Lalit founded Decimal Technologies in 2009 when the concept of digital transformation in the BFSI sector was in its early stages. Under his leadership, the company enabled early adopters in the Indian banking ecosystem to implement digital technologies and thereby helping them to become leaders in new-age banking today. At Decimal Technologies, Lalit’s role encompasses conceptualizing new products and offerings, own key client relationships, giving direction and shaping the future roadmap for the company. He has built a path for Decimal where it can keep reinventing every few years and stay ahead of the curve.
Budget 2022 has emphasized upon the growth story of India and has highlighted how MSMEs are one of the key drivers of our economy. The sector provides employment to around 11 crore citizens of our country and contributes to about 30% of India’s GDP.
Budget 2022-23 also highlights the union government’s enthusiasm and endeavour towards building a robust digital economy, and its acknowledgement of the importance of the digital financial ecosystem which offers a gamut of services including digital lending, UPI payments, digital banks and much more. To this effect, in order to celebrate 75 years of independence, scheduled commercial banks are going to set up 75 Digital Banking Units (DBUs) in 75 districts of our country.
The process of growth of mid-size businesses into larger ones will have its own challenges, but it is imperative that we foster such growth in order for our economy to realise its true potential in the near future. As businesses move from small to medium-scale to large, resources will be used in a better and efficient manner and these companies will be able take help of economies of scale. Their outlook should be progressive and they should invest in technological innovation and human resources, to facilitate increased productivity which is the engine of growth for any sector.
The new budget has also addressed core issues like raw materials required for the functioning of MSMEs and access to credit. This is also in line with the government’s focus on improving the ease of doing business in the country. With improved credit access, the sector will be able to address the issue of working capital needs. Digital lending has the potential to become the primary source for this and can pave way for exponential growth, both for the sector as well as the overall economy.
The need of the hour is a digital lending marketplace that, by utilising AI/ML technologies, aims to tackle the challenges of loan frauds and defaults with detailed risk assessment, make the approval process quicker for customers and close the credit gap.
With the incorporation of technology, customer onboarding and loan disbursal has become easier with almost zero leakages. This allows fintech players to serve the underserved segments and address their credit problems with tailor-made solutions as per their customer needs. The lenders also have a robust cybersecurity framework in place, ensuring security to customers throughout the complete process.
Increased collaboration among the banking and fintech sectors is the way forward, since both complement each other in terms of the service that they provide to MSMEs. The partnership of these two sectors will help achieve scalability like never before, by creating a confluence between the lending experience of big banks and the technical expertise of fintech firms for the benefit of the MSME sector.
Fintech players specialising in digital lending are ready to work with the government to curb the problem of fraud that has plagued the sector for years. This will help in building trust in the digital lending process for the end consumer, while also help minimise losses faced by the lender.
This year, the fintech industry will grow with greater technology adoption in the financial services sector. With the ease of process, minimal paperwork and use of data sources, it will become a key enabler for the MSME sector in the days to come.