Rajesh Dhuddu, Global Head – Emerging Technology, Tech Mahindra at Fintech Festival India 2023

by Priya Jadhav 

Mumbai, 24^th May, 2023: The recently concluded FinTech Festival India (FFI) 2023 witnessed several industry experts, diverse and enthusiastic entrepreneurs, industry leaders, and policymakers engaged in lively discussions, sharing insights on the future of Banking and Finance. During a panel “Predicting the future of BFSI the Metaverse” Rajesh Dhuddu, Global Head – Emerging technology, Tech Mahindra reckoned that Metaverse based Banking is gaining momentum both in India and outside.  

The panel was attended by Prasanna Lohar, President, India Blockchain Forum, Shafique R Ibrahim Founder at Fintership, Partner - Global Advisor for Fintech, Payment Walvat, and Pankaj Diwan, Co-Founder, India Blockchain Forum where they deliberated on building an accessible and inclusive Metaverse to Overcome the Digital Divide.

Rajesh Dhuddu opined that “If you see at banks, both in India as well as internationally, they say bank anywhere, banks on demand. So those are the things that are evolving over a period of time. And as part of that evolution, a new channel of banking is evolving, which is the metaverse based banking, if you could call it from a perspective of this channel, becomes relevant because it's convenient for millennials, it's convenient for Gen z, and it's also futuristic today.

If you look at the young people who will come into the banking stream at a later point of time, where are they found? They are not found in the physical ground. They are found on digital channels. So, if you are finding them on the digital channels, it's quite logical that you take banking to those digital channels and innovate it completely. Web banking is a digital channel. Video banking is a digital channel. But is it optimal is the question. So that's where the banks have a unique opportunity to innovate and make banking accessible. That's why we see the metaverse is beginning to expand.

Featuring over 150 speakers and expecting more than 10,000 attendees, FFI delved into some of the most trending topics shaping the FinTech industry, including Web 3.0, Digital Identity, future of BFSI in the Metaverse, Neobanks, Blockchain, Cybersecurity, Cloud Security, AI revolutionizing BFSI, Insurtech and more".

The event also had Impact Stage and Open Stage which ran their own parallel conference agendas with fruitful and impactful deliberations on diverse areas of finance. These included curated specialised masterclasses by India Blockchain Forum and Indian School of Business that are uniquely designed to provide a comprehensive understanding of the FinTech sector, enabling industry professionals to delve deeper into its complexities and opportunities.

FFI 2023 onboarded Government of Telangana as State Partner, with prominent FinTech experts and industry stalwarts including Indian Banks Association, ICICI Bank, DBS Bank India, IDBI Bank, YES Bank, Airtel Payments Bank, MUFG, Federal Bank, In-Solutions Global, WebEngage, American Express, Fintech Association for Consumer Empowerment (FACE), Bureau.id, BharatPe, Prove, Cover Genius, Zerodha, Kinara Capital, Simpl and Barclays and many more participated at the event.

FFI also hosted business delegations from at least 10 countries along with influential global innovators, leaders and governance stakeholders providing their unique perspectives on the growth and future of fintech, including banking, lending, payments, regtech, insurtech, and other key areas.