Noida: Technology is changing our lives in more ways than we can imagine. Some impacts are obvious, like using the digital medium to communicate or buy anything from the comfort of our homes. Some are not so obvious, like the targeted online promotions you get when you browse social media.
Technology has had an impact on the financial sector too. Non-Banking Finance Corporations (NBFCs) particularly are adopting technology to develop innovative products that can cater to all segments of society and keep the operational costs in check.
The session on intelligent automation by APAC media threw many insights on the way the Indian banking finance sector should beef up for disruption. The panel had Souvik Goswami, Co-founder & Chief Group Editor, APAC News Network as Moderator while others Manoj K Sarangi, Senior Vice President, National Securities Depository Limited, Dominic Vijay Kumar, VP & TO, ART Housing Finance (India), Dheeraj Mittal, Chief Operating Officer, Hiranandani Financial Services P Limited, Jaya Janardanan, COO, IndoStar Capital Finance and Ankeet Bhat, Chief Strategy Officer, MapMyIndia.

Starting the discussion on Souvik spoke widely on the current scenario of the banking sector and how the industry had moved ahead with new age technologies.

Manoj kickstarted the session with how automation works on three major basic principles. “The three parameters which decides on the usage of AI in a NBFC is risk perception, nature of the activity and size of the operation. and these three parameters will decide the efficiency, accuracy and speed of any aspect”, he said.

Dominic predicted two key things that will strengthen the NBFC sector are RPA and chatbots. “Moving forward, chatbot will play a key role in the operations. Most of the back office operations would be driven by latest technologies”, he said.

Ankeet’s view on how latest technologies can help in terms of data collection aspects like physical address be a game changer. “With right map on track, one can analyse if the user if giving the right information or not. Other aspects like employee travels and reimbursements in accordance with that can be automated”, he said.

Dheeraj spoke on how legal tangles are complex and time consuming. “With AI or blockchain, we can predict the credibilty of the customers and avoid waste of time. For example, having the right technology can alert if the customer is giving a fake address for their verification”, he observed.

Jaya spoke largely on how technology can automate credit cycles and reduce costs. “NBFCs are becoming more careful during onboarding and lending. The major use cases come aroyund cost, efficiency and risk aspects”, she said.
All the panelists agreed to the aspect that new and innovative technology can not just cut the cost and save for the companies, but also open up new business streams.
B Swaminathan
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