2017 proved to be a watershed year for fin-tech cos, say entrepreneurs

Here's what a few of the top entrepreneurs in India's fintech space expect to achieve in 2018: 

Rajat Gandhi, founder and CEO, Faircent.com

"2017 has been a milestone year for P2P lending platforms in India, as for the first time, the government introduced directives that brought the sector under the regulatory ambit of the RBI and classified the companies as NBFCs.

These new regulations will help P2P lending companies break into the mainstream financial services' market by improving public awareness and making it easier to attract higher investment, boost expansion efforts and remove uncertainty.

We look forward to continue investing in technology-driven processes and newer credit-evaluation mechanisms to aid lenders in making high returns from their investments on the platform while assisting individuals and small businesses in solving their credit problems faster and more effectively."

Varun Rathi, co-founder and COO, Happay

"2017 will be marked as the year of leapfrogging in digital payments and fin-tech.

However one year is too short a time for gauging the adoption and effect of new technology. The single biggest achievement would be the change in mindset of the whole country.

Fin-tech startups have started filing a lot of gaps which were left open by the banks due to their large-scale operations.

The scale of fintech startups crossed a minimum threshold this year for the banks to take notice and finally open their arms to partnerships, which was never heard of just 5 years ago.

The true power of GST will start unleashing by the end of 2018 and will continue to grow in the next 3 years. It has the power to single-handedly change the way business is done in India."

Bhupinder Singh, founder and CEO, InCred

"Government’s initiatives on digitisation and financial inclusion in 2017 have been very effective in driving customer adoption of digital financial transactions, thereby giving a boost to the fintech industry.

Furthermore, the implementation of GST has helped to shift MSMEs that were operating offline to now bring their records online - this has generated a wealth of SME data which will aid tech-enabled lending to this segment.

Fintech players and new-age NBFCs will be able to mine SME and consumer data to strengthen their risk assessment and enhance their reach across the nation.

We have a strong team of over 500 employees spread across 15 cities in India.

Over the next few months, we plan to scale-up operations across all our existing product categories, as well as diversify into new segments, and continue our geographical expansion across India.

We also see incumbent players collaborating with fintech companies in the areas of underwriting, technology, and analytics to bring bespoke product offerings and superior customer experience to the market.

We expect many more strategic alliances, investments and consolidation activity amongst fintech companies and new-age NBFCs in the days to come."

Bala Parthasarathy, CEO and co-founder, MoneyTap

"The year 2017 turned out to be a significant milestone in the financial history of the country, having had a decided impact on the Indian economy.

The rapid adoption of digital payments by the merchants (kirana stores, street vendors to large stores) helped keep the digitization trend alive.

We will continue to see the rise of direct lending as well as marketplaces, crowdfunding platforms etc.

Credit will continue to grow, thanks to the alternative lending boom. Not only will credit instruments be readily available through many options, but they will be affordable to the masses. One such burgeoning space is the line of credit.

It has gained momentum in 2017 with the metros being early adopters, and is expected to expand into tier 2 and tier 3 cities in 2018."

(Compiled by Sabahat Contractor).