How Perfios hopes to weather the industry-wide BFSI slowdown
Banking tech leader Perfios navigates industry slowdown, adapting through innovation while maintaining steady growth despite market headwinds.
Banking technology provider Perfios is facing pressure amid a slowdown in the financial services industry as uncertainty in unsecured lending market volatility troubles the sector.
"Every industry in India is going through challenges," said Sabyasachi Goswami, CEO of Perfios. "Does the broader financial and economic slowdown have an impact? Absolutely—since we are deeply embedded in this ecosystem."
For companies like Perfios, which serve a vast majority of financial institutions, market-wide distress has a direct impact on performance. "I'm serving 90% of the market," Goswami stated, indicating how extensively the company's fortunes are tied to overall financial sector health.
The fintech and banking landscape is grappling with fluctuating interest rates, geopolitical instability, and a more cautious lending environment. While Perfios remains a dominant player in financial technology, turbulence in unsecured credit markets has sent shockwaves through the sector.
This slowdown appears to be affecting Perfios' performance, with Goswami admitting that while they "still see steady growth," the company would have "done flourishingly well" if market conditions were more favorable.
As regulatory scrutiny tightens and risk appetite among lenders moderates, companies like Perfios are adapting to a new normal where growth may be more measured.
"If the market is volatile, you will have to align to it," he noted, suggesting that Perfios has had to adjust its expectations and strategies.
Looking ahead, Perfios remains cautiously optimistic. "The future economic prospects are right, and hence we keep investing in a lot of product development and R&D," Goswami stated.
Goswami said the company is using the current market volatility as an opportunity to innovate, drawing parallels to their strategy during the pandemic when they focused on product development while others worried about survival.
Perfios has been focusing on AI-driven risk assessment, automation in fraud detection, and expanding its suite of financial analytics tools. The company sees a long-term opportunity to strengthen its technological capabilities to serve banks and NBFCs more effectively.
With India's financial sector expected to stabilise in the coming quarters, Goswami is confident that these investments will position Perfios for accelerated growth once the headwinds subside.
Despite market uncertainties, Perfios remains deeply committed to BFSI, a sector that has fueled its success and growth. "The space that has helped us grow, the place that has trusted us so much with their responsibilities... we are pretty much accountable on that," Goswami noted.
While Perfios is open to exploring adjacent sectors, Goswami indicated that healthcare would be the natural next step. "There is definitely healthcare... which seems to be needing a lot of innovation, because ultimately it touches a common man's life," he said.