TMCnet News

"The Future is Paperless," Says Indian Financial Sector at BankBazaar's Conclave
[September 14, 2017]

"The Future is Paperless," Says Indian Financial Sector at BankBazaar's Conclave


MUMBAI, September 14, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --

India's leading financial marketplace BankBazaar hosted the second edition of the BankBazaar Paperless Finance Conclave at Mumbai on 12 September 2017. The conclave saw more than 200 eminent bankers, industry influencers and regulators come together to discuss the ways to fast-track paperless access to finance in India. Event's highlight was the keynote speech by Amitabh Kant, CEO, NITI Aayog on reform of financial sector.

     (Photo: http://mma.prnewswire.com/media/556173/Adhil_Shetty_CEO_BankBazaar.jpg )
     (Photo: http://mma.prnewswire.com/media/556174/Panel_1_BankBazaar.jpg )
     (Photo: http://mma.prnewswire.com/media/556175/Panel_2_BankBazaar.jpg )

Setting the stage for the evening, Adhil Shetty, CEO, BankBazaar, said that India was ready for the paperless revolution and is seeing a surge in demand for a perfectly frictionless experience while buying financial products. Shetty said, "Thanks to regulatory encouragements, paperless technology is perfectly placed to provide that kind of frictionless experience for every financial product. There has been a lot of support from all quarters in calling for removing barriers to paperless services, and the question today is how do we make that happen."

The keynote speaker at the BankBazaar Digital Finance Conclave, Amitabh Kant , emphasized the need for accelerating reforms and on the need to push for wider acceptance of digital signatures in the industry and acceptance of OTP-based eKYC. "To my mind the proposal to push OTP-based eKYC is high (priority). For deposit accounts, the present limit is Rs. 1 lakh. I think we should increase it to about Rs. 10 lakh. For loan accounts, the existing limit is Rs. 60,000. My view is that it should be raised to Rs. 6 lakh," Kant said.

For full speech on FB/ Twitter

During th discussion that followed Kant's address, several points of easing the paperless journey, especially in light of how it can help reduce NPAs, were made. Zarin Daruwala, the CEO of Standard Chartered Bank, suggested that GST records should be available with the consent of loan applicants for better analysis of the financial track-record.



The evening also featured two panel discussions on how paperless finance is a game changer for the financial industry and what are the constraints that need to be resolved to make completely paperless on-boarding a reality. The first panel 'Access to paperless finance as a game changer for citizens and industry' saw panelists discussing how customers have evolved and how paperless finance has contributed to making the process more secure and foolproof. Vijay Jasuja, MD & CEO of SBI Card, believes their customers of instantly-issued credit cards display better awareness in terms of things such as maintaining their credit history, and so the portfolio quality is better. "I believe that it is a myth that meeting face-to-face, obtaining documents physical form is safer than obtaining documents direct from the source," he said. Manoj Adlakha, SVP & CEO, American Express, added that early activation is key to the credit card industry. "In instant issuance, you have immediate activation," Adlakha said. "Otherwise the activation rates typically in India are now 30-40%. But instant activation means 100%." The other panelists included Zarin Daruwala, CEO, Standard Chartered Bank; Rajesh Sud, EVC & MD, Max Life Insurance; Arvind Kapil, Country Head, Unsecured Loans, Home & Mortgage Loan, HDFC Bank; and Jayesh H, Co-founder, Juris Corp.

The second panel, 'What will it take for paperless on-boarding to be a reality?' discussed the biggest barrier to digital mobile access to financial products-the friction in the offline process in the form of physical KYC and wet-signature collection-and how moving from paper-centric to digital processes can help remove this barrier. The role of regulators in realizing dream of frictionless finance was discussed at length. Anup Bagchi, Executive Director, ICICI Bank, suggested, "Once you've on-boarded a customer, no regulator has come in the way of the experience being fully frictionless." Shinjini Kumar, Consumer Business Manager, CITI India, said going paperless is more than just digitization. "The move from paper to Paperless is as much about liability transfer as it is about technology," she emphasized. The other panelists were Puneet Nanda, ED, ICICI Prudential; Anjan Dasgupta, Partner, HSA Advocates; Ugen Bhutia, GC, SBI Card; Deepak Sharma, Chief Digital Officer, Kotak Mahindra Bank; and Sushanta Kumar Kar, CGM, Dept. of Banking Regulations, RBI.


Everyone present agreed with rising Internet connectivity and smartphone penetration, and with the availability of world-class digital infrastructure provided by the government of India, the future of finance is going to be paperless.

About BankBazaar 

BankBazaar.com is ranked as the best financial website in India by the Internet And Mobile Association of India (IAMAI). BankBazaar.com has also been recently awarded the Emerging Brand of the Year Award at the 7th CMO Asia Awards for Excellence in Branding and Marketing in Singapore. It is India's first neutral online marketplace that gives you instant customized rate quotes on loans, credit cards or any other personal finance products. It simplifies the loan application process. Anyone can instantly search for tailor-made offers, compare, customize it as per his or her need or profile and apply for the finance products. It is designed with smart technology capabilities and over 50+ of India's leading financial institutions have chosen to integrate themselves with the platform. BankBazaar.com's vision is to simplify and personalize financial products and make it accessible and consumable so that users can access the right financial products as easily as shopping for consumables. What's more, BankBazaar.com's services are completely free!

BankBazaar.com services are available through the web-portal, made-for-mobile web service, or the BankBazaar app available on the Android play store and iOS app store. Apart from these, it gives the consumer the latest news/trends and insights into managing finances better. The consumers can track their application and troubleshoot issues in the process through a host of channels like the BankBazaar app, WhatsApp, Email, Voice-support etc.

Media Contact:
Shripad Sukenkar
[email protected]
+91-7045352236
Senior Consulting Associate
Genesis Burson Marsteller



[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]