How will be the future of NBFCs and FinTechs in India?

The future of NBFCs is witnessing good growth in consumer lending. The liquidity position has improved and is gradually coming back to normal. In the future also, NBFCs will play a crucial role in economic development and in financial inclusion. Amid the Covid-19 pandemic in the country, fintechs have been at the forefront of India’s financial inclusion efforts. The usage of digital and contactless payments surged, as people opted for safer ways to transact financially.

The FinTech sector is now becoming India’s fastest emerging sector and this sector is expected to touch over $150 billion by 2023. The fact is Fintechs are closely working with NBFCs and many of them have obtained the NBFC license. The key role of fintechs in financial inclusion is by making changes in the traditional business model of banks and financial institutions; it can deliver financial products and services to the financially excluded population in a more accountable and efficient manner in the least possible time. In a nation where banking was considered a privilege, fintech changed the lives of the common man.

Where once to create trust in banks you had to take so much effort, now the world’s 40 per cent digital transaction is happening there. Digital payments touched a record high in 2020 with all channels from the Unified Payments Interface to the Aadhar-enabled Payment System (AePS) registering stellar growth. In 2022, 82% of financial companies state they are planning to increase their fintech partnerships, showing an overwhelming level of confidence in technology as the future of finance.

According to a recent report by payment solutions provider ACI Worldwide, India made 48.6 billion real-time payments through 2021, ahead of China at No. 2. The rise was cited due to an increase in Unified Payments Interface and quick response code-based merchant payments, along with a boost in cashless payments. We have seen an exponential growth in digital lending which is poised to tremendous adoption in digital payments. Given its impressive growth trajectory, the sector even holds enough potential to drive recovery for the entire country.

The recent notice from the Enforcement Directorate (ED) Hyderabad raises questions on what will be the future of the Fintech companies in India. The report says, nearly 100 fintech firms with payment gateways are going to block their bank accounts. The ED is reportedly summoning certain fintech firms based on their connections with Chinese investors. The ED took the action after reports surfaced that Chinese nationals along with indigenous fintech companies were carrying out illicit transactions and issuing loans to Indian natives at a steep rate during the pandemic.

The fact is many Chinese firms were registering their businesses in other countries such as the US and Cayman Islands in order to hide their actual identity from the Indian government. By doing so, they were able to freely invest in the Indian companies. As per the new guidelines, if a foreign national, from one of the neighbouring countries, wants to join the board of Indian companies then he/she will have to go through security clearance and also get a consent from the Ministry of Home Affairs (MoHA).

In 2020, the Centre amended the FDI policy to control investments coming from neighbouring countries particularly China. Following these many Chinese investors have fully or partially exited Indian businesses. ByteDance exiting VerSe Innovation, Alibaba and Ant Group exiting Paytm E-commerce, and Xiaomi, Shunwei Capital and Kunlun exiting KreditBee are some of the recent exits. Let’s wait and watch for the report of the Enforcement Directorate.