In its nascent stage, India’s emerging fintech sector faces a shortage of future-ready tech talent, says one of the findings of a recent survey conducted by YES BANK. This shortage cannot be met with the current academic curriculum which falls short in terms of skills required for the future. YES BANK’s India Fintech Opportunities Review (IFOR) provides insights on the talent gap and other aspects that can help in shaping India into a global fintech hub.
As per the survey, 91% of India’s fintech entrepreneurs belong to a STEM background. Even though India has a rich STEM talent pool, 71% of the survey respondents find lack of deep tech expertise in the current talent pool to be a hurdle in their business growth. Internship matchmaking and talent programs can widen the talent pool for emerging technologies such as Blockchain, AI and so on.
Integrating knowledge of deep tech in the current curriculum will upgrade the skills of students; say 78% of survey respondents. Applied research promotion and centres of excellence can facilitate future skilling and can encourage student research in emerging technologies. Further, the survey revealed that India’s SME debt of Rs. 26.5 trillion offers tremendous opportunity for the fintech firms to create digital payment channels.
Consortiums to support fintech
Following the proven models in Hong Kong and Jerusalem, the survey suggests that creating industry consortiums such as Blockchain consortium will open up opportunities for innovative startups.
Generally, the members of a consortium collaborate to work on use cases that can be co-created and later, commercialised with support through mentorship and funding. Also, the survey respondents feel that developing a fintech registry will increase opportunities for raising PoC funding which continues to be a challenge for startups.
74% burn rate comes in the way of fintech startups trying to build a sustainable business. The survey highlighted the fact that a majority of fintech firms come across challenges due to their lack of knowledge of regulatory frameworks. 87% survey participants suggested the need for a Regulatory Sandbox. This sandbox can help fintech firms to test their products & services in a quarantine environment.
Analysis of India’s fintech landscape - #IFOR2018
An initiative by YES BANK along with Pricewaterhouse Coopers (PwC), Let’s Talk Payments (LTP), Ourcrowd and Burnmark, IFOR was conducted over a period of 90 days from November 2017 to January 2018. 611 participants including C-level leaders from 123 global fintech firms expressed their views through the IFOR survey. The survey report also covers inputs of over 100 members representing the ecosystem including investors, academia, and corporates among others.
The purpose of the survey was to identify the key drivers for creating an enabling fintech ecosystem in India and put forth recommendations to help India make the LEAP to a Fintech Hub.
To download the detailed report, you can visit http://www.yesfintech.com/ifor2018#download-report.
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