B2B Market Media | The Founder Media held BankTechX 2024 on 20th September in Mumbai. With the theme “Navigating the Future of Banking: Innovation, Security and Customer-Centricity,” the event brought together banking industry leaders and experts to discuss the future of Indian banking. Comprising more than 150 participants, the event saw engaging discussions and a collective vision for improved and more tech-enabled banking systems.
BankTechX2024 was graced by the Guest of Honour Sumnesh Joshi, Deputy Director General (DDG) – Joint Secretary Level, Ministry of Communications, Government of India, who delivered an inaugural address. Besides, the Programme Chair for the event was Butchi Babu Burra, CISA, IT Advisory Board Member, Punjab and Sind Bank, who delivered a keynote address at the event. There was also another keynote address by Balaji Rajagopalan, Chief Technology Officer (CTO), State Bank of India (SBI). The three key dignitaries began the auspicious day with the lightning of a lamp, along with Anupam Gupta and Ashish Srivastava, Co-Founders and Directors, B2B Market Media | The Founder Media.
Following the lamp lighting, Ashish Srivastava, Co-Founder and Director, B2B Market Media | The Founder Media, addressed the gathering to welcome them to BankTechX 2024.
He said, “Banking, as we know it, is evolving at an unprecedented pace, powered by disruptive technologies like Artificial Intelligence (AI), blockchain, digital currencies and open banking systems. This rapid digital shift presents not only challenges, but tremendous opportunities for financial institutions, FinTech companies and consumers alike. BankTechX is a platform for exchanging ideas, fostering collaboration and envisioning the future of financial services.”
The attendees then witnessed the inaugural address by the Guest of Honour Sumnesh Joshi, DDG – Joint Secretary Level, Government of India, on “The Future of Banking: A Brave New World.”
In his address, Joshi said, “India is moving ahead to become the third-largest economy, and, in this, the role of the digital economy is really important. In the last decade, a lot has changed. We have a robust ecosystem in place – the 4G connectivity across India. These days, we are using Artificial Intelligence (AI) / Machine Learning (ML) tools, data analytics – all these have started to predict many things in the banking sector. With the data, we are planning products in the best fashion. It is the need of the hour, and products today are being designed depending on the geography and the type of customer.”
After Joshi’s address, Butchi Babu Burra, CISA, IT Advisory Board Member, Punjab and Sind Bank, delivered a keynote address on ‘security in banks’.
He said, “When it comes to security, we have built fortress. If you go to any bank, there are many types of security, you have your own firewall, you have built everything, still why things are happening? That’s because I was banking only in my branch. Now, I want to bank everywhere. Definitely, the threats are more. I suggest you have differently, all these things, but keep monitoring your transactions. In the last one month, lot of things have been happening and people are trying to push fraudulent transactions to your banks which is worrisome.”
He suggested cloud as the only alternate to protect customers’ data.
“Whether innovation is relevant or not, must be deliberated upon before implementing it. Security first is the mantra, and one should not be in a hurry to implement things,” he added.
Proceeding ahead, another keynote address was delivered by Balaji Rajagopalan, CTO, SBI.
In his address, he mentioned, “India has been the major hub for investment for all the global IT partners. We made all the global public cloud investments India and Maharashtra is the first in the country among the public cloud investments; 65 per cent of the datacentre for the country comes form Maharashtra.”
Fundamentally, from a bank’s perspective, he stressed that banks need to make sure that their operation cost is reduced, cybersecurity is being taken care of, data privacy is taken care of, and infrastructure is taken care of.
Post Rajagopalan’s address, the event witnessed the unveiling of The Banker magazine’s cover in the presence of the key dignitaries mentioned above, along with the Co-Founders and Directors of B2B Market Media | The Founder Media. Akanki Sharma, Founding Editor, The Banker, was also a part of the unveiling.
Shedding light on the magazine, Anupam Gupta, Co-Founder and Director, B2B Market media | The Founder Media, said, “The Banker magazine brings together the voices of MDs, CIOs, CTOs, CISOs, CROs and other key decision-makers across various banks in India. This edition is about connecting with like-minded professionals and leading vital conversations that influence the future of banking. As we look to the future, The Banker aims to be the bridge between today’s challenges and tomorrow’s possibilities, shaping the course of banking through collaboration and foresight.”
The day then saw the first panel discussion titled “Innovation Imperative: Embracing Emerging Technologies” wherein the panellists explored how banks can leverage cutting-edge technologies like AI, blockchain and open banking to create new products, enhance customer experiences and drive operational efficiency. The panel included Yogesh Valunjkar, Director, Dombivli Nagari Sahakari Bank; Hitesh Sachdev, Head – Innovations, ICICI Bank; Daljit Dogra, Managing Director (MD) and Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Zoroastrian Cooperative Bank; Prasanna Lohar, Adviser, Union Bank of India; and Dr N Rajendran, Chief Digital Officer (CDO), Multi Commodity Exchange of India.
The panel discussion was followed by two presentations. The first was on “Transforming Financial Services with Intelligent Observability” by Aparajit Gupta, Director – Sales, BFSI and Large Enterprises, Rakuten SixthSense and the other was on “Cyber Insurance” by Archit Vyas, Head – Partnerships, and Shivang Wanchoo, Vice President – Liability Insurance (Sales), Mitigata.
After the presentations, there was another panel discussion on “Fortressing the Future: The Evolving Landscape of Cybersecurity.” In this session, the panellists delved into the rising cybersecurity threats and explored strategies for protecting customer data and financial systems in the digital age. The panel included Rahul Patil, Associate Partner, Grant Thornton; Bhaskar Rao, Chief Information Security Officer (CISO), Bharat Bank; Ganesh Saini, Cyber Security Consultant, NABARD; and Yogesh Valunjkar, Director, Dombivli Nagari Sahakari Bank.
Another panel discussion titled “Cloud First: Leveraging the Power of Cloud Computing” saw the panellists brainstorming on how cloud computing offers numerous benefits for banks, from increased efficiency and scalability to cost savings, and different cloud deployment models, security considerations and the ways through which banks can leverage the cloud to enhance their operations. The panel included Ravikiran Mankikar, CMD, RKM Consultants; Onil Nunes, CIO, Bassein Catholic Cooperative Bank; Dhrumil Dalal, Head – IT, Bharat Banking, Axis Bank; Vishram Dixit, CEO, NAMCO Bank, Nashik; and Mahesh Dharmadhikari, Chief Information Security Officer (CISO), Kalyan Janata Sahakari Bank.
The final panel discussion of the day was titled “Customer Centricity: The Heart of Banking” in which the panellists discussed strategies for understanding evolving customer needs and expectations in the digital age and explored how banks can leverage data analytics, personalisation and omni-channel experiences to build deeper customer relationships.
Following this, one more keynote address of the day was delivered by Deepak Sharma, Board Member (Independent Director), Suryoday Small Finance Bank.
In the address, he said, “Regulators have made sure that you cannot fly under the radar for too long and do some crazy things and get away in the name of FinTech. I don’t see the same advantage of the FinTech as a word had a couple of years ago versus what it has today; and, if you put that level-playing field to a larger extent like payment companies had to go through a payment aggregator licence, account aggregator got a licence; if you are in lending, a lot of things on co-lending, co-branded cards, everything got through a regulatory research. Regulators are saying that do come in financial service but come in a regulated manner, so that the trust of consumer and the whole financial system does not get eroded.”
The day ended with the felicitation of BankTech X-Factor awards to celebrate excellence in banking technology. The awards were given by Sharma, to those, who highlighted the diverse spectrum of innovations driving positive change within the banking ecosystem.
The award winners are as follows:
| SECTION | CATEGORY | WINNER |
| COOPERATIVE BANK | COOPERATIVE BANK OF THE YEAR | THE GAYATRI COOPERATIVE URBAN BANK LIMITED |
| COOPERATIVE BANK | BEST CUSTOMER-CENTRIC IT IMPLEMENTATION OF THE YEAR | ABHINANDAN URBAN CO-OPERATIVE BANK LIMITED |
| COOPERATIVE BANK | COOPERATIVE BANK OF THE YEAR | THE MALPUR NAGARIK SAHAKARI BANK LIMITED |
| COOPERATIVE BANK | COOPERATIVE BANK OF THE YEAR | SAIBABA NAGARI SAHAKARI BANK MARYADIT SAILU |
| COOPERATIVE BANK | COOPERATIVE BANK OF THE YEAR | MAHATMA FULE URBAN COOPERATIVE BANK LIMITED |
| COOPERATIVE BANK | BEST API INTEGRATION PROJECT | THE NASIK MERCHANTS CO OP BANK LIMITED, NASHIK |
| COOPERATIVE BANK | URBAN COOPERATIVE BANK OF THE YEAR | SHIVAJI NAGARI SAHAKARI BANK LIMITED |
| COOPERATIVE BANK | URBAN COOPERATIVE BANK OF THE YEAR | JANATA COOPERATIVE BANK LIMITED, MALEGAON |
| COOPERATIVE BANK | LEVERAGING DATA FOR GROWTH | THE ZOROASTRIAN CO-OPERATIVE BANK LIMITED |
| INDIVIDUAL | CEO OF THE YEAR | SRINIVAS VANAMALA, CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER, THE GAYATRI COOPERATIVE URBAN BANK LIMITED |
| INDIVIDUAL | YOUNG LEADER OF THE YEAR | SWAPNIL SALUNKHE, ASST MANAGER, THE KALYAN JANATA SAHAKARI BANK LIMITED |
| INDIVIDUAL | CIO OF THE YEAR | ONIL NUNES, CIO, BASSEIN CATHOLIC CO-OP BANK LIMITED |
| INDIVIDUAL | THE TRAILBLAZER OF THE YEAR | SANDEEP SETH, CEO, BASSEIN CATHOLIC CO-OP BANK LIMITED |
| INDIVIDUAL | CIO OF THE YEAR | OMPRAKASH SETH, CIO, IDBI BANK |
| INDIVIDUAL | OUT OF THE BOX THINKER OF THE YEAR | MAHENDRA BINDRA, VICE PRESIDENT AND HEAD – CUSTOMER EXCELLENCE, UNITY SMALL FINANCE BANK |
| INDIVIDUAL | THE DOER OF THE YEAR | RAHUL DESHMUKH, ASSISTANT GENERAL MANAGER – IT, VASAI JANATA SAHAKARI BANK LIMITED |
| INDIVIDUAL | AI AND MACHINE LEARNING PIONEER OF THE YEAR | ADITYA MISHRA, CHIEF DATA AND ANALYTICS OFFICER, SBM BANK (INDIA) LIMITED |
| INDIVIDUAL | INNOVATIVE LEADER OF THE YEAR | DALJIT DOGRA, MANAGING DIRECTOR & CEO, THE ZOROASTRIAN CO-OPERATIVE BANK LIMITED |
| INDIVIDUAL | BANKING TECHNOLOGY LEADER OF THE YEAR | MANOJ BATRA, HEAD PRODUCT AND PROCESS, GOVERNMENT BUSINESS GROUP, BANDHAN BANK |
| INDIVIDUAL | HALL OF THE FAME AWARD | CYRIL MOHAPATRA, SVP AND HEAD DIGITAL SDG, INDUSIND BANK LIMITED |
| INDIVIDUAL | BEST IT LEADER OF THE YEAR | PRAMOD PARDESHI, IT MANAGER, NASHIK JILLHA MAHILA VIKAS SAHAKARI BANK LIMITED |
| INDIVIDUAL | CEO OF THE YEAR | NARENDRA GORHE, CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER, NASHIK JILLHA MAHILA VIKAS SAHAKARI BANK LIMITED |
| INDIVIDUAL | BANKING TECHNOLOGY LEADER OF THE YEAR | VISHAL BHATIA, CHIEF DIGITAL OFFICER, CANARA BANK |
| INDIVIDUAL | BEST CHAIRMAN OF THE YEAR | ANSARI LUQMAN AHMED MOHD. SULEMAN, CHAIRMAN, JANATA COOPERATIVE BANK LIMITED, MALEGAON |
| INDIVIDUAL | YOUNG LEADER OF THE YEAR | ANIKET THACKER, DEPUTY VICE PRESIDENT – FINTECH PARTNERSHIPS AND EMBEDDED FINANCE, KOTAK MAHINDRA BANK |
| INSURTECH | BEST INSURTECH OF THE YEAR | MITIGATA: SMART CYBER INSURANCE |
| PAYMENTS BANK | PAYMENTS BANK OF THE YEAR | FINO PAYMENTS BANK |
| PRIVATE SECTOR BANK | MOST INNOVATIVE DIGITAL LENDING PLATFORM | CITY UNION BANK |
| PUBLIC SECTOR BANK | DIVERSE BANKING SERVICES AND USE OF LEADING TECHNOLOGY | CANARA BANK |
| SMALL FINANCE BANK | CYBERSECURITY EXCELLENCE | UJJIVAN SMALL FINANCE BANK |
| TECH AND FINTECH | MOST INNOVATIVE BLOCKCHAIN USE CASE IN BANKING | SIMPLYFI SOFTECH INDIA PRIVATE LIMITED |
