Fintech: Winds of Change

Navigating the UK & India FinTech Sector and the Opportunities Ahead

29th March 2023

UK fintech Event Agenda

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First Session: Navigating the Fintech Opportunities Between UK & India Corridor

By promoting cross-border partnerships and knowledge sharing, UK and Indian Fintech companies can create innovative solutions that cater to diverse markets and customer needs. These collaborations can also help businesses to access new markets, scale their operations, and attract global investments.

Udyan Guha, Moderator

Stevan Bajic - CEO, Manigo

Rajesh Jha - CEO, MoneyNmore

Pawanjit Grewal - CEO, Reeudo

Emanuela Vartolomei - CEO, All Street Sevva

Raj Joshi - CEO, TCKER

Giles Keating - Board Member, Bitcoin Suisse, and former Global Chief Economist of Credit Suisse

The Indian market presents a significant opportunity for UK Fintech to cater to a large population in need of innovative payment and banking solutions.

Open banking and open APIs like the Indian payment stack are becoming crucial to enhance customer experience and offer personalised solutions.

Regulatory collaboration and harmonisation is essential to facilitate seamless cross-border operations and reduce barriers to entry.

The speakers highlighted the rapid growth and impact of Fintech in India and emphasised the importance of interoperability and digital public infrastructure. They mentioned that India has witnessed a significant increase in Fintech transactions, with 8.7 billion transactions per month, attributing this growth to an interoperable system that allows for seamless payment across platforms. They also discuss the importance of high-quality digital public infrastructure and how it can enhance ease of living and payment security. These innovations are scalable beyond India and can be applied globally, improving financial services for everyone.

The speakers believed that the UK is an ideal partner for India's Fintech industry, offering complex markets for testing ideas and products. They emphasised that such partnerships would benefit both countries and help replicate successful models elsewhere.

The importance of fostering collaboration between UK and Indian Fintech companies to leverage their respective strengths and unlock new opportunities was stressed. They also highlighted the potential of Africa, a region with a growing population and an expanding economy, as a key market for Indian Fintech innovations.

By promoting cross-border partnerships and knowledge sharing, UK and Indian Fintech companies can create innovative solutions that cater to diverse markets and customer needs. These collaborations can also help businesses to access new markets, scale their operations, and attract global investments.

Moreover, speakers highlighted the role of government policy in driving the growth of the Fintech ecosystem. By creating supportive regulatory frameworks and enabling ease of doing business, governments can help Fintech companies expand their reach and offer new products and services to consumers.

The speakers discussed their experiences and motivations in the Fintech industry. Pawanjit, an entrepreneur with experience in cross-border payments, emphasized the growing number of Indian students studying abroad as a reason for launching his start-up. Stevan, who moved from fund management to launching a banking-as-a-service platform, was inspired by his need for international money transfers and payments. Emanuela, who works in AI and ESG, was motivated by the intersection of climate change and generative AI, aiming to help financial institutions manage the transition to sustainability. Giles, from Bitcoin Suisse, highlighted that crypto should be viewed as a platform that can enable seamless and cost-effective money transmission services.

Rajesh Jha, a serial entrepreneur, shared his journey in the Fintech space and the reasons behind setting up his third company, MoneyNmore. Raj Joshi, a senior person at BT Global Services and the CEO of TCKER, talked about managing conflicts of interest and leveraging the assets of BT to support Fintech startups.

In a panel discussion, the challenges faced by Fintech companies were raised, particularly in terms of regulations and investment. The Tckr platform was presented as a solution to help Fintech’s access an ecosystem of large financial services companies more quickly and securely. It was suggested that creating clusters in India and the UK could help streamline the process for startups and reduce time spent on regulatory approvals.

In conclusion, the speakers at the UK-India Fintech Event emphasised the potential for collaboration and growth in the Fintech industry across both countries. They highlighted the importance of innovation in areas such as cross-border payments, banking-as-a-service platforms, AI and ESG in capital markets, and digital asset services. The entrepreneurs also shared their unique motivations and visions, demonstrating the diverse opportunities in the Fintech space. Overall, the event showcased the potential for increased cooperation and development between the UK and India in the rapidly evolving Fintech landscape.

In the Q&A session, the audience raised concerns about regulations and investments in the Fintech industry and how the discussed platforms could help streamline processes to reduce the time taken to navigate regulations.

Second Session: Investment Themes for the Next 12-18 Months

To facilitate cross-border collaboration, the panelists suggest creating opportunities for professionals to spend time working in the other country, fostering personal connections, and gaining first-hand knowledge of local market conditions.

Udyan Guha, Moderator

Artur Niemczewski - Advisor to Anthemis VC

Robin Scher - Head of Fintech Investments, Lloyds Banking Group

Kara Byun - Co-Head of Fintech Investment, HSBC Asset Management

Amit Pau - Co-Founder Empaua Ventures

Countries need to elevate the conversation about what generative AI can do to jobs, as well as climate change impacts.

Outsourcing industry faces the risk of likely being replaced by large language models.

Collaboration required between India and UK to tackle risks to jobs and innovation agenda.

The panelists are from various backgrounds, including investment, fintech, and insurance, and they discussed the challenges and opportunities for fintech companies in India and the UK.

Artur Niemczewski from Anthemis Ventures explains their investment in Indian company LokoNav and UK company Tide's recent launch in India, highlighting the potential for cross-border collaborations and expansions.

Amit Pal emphasizes the importance of focusing on building businesses and not solely on valuations. He warns that the era of free money and frothy valuations has ended, and that down rounds can be painful for companies.

The panelists discuss the need for collaboration between countries, such as creating a multifunctional sandbox that covers legal, technology, and regulatory aspects.

They also suggest establishing knowledge hubs and expert hubs to facilitate the transfer of companies between India and the UK and to provide support in areas like regulation and technology.

The panelists stressed the importance of agility and speed for fintech companies to compete with large corporations and the need for organizations to help remove friction and speed up processes for businesses expanding into new markets.

They emphasised the value of personal connections and trust when entering new markets or expanding businesses. Networking and building relationships can help overcome challenges and open doors for opportunities.

The panelists recommend that fintech companies focus on providing value and addressing unmet needs in the market, rather than solely chasing high valuations, the era of which is over.