FinTech firms are providing unique propositions of harnessing technology to organisations allowing many to create new ways of providing value in the current environment.

Some of the major trends in the prevailing in the FinTech space are:

Digital becomes Mainstream

Covid-19 has turned out to be the biggest driver of digital transformation in India today. The crisis has brought to the fore the advantages and the value of digital operating models and has forced many companies to speed up their digital transformation processes. Nobody can predict for how long this will sustain, but it seems to be the new reality for the foreseeable future.

“FinTech firms are providing unique propositions of harnessing technology to organisations allowing many to create new ways of providing value in the current environment”

Embracing AI (Artificial Intelligence)

AI has no doubt been one of the largest contributors to the digital transformation of organisations in recent times. From a wide-angle view, this expansive spectrum of AIsupported interventions and modern-day advancements demonstrates an unprecedented opportunity for the FinTech community to press its energies and talents into the service of advancing the public and organisational good.

Pivot to Virtual Cards and Digital Payments

With a nationwide lockdown, there has been an upsurge in demand of doorstep deliveries of food, groceries and pharmacies and whatever you could think of and be allowed to order. To stem the pandemic, an increasing proportion of payments is shifting to digital channels and there is a strong growth trajectory in the online bill payments space. While retail payments will face a bit of decline, P2P (Peer to Peer) will continue to come out strong as consumers will opt for contactless payments instead of physical cash or cards. The infection risk is accelerating the push towards digital payments across the world. IMPS, Mobile Wallets, UPI enabled payments, NFC-based Contactless payments, Virtual cards based payments, are some of the top digital payment technologies that are growing amidst the Covid-19 crisis.

Blockchain Solutions

The Blockchain technology is rapidly gaining momentum amidst this pandemic. Blockchains, act as a great distributor of money, assets, data, records and are ideal for inter-organizational, and cross-border transactions. Blockchain technology is helping all the major areas of business right from advertising and marketing to Human Resources (HR) and accounting. The most significant advantage of Blockchain’s distributed ledger is, it reduces the operational costs by eliminating the middleman, or gatekeeper.

Rise in Neo-Banking

Covid-19 is definitely changing the way Consumers Bank. This crisis has revealed the need for Banks to fully embrace the latest technology. As a part of the fight against the pandemic, both Banks and Governments are repeatedly insisting customers to avoid Physical Banking. A neo-bank exists solely online without any physical branches and independently or in partnership with traditional Banks. This enables them to navigate and comply with the regulatory environment. One of the major advantages is that one platform can be used to link multiple accounts, apps, and services. With evolving technology, now the Banks are providing maximum services to their customers at one click. An Open Banking model, APIs, and FinTech partnerships are providing opportunities for the survival of traditional banks. Neo-Banks are on pace to transform the way we make payments, track our spending, and manage our money and this brings in a massive rise and demand during the times of Covid-19.

Even if the COVID-19 outbreak has posed great challenges to the global economy and has far reaching consequences on human life, the crisis has brought in a plethora of opportunities and is a strong driver of creativity and innovations.