Pandemic aside, 2020 and 2021 have been marred by technology outages, both on a national and global scale. Even the most popular social media channels of our time – known for pioneering technology innovations – faced severe unprecedented downtime, leading to panic and a slew of meme fests. Comparatively, the outages reported by Indian companies seem less daunting. But the fact that they involved top organizations, like HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, and SBI, strikes a graver note as it throws into perspective some of the pitfalls of following a templatized approach to upgrading technology.

2021 has been a year of surprising resilience and innovation in fintech. Cornered by pandemic-induced lockdowns and confronted with lagging economic prospects, some of India’s leading banks heightened their focus on across-the-board digitalization. All functions – from the customer frontline to internal processes, like credit monitoring and audits – were exposed to the benefits of technology. The year’s events also triggered the entry of smaller, nimbler fintech players, with unconventional models that enabled credit growth in new segments.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has decided to put in place a prompt corrective action (PCA) framework for troubled non-banking finance companies to restore their financial health. Until now, the RBI had imposed PCA only on banks.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has introduced the prompt corrective action (PCA) framework for non-banking financial companies (NBFCs).

The impact of the Covid pandemic and uncertainty of a possible third wave is yet to be ascertained and quantified for effective risk management across businesses. Beyond doubt, the stakes have gotten higher due to a lack of visibility into risks and difficulty in measuring the risk-adjusted performance. For almost 18 months, public and private sector organizations have faced an unforeseen and unfamiliar risk landscape with no precedence to look at. Every decision, however small, has the potential for dire repercussions that extend beyond high cost and loss of business. Enterprises, more than ever, have been challenged with managing cascading events and an entirely new risk profile

The ETILC BFSI subcommittee assembled recently to analyze the trends and developments in the finance industry. In association with knowledge partner, Deloitte India, the members partook in an insightful virtual roundtable that touched upon the issue of financial stability in India post covid.

India is one of the fastest growing economies in the world, with a large pool of active credit seekers. The number of credit cards issued in India has been steadily increasing over the last few years. As of September 2021, this number was nearly 65 million credit cards. This increasing interest in fast and easy credit has encouraged credit card providers to introduce new and interesting services and offers.

What is the nature of risks faced by organizations and financial institutions with regards to aspects like Governance, compliance, and overall operations?

The Global Governance, Risk and Compliance (GRC) landscape is rapidly changing.

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The ETILC Technology subcommittee assembled on 28th September 2021 to look into the ongoing developments related to AI, ML & NLP in the Indian economic landscape.