Dialog Axiata has offered the Olive Branch to the banking sector to join with them as they revolutionize the financial technology space of the country. Dialog said that their endeavor would be a partnership with existing businesses. Dialog has hired former Head Chief Product and Innovation Officer of Jio Dr. Rainer Deutschmann. The company has already developed and deployed multiple fintech applications. Deutschmann was speaking at a Dialog organized future of technology event at the Kingsbury hotel.
Deutschmann said, “Get rid of legacy as quickly as possible and move into the future. I am very convinced that this is going to be a partnership. I forecast there will be open banking with APIs. Look at Open Banking/Payment Services Directive 2.”
Deutschmann said, “I don’t think borrowers understand they are being overcharged. I don’t think they understand the difference between weekly, monthly, and yearly rates.” Deutschmann was of the view that based on the behavior on subscription charges would be a strong predictor in a lending scenario.
Deutschmann felt that telco bill payment data would be an integral part of future credit scoring metrics. Deutschmann felt that Dialog would graduate smaller informal lenders to the banking sector over time. Deutschmann said that Dialog was conscientious of the data-sharing laws that are to be enacted shortly and this would be an interesting issue for the sector.
He said, “In partnership let us build banking. This is not one person taking the bread from someone else’s bread.” “Dialog has to be concerned on the cost to serve. We are working on a thin margin. We are concerned about customer experience because it is easy to switch,” he added. Chief Information Officer, Seylan Bank Harsha Wanigatunga speaking in a personal capacity said, “(Currently) Mom and pop shops can’t afford a payment gateway. However, there shouldn’t be a monopoly situation.” Digital and Fintech Leader Ernst and Young Sachin Seth said of banks in the West, “Instead of CASA they are moving to fee-based income.” Seth said that Starbucks currently had more float than some banks in the US and as such was better placed to provide financial services. Seth cited the importance of telecommunications in data collection.
Seth said that India’s more advanced LankaClear JustPay equivalent Unified Payments Interface had more than a billion transactions a month and had two-factor authentication. He said that over a short period of time digital payments had grown over 10 times due to enabling regulation.
Seth said Banks are becoming a conduit to provide other services and that it was common in India for banks to do tasks ranging from facilitating mobile card reloads to the booking of holidays. Seth said, “Banks are creating ecosystems and becoming glue.”
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