5 Ds to define technology – Demographic, Democratic, Dematerialize, Digital & Disruptive: KV Kamath, Chairman, NaBFID

On Dec 23, 2021

NEW DELHI, 22 December 2021: Mr KV Kamath, Chairman, National Bank for Financing Infrastructure and Development (NaBFID) today asserted that resilience and rebound is on us within the overall economy and in the banking sector. He added that since March 2020 we now have a digital mindset and at all levels coupled with the advancement in technology. “Today, technology is being characterized by 5 Ds: Demographic, Democratic, Dematerialize, Digital and Disruptive,” he added.

Addressing the virtual ‘FIBAC 2021’ on the theme ‘Resilience & Rebound – Preparing for the journey towards a $5 trillion Economy’, organized by FICCI, jointly with IBA, Mr Kamath said that in last 1.5 years we saw economic resilience along with the banking resilience. “With the reset in the mindset of the customers, the bank customers are receptive to change. The customer has acquired the quality of agility and nimbleness. Banks have to keep pace to this,” he highlighted.

He further emphasized on the challenge for the banks to survive the disruptions. “Banks can put in far more efficient systems at a fraction of the cost. There are no serious challenges in migrating and we need to migrate at double the pace,” added Mr Kamath.

Digital supercycle, he said is something that the Prime Minister has also highlighted while laying the vision for next 25 years. “The pace at which digital supercycle is happening in India it will grow at much faster pace than one can imagine. Digital supercycle is going to be 20-25 percent of our economy over next 3 years and this is in addition to the growth of India around 8-9 percent. Including this, we can see the growth over 12 percent in India. This is the financial sector we need to create to cater to this kind of growth,” noted Mr Kamath.

Talking on the Indian banking sector, he stressed that we need to create an ecosystem where the banking sector can grow between 15-20 percent in next few years. “Growth is going to be robust, and challenges are going to be enormous,” he noted.

Speaking on the NaBFID, Mr Kamath said that the target set to us by the government in the last budget was 4 lakh crore in next 3-4 years. “We can deliver on that the government expects us to do and we should be up in business by April 2022,” he added.

Mr Sanjiv Mehta, President, FICCI said that “What the country needs is the virtuous cycle of growth and for that we need to fire up on all cylinders of growth engine – consumption, investment, and exports. Both availability and access to the capital are critical.” He emphasized on the need to support MSMEs in their access to finance and said “we need to have a system which collects disparate data to assess the creditworthiness of MSMEs. This will lead to better underwriting and lending models”.

Mr AK Goel, Chairman, IBA said that with several policy measures and recovery efforts, today Banks have much cleaner balance sheets, are adequately capitalized and in a position to provide resources to all productive and needy sectors. “In bank credit growth, we have seen an uptick in retail segment and a gradual increase in corporate credit over last two months,” added Mr Goel.

Mr Amitabh Chaudhry, Chairman, FICCI Banking Committee said that the government’s timely and decisive measures in all spheres have not just ensured the safety and well-being of citizens but also enabled economic activity to resume. The 8.4% growth in real GDP during the second quarter of this fiscal suggests that the Indian economy has recovered rather well from the debilitating impact of the second wave of the pandemic.

Mr Sunil Mehta, Chief Executive, IBA said that it is time for the digitization of the lending space including the MSME sector which will provide the ease of doing business as well. “This is the best time for collaboration in the banking sector to realign itself to mitigate the future challenges”.

FIBAC 2021 report was also released during the event and Mr Saurabh Tripathi, Managing Director & Senior Partner, BCG highlighted the key findings of the report.