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Talking to BusinessLine, Anupam Pahuja, Managing Director, PayPpal India, says that in 2018, fintech companies will focus on adding strong values to the consumer’s payment experience. Excerpts:
What all trends dominated the fintech space in India in 2017?
This year saw a perceptible shift in the mind-set of the Indian consumer towards digitisation.
The unwavering commitment of the government for a less-cash society with initiatives such as demonetisation, implementation of GST and the Digital India programme, acted as a catalyst, while consumers discovered the ease and convenience of digital payments.
What factors will shape the sector in 2018?
This year has set the stage for growth in the sector. The new year will see digital payment providers transition from being just facilitators of payments to protectors of the end consumer.
It will be both a challenging and an exciting year. In 2018, digital payment businesses will transition from a discounting-led customer-acquisition strategy, and focus on adding very strong values to the consumer’s payment experience. The Indian opportunity and the commitment of the government towards the sector, is not lost on global and mature players, and hence, 2018 is likely to see increased interest from both the East and the West.
What were the major challenges in 2017 with respect to consumers’ adoption of fintech-led services? How is it going to change in the year ahead?
The Indian consumer has been treated lavishly with discounts and cash-backs. But unfortunately, these do not buy loyalty and are not sustainable.
As adoption increases, we will witness increased instances of fraud and risk. The sector needs to be prepared to deal with newer challenges, and feature sets will no longer be drivers for adoption. Retention, as the scale increases, will need to be backed by a robust risk and security infrastructure at the back-end and a convenient check-out experience at the front-end.
The space is too crowded and cluttered at present. Who is going to win this race?
Overall, the time has come for digital payment companies to centre their approach around simplifying the life of the end consumer in a safe and secure manner.
Any business that will achieve this will be able to win loyalty and succeed in the long run.
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