‘FinTechs strengthen our ecosystem,’ Axis Bank CEO calls for deeper collaborations at GFF 2024

By Gloria Methri

Banks do not have enough resources, while FinTechs make the ecosystem powerful, said Amitabh Chaudhry, MD & CEO of Axis Bank, welcoming FinTech companies “with open arms.” He was commenting on the collaboration between banks and FinTechs at the Global Fintech Fest 2024 in Mumbai.

At the GFF event, Chaudhry underscored the importance of FinTech collaborations in fortifying the financial ecosystem. “FinTechs make your ecosystem powerful. Both sides can benefit,” he stated, highlighting that banks should embrace FinTechs to boost their digital capabilities and customer engagement.

“They (fintech platforms) are coming up with technologies, products, services, neighborhoods that can make your ecosystem, your customer interactions much more fruitful, powerful. And it will be a loss for us if we don’t partner with them… In many cases, we realized that we don’t have enough resources and time to do that, so fintechs are helping us get there,” Chaudhry said.

Chaudhry also discussed Axis Bank’s vision of offering a personalized banking experience driven by AI and ML experiments and stressed the necessity of significant technological investment to meet evolving customer expectations for instant, secure services.

The Axis Bank chief elaborated on the growing customer demand for instant, secure, and rewarding digital experiences, noting that banks must effectively communicate their technological prowess to stay competitive.

Speaking at a session on ‘Deposit Mobilization in a Digital-First Banking Economy’, Chaudhry said, “You need to communicate to the market that you are tech-savvy and innovative, and your digital prowess is better than other institutions. Banking is a well-thought, calibrated decision, so you must ensure that when a customer is moving towards a decision, your name crops up, and when they do the analysis, you are the one chosen. We need to add a bouquet of services to the customers to cross-sell more. The more a customer is engaged, the more they will transact with you and more deposits they will keep with you.”

Finally, Chaudhry discussed Axis Bank’s ongoing efforts to innovate and enhance customer experiences through about 15 AI and ML-driven experiments. He shared the bank’s ambition to make every customer feel unique with a personalized mobile app experience tailored to individual needs.

He also remarked, “People underestimate that you need a technology stack and that requires a huge amount of investment. Digital banking requires various pieces of technology like APIs to speak with each other for business.”

The Global Fintech Fest 2024, where this discussion took place, is a prominent event organized by key financial institutions and government bodies in India. It showcases the latest trends and developments in the FinTech sector.