Bengaluru witnesses maiden edition of LendTechX 2024

B2B Market Media (B2B) | The Founder Media (TFM) organised the maiden edition of LendTechX 2024 in Bengaluru on 15^th March. The conclave, with the theme, “unleashing the future of digital lending and payments,” focussed on digital lending, payments and the latest trends and technologies in the sector. The pioneers, innovators and thought leaders from the LendTech sector explored the landscape of financial services during the conference.

The event began with the lamp-lighting ceremony and the launch of The Founder Media’s magazine in the presence of key dignitaries: Mahesh Thakkar, Director General, Finance Industry Development Council (FIDC); Jiji Mammen, CEO and Executive Director, Sa-Dhan; and Jatinder Handoo, CEO, Digital Lenders Association of India (DLAI), who later addressed the audience on the theme of the conference.

The magazine, with a focus on tech startups, has brought together the stories of some of the founders of the organisations that are bringing revolution in various industries ranging from finance, education, travel and healthcare, among many more.

Speaking about the magazine, Akanki Sharma, Founding Editor, The Founder Media, said, “The Founder is a testament to the power of dreams and the resilience of those who dare to chase them. It’s a celebration of the countless late nights, early mornings and moments of uncertainty that ultimately lead to triumph.”

Following the launch, the key dignitaries addressed the audience on the theme of the conference and gave their insights on the financial landscape.

Thereafter, the following panel discussions took place.

• The digital transformation landscape in finance: This saw insights into the current state of digital lending and payments, along with emerging trends, challenges and opportunities in the financial technology landscape.
• The role of blockchain in secure and transparent lending and digital transactions: The experts deep dived into the applications of blockchain in digital lending and payments and discussed on real-world use cases and the future of blockchain in financial transactions.
• Guarding the digital vault: Cybersecurity strategies for lending platforms: In this session, the leaders explored the current cybersecurity challenges and threat landscape specific to digital lending platforms, while identifying common vulnerabilities and emerging risks.
• Engage, empower, excel: Reinventing customer engagement in digital lending: The panellists, in this session, discussed strategies to enhance customer engagement in the digital lending space. It involved personalisation, user experience and leveraging data for customer-centric lending.
• Future tech trends in finance: AI, IoT and beyond: The experts, in this session, explored the upcoming technological trends reshaping the future of finance, keeping in mind the technological trajectory of the financial industry.
• The future blend: Co-lending innovations transforming digital loans: This discussion saw the impact of co-lending on financial inclusion and borrower experience, and insights into how co-lending models can address gaps in traditional lending.

The day also saw the Guest of Honour Satyaki Rastogi, Chief General Manager (CGM), Small Industries Development Banks of India (SIDBI), distributing the LendTech X-Factor Awards 2024.

Addressing the audience, he said, “SIDBI has developed a straight-through processing lending platform six-to-seven months ago; we lend upto Rs 3 crore on that platform today with no manual intervention. In these six months, I have developed a portfolio of more than Rs 600 crore and most of the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) have got lower disbursal in a day’s time for loans up to Rs 3 crore. We have informal micro enterprises and I think that is where we need the biggest intervention.”

He also informed the gathering about the various other initiatives taken by SIDBI, and how it is using technology to transform the various segments in the banks and Non-Banking Financial Companies (NBFCs).

The winners of the LendTech X-Factor Awards are as follows: