Collaborations will steer BFSI sector in the new age
There is an emerging breed of BFSI startups that attack a part of the value chain, offers a symbiotic solution, and partners with the behemoths.
Stable and enduring partnerships will be vital for the banking, financial services, and insurance (BFSI) industries in the post-COVID world, according to a panel at the BFSI Leadership Summit 2021, hosted by YourStory and EnterpriseStory on July 16.
Watch this video from the BFSI Leadership Summit 2021 here.
“Every organisation realised that the fintech and insure-tech ecosystem started upending a lot of traditional business models," Vivek Ramji Iyer, Partner-Risk Advisory, and National Leader of Financial Services, Grant Thornton Bharat, told Shivani Muthana, Senior Anchor, YourStory Media, during a panel discussion on ‘BFSI priorities in a post-COVID world’.
"The startups enabled larger organisations to reach out to customers during the pandemic," Iyer explained. "They were able to achieve scale that would have been a big challenge with traditional methods and business models. As a result, traditional businesses have started to experiment with their own distribution channels.”
KV Dipu, Head-Operations & Customer Service, Bajaj Allianz General Insurance, classified startups in two categories. "The first type enters the market with a new business model to challenge established organisations, while the second attacks a part of the value chain, then offers a symbiotic solution, and partners with the behemoths," he said.
He cited the example of a blockchain-driven claims settlement solution for international travel by Bajaj Allianz General Life Insurance which was done in collaboration with a startup. “Across the value chain, we have leveraged partnerships and will continue to leverage them,” Dipu said.
The panel agreed this has been crucial for banking and insurance companies, which faced a double whammy since March 2020 of weathering the pandemic, and building new capabilities for the new reality.
As a digital native startup, Plum Benefits CEO Abhishek Poddar said technology matters while working with partners and clients. “How to use bots, how to use an automated process experience, or create an automated teams experience are the starting points," Poddar said, referring to partnerships.
However, the business model has to be a win-win for both sides, which is more important that a technology solution by itself, Poddar added.
Iyer said that while traditional BFSI organisations are evolving for the new realities, they are well placed to be incubators to give space for fintech and insure-tech startups, and nurture them.
Watch all videos of the BFSI Leadership Summit 2021 here.
Edited by Kunal Talgeri