Posts by Raghavi
OCEN and digital lending: a revolution waiting on the anvil
The newest kid on the block of digital lending and financing is the OCEN, or the Open Credit Enablement Network. Announced by Nandan Nilekani, cfounding architect of Aadhaar and co-founder and non-executive chairman of Infosys, this is the newest initiative to help bring credit to the ones who need it the most. OCEN promises the…
Continue ReadingIndia’s Neobanks
The world of FinTech was already undergoing a transformation, even before the Covid-19 pandemic struck. The unprecedented lockdown situation only precipitated the transformation. The digital revolution so far has enabled large scale integrations through APIs to enable a range of services to the customer, be it food ordering, ecommerce, or investments. Though the adoption for…
Continue ReadingMillennials and finance
Defining a generation is neither easy, nor universal. The millennial generation, the cohort at the helm of the workforce right now, is still difficult to outline. The millennial generation covers those born between 1982 and 1996. Today’s millennial will be the last generation to remember a time when India was a socialist state, when the…
Continue ReadingTogether is better: When banks meet fintechs
When the global economic crisis happened in 2008, there was a sustained narrative of how disruptive and innovative FinTech companies would soon render established banks obsolete. While there has been an undeniable bloom of a variety of extraordinary startups that added tremendous value to the world, the larger picture has been that the old behemoths…
Continue ReadingData privacy in the financial sector
Arguing that you don’t care about the right to privacy because you have nothing to hide is no different than saying you don’t care about free speech because you have nothing to say. Edward Snowden In the early twentieth century, oil was the world’s most valuable resource. It powered machines, cars, homes. Oil—petrol, diesel… powered…
Continue ReadingRole of AI in lending
“By far the greatest danger of Artificial Intelligence is that people conclude too early that they understand it.” ― EliezerYudkowsky Artificial intelligence is when a machine can think. It is that simple—when a machine is able to take in data, interpret and learn from it the way humans do, it is an artificially intelligent machine. AI…
Continue ReadingIs cryptolending the future?
Remember a few years ago when Bitcoin was all the rage? Everyone thought it was the next big thing. From the obscure geeky past of Bitcoin in 2008, founded by the anonymous Satoshi Nakamoto, the new currency moved through the hype cycle and grew from strength to strength. Bitcoin technology also gave rise to more…
Continue ReadingTech companies and the money foray
The growing indispensability of technology companies in the financial industry Global technology giant Google announced that it is entering the banking industry in collaboration with six partner banks to offer current accounts to US-based customers. The impressive list of banks were Citigroup, Stanford Federal Credit Union, Bank Mobile, BBVA USA, BMO Harris, Coastal Community Bank,…
Continue ReadingThe UPI Revolution
Innovations of yesterday and conveniences of today, and building blocks of more innovations for tomorrow. Today, thanks to the popularization, acceptance, and availability of UPI-based peer-to-peer payments, the world has become a near-cashless place. During the panic-ridden demonetization phase, or during the extraordinary lock-down situation during the Covid-19 pandemic, UPI-based products and services were a…
Continue ReadingLooking into Loan Restructuring
The impact of the pandemic-led nationwide lockdown on economic activity, especially in the lending sector has been immense. Everyone from small town lenders to multinational banks have been affected. As job losses and pay cuts started as early as March, the Reserve Bank of India announced a moratorium on loan repayments. In its financial-stability report,…
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