The banking industry is in the midst of a massive digital transformation. Technology has enabled unprecedented innovations in how people access and manage their finances. Digital banking has emerged as an area of rapid change and development. The future of digital banking promises further disruption through emerging technologies, new business models, and evolving customer expectations.
As the pace of change accelerates, the banking sector needs to anticipate coming trends to remain competitive and relevant. Mobile banking now dominates as more people rely on smartphones to manage their money on the go. Open banking is enabling new services through secure data sharing. Chatbots and voice assistants are streamlining more customer interactions.
Artificial intelligence and machine learning are enhancing security, personalization, and automation. Fintech startups continue to challenge the status quo. The future of digital banking will be defined by how traditional banks choose to respond and adapt to these disruptive forces reshaping the industry. The winners will be those that can leverage new technologies and partnerships to deliver innovative customer experiences.
As the COO at Techurate Systems, how have you ensured successful market penetration in India across various sectors, ranging from small-sized banks to larger institutions?
Techurate as an Enterprise specialising in Digital banking Solutions has traditionally been a Middle East & Africa-centric Operation. Late in 2021, we partnered with Modus Systems, a partner to Finacle for CBS Implementation in going live with our first Cooperative Bank in Nagpur ( Nagpur Nagrik Sahakari Bank). This gave us an insight into the vast opportunity in the cooperative banking segment in India. The need for these banks to go digital was very high and needed a service provider to work with them in a consultative mode on a sustainable price point model.
The Expansion of Techurate in India hinges on riding along with Value Partners who are deeply entrenched in this segment. These are corporates engaged in CBS and Managed Network services to these banks. Together we present the most credible option to these customers for a winning Digital Transformation programme.
Could you elaborate on the specific strategies and initiatives that Techurate Systems has employed to effectively cater to the diverse needs of small-sized banks and larger financial institutions?
For the Smaller Banks and Financial Institutions, our Product strategy is twofold.
We have curated a low-cost version of our flagship product Tigiverse called Tigiverse Lite . This is disruptive on both price and deployment. A subscription-based service rolled in as a Bank – in – a – Box. Zero Capital expenditure to the bank where in they get a fully RBI compliant Mobile & Internet Banking platform with some degree of customization. It’s pertinent to note that we are probably the fewest of Enterprises that have a fully time-tested, RBI-compliant Core and a digital banking stack on the Tap to such customers. It’s the product diversity at an affordable price which wins the customer for us.
The goto market is the fastest since there is no local data centre / Infrastructure requirement for the bank to procure. Services on the go. To a greenfield bank, we offer the complete core and digital set-up in a few weeks of deployment time which makes the tipping difference.
How has Techurate Systems adapted its products and solutions to meet the unique requirements of different sectors within the Indian market? Can you provide some examples of successful implementations?
Techurate’s Products and Services are designed to offer price and scalability to the cooperative banks in India. It is custom-built for a green field bank or a bank wanting to upgrade, a complete product suite of Core + Digital that covers the spread of CBS along with Mobile and Internet banking.
Add on digital modules designed for India like Door step banking, social media banking, Online to Offline services, and Financial Inclusion modules like Agency Banking, and AEPS.
For specific communities like Farmers, we have a time-proven, e-commerce platform called the Virtual Farmers market which we have successfully operated in underbanked countries in Africa.
In short, as a product strategy we target the bigger cooperative banks with our Flagship Tigiverse platform which presents a high score on the price–value equation to these customers. For the Tier 2, 3 and Rural banks, we offer the Tigiverse Lite, the low-cost version of Core + Digital solutions on a SaaS pricing. This offers the best services at No Capex load to the Target Market.
What challenges did Techurate Systems encounter while expanding its services to larger banks, and how did you overcome them to establish a strong presence in the sector?
Techurate is fortunate to have started its Digital Banking journey in 2015 when most Medium and Large banks were adopting Digital around the same time. It’s our inherent belief that the cycle of Digital began with the first stages of Digitization, moving on to the Digital Transformation phase and culminating in the Digital Reinvention phase which will hit us in a few years.
Since we had a prime mover advantage, we could start with Large banks in Africa early in our journey. The credibility and the legacy that we built in the first few years helped us in adding more customers to the stable. The Banking solutions space is a very word-of-mouth driven Business. It’s a domino effect. One good customer reference leads to more. We simply focused on creating happy customers in the first 3 years. This foundation helped us to scale up faster in the next phase.
In terms of market penetration, what are some key lessons you have learned from working with small-sized banks that have helped Techurate Systems successfully navigate the transition to larger-scale institutions?
Our Market penetration cycle was Inverse. We started with Larger banks and then moved to the smaller ones in India banking on the learnings and the enhanced product stability. This helped us in having the bandwidth both in terms of experience and Financial resources to curate the right price point for smaller banks.
The key consideration for servicing smaller banks is the be prepared for a Hockey stick revenue curve. This needs depth and a long-term view to build this segment.
Our India entry is by design late to give us that edge in building the cooperative segment here in a sustainable manner. It’s like the time IKEA took to enter India. A late entrant, but now a formidable force in affordable gear.
How does Techurate Systems plan to further expand its market share in the Indian banking sector? Can you outline any upcoming strategies or initiatives aimed at capturing new opportunities and sustaining growth?
Our India plan has a sharp focus on the cooperative banking sector. Our GTM plan is based on value partnerships to present a credible face to these prospects. We are extremely confident in the strength of our products. We have an 11-year history of servicing Financial Institutions in India with more than 350 institutions including leading cooperative banks that have used our services. More than a Million end customers use our products via these Institutions.
Against the backdrop of this strength, we plan to aggressively push ourselves into the semi-urban and even the rural sectors via the RRBs. Financial Inclusion for India on an accelerated mode is our endeavour. Ultimately, leveraging the diversity of our product platform to bring in affordable banking services thus Transforming lives is our mission. We are steadfast on this and we intend to make this happen sustainably.
