The India FinTech Diaries

In this future-forward episode of India FinTech Diaries, we sit down with Aishwary Gupta, Global Head of Payments at Polygon Labs, to unpack what comes after UPI. With stablecoin legislation gaining traction globally and Web3 infrastructure maturing rapidly, this episode explores what India's next-generation payment rails could look like in a programmable, tokenized future.Here's what you'll learn:

In this episode of India FinTech Diaries, we sit down with Sanjay Tripathy, Co-Founder & CEO of BRISKPE, to explore how they're solving one of the most complex challenges faced by Indian MSMEs—cross-border B2B payments. From opaque processes and costly fees to regulatory hurdles, cross-border trade remains a daunting space for exporters and service providers alike.Sanjay shares the BRISKPE origin story, their mobile-first approach, and how the team is building a future-ready, regulation-first cross-border platform trusted by MSMEs across India.Key Highlights:

In this episode of India FinTech Diaries, we dive into the transformation of insurance distribution with Anand Prabhudesai, co-founder of Turtlemint. Anand shares how Turtlemint is breaking down the complexities of insurance, making it accessible for millions across India through technology and a vast agent network. From revolutionizing how insurance is sold to training a new generation of financial advisors, Turtlemint has been at the forefront of India's insurtech revolution.Key Highlights:

In this episode of India FinTech Diaries, we explore the complexities of cross-border payments with Movin Jain, co-founder of Skydo. Skydo has been at the forefront of simplifying global transactions for Indian businesses, providing seamless B2B payment solutions to small and medium enterprises (SMEs) across various sectors. Movin shares insights on how Skydo is breaking down the barriers of traditional banking, making international payments faster, cheaper, and more transparent.Key Highlights:

In the second episode in the DLAI Fintech Conclave 2025 podcast series, we are joined by Pallavi Shrivastava, co-founder of Progcap, to explore the critical role of MSMEs (Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises) in driving India's economic growth. As India sets its sights on achieving Viksit Bharat—a vision of a developed India—MSMEs are positioned as a key driver of this transformation. However, access to finance and digitization remain significant challenges for many small businesses.Pallavi shares her expert perspective on how fintech innovation is bridging these gaps, empowering MSMEs with much-needed access to formal credit and digitization solutions. The episode delves into the recent budget announcements aimed at boosting MSMEs, fintech innovations reshaping access to finance, and the challenges faced by small businesses in adopting new technology.This episode offers a comprehensive look at the future of MSMEs and how they are central to the Viksit Bharat vision.Key Highlights:

Carrying on with the tradition of episodes with DLAI, this year we tried something different and worked on recording episodes after their Annual Fintech Conclave. In the first episode in this series, we explore the dynamic shifts in consumer finance with Anuj Kacker, co-founder of Freo. Anuj shares his perspective on how the fintech industry has evolved in the last five years, from post-pandemic recovery to the increasing importance of financial inclusion and managing risks. We covered the following with Anuj:

In our first episode of 2025, we dive into the world of open-loop transit payments with payments industry veteran, Manoj Sugathan. With over 30 years of experience, Manoj has played a pivotal role in driving contactless payment solutions across the Asia-Pacific region. We explore the future of public transportation payments and how open-loop systems are revolutionizing the way commuters travel globally. Key Highlights:

In this special end-of-the-year episode of, we sit down with Neha Singh, co-founder of Tracxn, to discuss the major funding trends that shaped the fintech landscape in 2024 and what lies ahead for 2025. Tracxn, one of the leading data intelligence platforms for private market research, tracks over 3.3 million entities across industries globally. With such a vast pool of data, Neha provides invaluable insights into the current state of fintech funding and the future of this rapidly evolving industry. In conversation we discussed:

In our next episode in the SamvAAd 2024 series, we dive deep into the evolving world of Open Finance with Kiran Gopinath, the founder of Open Finance Connect. Open Finance is reshaping financial services globally by enabling consumers to control and share their financial data for better products and services and India and the AA ecosystem is at the forefront of it. Here are the key highlights:

In the latest episode, we explore the journey of India's account aggregator (AA) framework—a consent-based data-sharing platform transforming the financial landscape. We caught up with B.G. Mahesh, CEO of Sahamati and Shallu Kaushik, Digital Head of Tata Capital to discuss the rapid growth of India's account aggregator framework, and to help unpack the progress made since launch. We discussed:

In the latest episode, we dive deep into the world of loyalty programs and their intersection with payments with special guest Rishi Batra, Co-Founder and COO of Twid. India's loyalty market is rapidly growing, and Twid is at the forefront of redefining how consumers engage with rewards. In this episode we discuss:

In this latest episode , we delve into the fascinating world of co-branded credit cards and the future of credit in India. Our guest, Ramanathan RV, co-founder of Hyperface, shares his expert insights on the evolution of credit cards and fintech solutions. From his journey at BankBazaar and JustPay to launching Hyperface, Ram takes us through the intricacies of credit card ecosystems and the digital transformation of India's financial sector. We discuss:

In this episode of India FinTech Diaries, we venture beyond our usual focus on Indian FinTech to look at Indian Fintech with a Latin American lens. We are joined by special guests Julio Vasconcellos and Ana Martins from Atlantico, who share their impressions of Indian Fintech and how it contrasts with the Fintech ecosystem of Latin America. Here's what we talked about:

As India's e-commerce landscape continues to boom, ranking 9th in global cross-border growth, companies are increasingly looking for ways to streamline international payments.In this episode we dive into the dynamic world of cross-border e-commerce payments with Reeju Datta, co-founder of Cashfree. Reeju offers a behind-the-scenes look at how Cashfree has been a game-changer in this space, helping Indian businesses expand globally without the hassle of setting up shop abroad. From discussing the innovative beginnings of Cashfree—designed to reduce the reliance on cash-on-delivery—to explaining the complexities of Payment Aggregator Cross-Border (PACB) licences, Reeju shares insights that will fascinate both FinTech enthusiasts and business leaders. In this episode we discuss:

UPI is expanding at a remarkable pace, processing around 14 billion transactions each month. However, the introduction of Credit Line on UPI holds the potential to supercharge this growth, unlocking a staggering $1 trillion payment value opportunity by 2030. As part of our ongoing series on Credit Line on UPI, we sat down with Sivaram Kowta, President of Banking at Zeta India, to delve deeper into this game-changing innovation and its impact on the future of digital payments. In this episode, we explore:

It has been about a year since the Credit Line on UPI was announced. We caught up with Gaurav Mittal, CEO and co-founder of Vegapay, to understand what has happened in this space in the year gone by and what are some of the technology considerations for launching such a successful product. In the episode we discussed:

In this special episode of India Fintech Diaries, we celebrate National Fintech Day with a deep dive into the role of fintechs in supporting MSMEs, the backbone of India's economy. Our guests, Kumar Shekhar, Deputy Country Manager of Tide India, and Sundeep Mohindru, CEO,Promoter and Director of M1xchange, share their insights on the challenges and opportunities faced by MSMEs in accessing banking and lending services. We explore the innovative solutions fintechs are providing to close the financing gap, the evolving role of government policy, and how these digital platforms are reshaping the future of MSME financing in India. In this episode we discuss:

In our next episode on AI, we spoke with Ankit Ratan, Co-Founder Signzy. Ankit helped us understand and answer the important question of how GenAI is helping banks with compliance and regulators with monitoring compliance. In our conversation we discussed:

In our latest episode on AI, we spoke with Anant Gupta, FSI Head, Google Cloud India to better understand how AI use cases are implemented on the cloud and how financial services firms could leverage the cloud to bring AI use cases to life. During our conversation we discussed:

Generative AI is rapidly transforming many industries across the globe and financial services is one of them. To better understand the impact of GenAI and AI in general on the financial services space, our next few episodes will be focused on speaking to companies and leaders in this space. To begin unpacking this topic we spoke with Raoul Nanavati, Co-founder & CEO, Navana. Navana.ai empowers businesses to create user-friendly digital interfaces for the next billion and is actively working with financial services firms to help them interact with their customers in regional languages. During our conversation we discussed:

Did you know that 95% of women did not access any financial platform? To understand what are some of the barriers to financial product adoption among women and how fintechs can help solve this, we thought that it would be a timely topic to deep dive into on International Women's day. To help us unpack this topic we spoke with Ridhi Doongursee, Co-founder LXME. During our conversation we discussed:

This Friday is International Women's Day, and we thought that in our next episode in the DLAI Fintech Podcast Series, we would discuss the important issue of the credit gap between genders and how we can bridge it. To shed more light on the issue and provide insights on solutions, we spoke with Puneet Gupta, Co-Founder of Kaleidofin. We discussed:

In Sep 2022, the RBI announced the Digital Lending Guidelines which had a profound impact on the digital lending landscape in India. Now over one year later we unbox what this has meant for the ecosystem with our special guest Sanjay Khan Nagra, Partner, Khaitan & Co. In the episode we discussed:

In our next episode in the DLAI Fintech Conclave 2024 podcast series, we examine Artificial Intelligence and how it's powering new and old use cases in financial services. To unpack this, we were joined by Anuj Kacker, Co-Founder of Freo and Neeraj Gupta, Managing Director of Branch International. We discussed: Use cases of AI in Financial Services Challenges faced by AI in adoption Way ahead for AI Adoption Join us for this discussion on how cutting edge technology is influencing financial service as we count down to the DLAI Fintech Conclave 2024 Contact DLAI Website: https://www.dlai.in/ DLAI Fintech Conclave 2024: https://conclave.dlai.in/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/dlai/ X: https://twitter.com/dlai_india

We are back with a special podcast series in collaboration with the DLAI Fintech Conclave 2024. In the first episode in the series we caught up with Jatinder Handoo, CEO of DLAI on the recently announced framework for Self Regulatory Organizations (SRO) and its implications for Fintechs. We discussed: What is an SRO? Salient features of the SRO framework Benefits for the Fintech ecosystem Join us for this timely conversation as we count down to the DLAI Fintech Conclave 2024 Contact DLAI Website: https://www.dlai.in/ DLAI Fintech Conclave 2024: https://conclave.dlai.in/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/dlai/ X: https://twitter.com/dlai_india

In the last few years the entire landscape of retail investing in India has changed. From being able to invest in stocks at the click of a button to opening an FD digitally to being able to invest in new avenues like invoice factoring, P2P lending, alternative assets etc. the Indian retail investor has come a long way. We spoke with Satyen on what's changed in the investing landscape and how Cube Wealth is providing a platform that integrates a lot of these trends. During our conversation we discussed:

After an absolutely interesting 2023, we were wondering what's in store for 2024? To answer that question we spoke with Jatinder Handoo - CEO of the Digital Lenders Association of India, Dhirendra Mahyavanshi - Co-founder of Turtlemint, Rajesh Mirjankar - MD & CEO at Kiya.ai and Satyen Kothari - Founder and CEO of Cube Wealth. We spoke with them about:

2023 was indeed a roller-coaster year for Fintech in India, with several interesting developments across the entire spectrum of Fintech Subsectors in India. To recap the most interesting and important developments of the year we caught up with Navin Surya, Fintech Thought Leader, Mentor and Investor. We spoke with Navin about:

Last week the SENSEX breached the historic 70,000 mark. This week was a different story, with the market displaying high volatility and even losing 931 pts on 19 Dec. With this amount of volatility, what avenues are available for investors seeking more steady and sedate returns? To discuss this we caught up with Saurabh Jain, Co-founder of Stable Money. During the podcast we discussed:

Last month, during the monetary policy announcement, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Shaktikanta Das indicated that the RBI would issue an Omnibus framework for Self Regulatory Organizations or SROs. But what exactly are SROs? And how can they change the way Fintech is regulated in India? To understand this and more we spoke with Shivashish Chatterjee, Co-founder DMI Finance and Jatinder Handoo, CEO , Digital Lenders Association of India. We spoke with them about: ⚖️ What is a SRO and why do we need one?

According to the IMF, India is on track to achieve the milestone of becoming a $5 trillion economy by 2027. As India pursues this ambitious growth trajectory, ensuring equitable development and prioritizing financial inclusion is crucial. To gain deeper insights into the driving forces behind India's financial inclusion agenda, we recently had the opportunity to speak with Anand Kumar Bajaj, the Founder, Managing Director, and CEO of PayNearby, in our latest episode. We spoke with Anand about:

As digital payments have expanded across India, increasing penetration of payment acceptance across India has become all the more important. To discuss the current state of the payment acceptance landscape and how acquirers can continue to be relevant, we caught up with Ketan Patel, Co-founder and CEO of Mswipe. We spoke to Ketan about:

Today India has probably an addressable market of $10Bn+ for transit payments, but still a significant amount of Transit payments are in cash. But what if this could change? How would this impact the lives of millions of daily commuters in India? We caught up with P.T. Suresh, Founder, PayCraft to answer these questions and understand the evolution of Transit payments in India. We discussed:

P2P lending is emerging as an asset class as investors try and diversify their portfolios. But what goes on behind the scenes at a P2P lender? And how can P2P lending be a force for good? Join us in our latest episode as we speak with Neha Juneja, Co-founder and CEO of IndiaP2P to learn more about this fascinating facet of lending. In our discussion we discuss:

Credit is about to witness a groundbreaking disruption, and we're at the forefront of it. In our latest episode, we unveil how Credit on UPI is set to revolutionise the Credit card industry in India.

Join us for an insightful journey into niche lending and lending adjacent products in the next episode in the series! This time, we're delving deep into the intersection of investing and invoice discounting. We caught up with Deepak Naragund to better understand how UpCap is taking a fresh take on Invoice discounting. In our discussion we cover : ❓ Problem facing SMEs & MSMEs in India

Join us for an insightful journey into niche lending and lending adjacent products in our second episode!

We are kick starting a new series that looks at lending products that are laser focused on specific niches. In this series, we zoom in on niche lending products that are transforming the way Indians access mobility. Our first guest is Sumit Chhazed, Co-founder and CEO of OTO Capital, a fintech startup that offers innovative two wheeler financing solutions. Join us as we learn from his insights and experience in this fast-growing sector. In our free-wheeling conversation with him that was practically a master class on the sector we discussed :

In this episode we welcome back B.G.Mahesh, Co-founder & CEO at Sahamati. We have a candid discussion with Mahesh on how the rollout and traction of AA has been over the last few years and get a sneak peek into SamvAAd, India's first AA conference. In the episode we discuss:

Welcome to the latest episode of our ONDC series! This week, we're diving into the world of Seller Apps and their potential to drive economic growth in India. To gain a deeper understanding, we spoke with Medarisha Lyngdoh, Co-founder and COO - eSamudaay and Ravinder Singh Mahori, Co-founder and CTO - eSamudaay. In a free-wheeling discussion on the work eSamudaay is doing to empower small sellers in India, we spoke about:

Welcome to the latest episode of our ONDC series! This week, we're diving into the exciting world of Buyer Apps and their potential to drive economic growth in India. To gain a deeper understanding, we had the pleasure of speaking with Sanjeev Kumar, the Co-Founder, ED & CEO at Spice Money. In this insightful conversation, Sanjeev shared his perspective on why ONDC is the future and how Spice Money is bringing it to rural areas. Tune in to learn more!

In our latest episode, we delve into the world of digital commerce and explore the Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC), a revolutionary concept that has the potential to transform the ecommerce landscape in India. Our guest, Susmit Patodia, Director at Antler India, provides expert insights on the disruptive power of ONDC and its implications for both ecommerce and fintech in the country. Join us as we unpack the ONDC framework and discuss its key features, benefits, and challenges. From the potential to reduce transaction costs and increase interoperability to the potential to create 100 unicorns, we cover a wide range of topics that will be of interest to anyone interested in the future of digital commerce in India. What problem is ONDC trying to solve What ONDC is How does it work What does the ONDC landscape look like What the opportunity for Fintech is Why you should be gung-ho about ONDC Don't miss this informative and thought-provoking conversation on what could be a $80bn+ Opportunity! Additional reading Unpacking the $80+ billion ONDC opportunity: India's next startup catalyst Contact Susmit LinkedIn Twitter Email: susmit.patodia@antler.co Contact Antler Website LinkedIn Twitter

In our final episode in this collaboration with the Digital Lenders Association of India (DLAI) on the occasion of the #DLAIFintechConclave23, we caught up with Presha Paragash, CEO of Credit Saison India. Presha had a candid conversation with us on: What's exciting about India as a market for Digital Lending Key highlights from the Fintech Conclave Her top takeaways from the event Join us for this for this wrap up of the DLAI Fintech Conclave 2023 Contact DLAI Website LinkedIn Twitter

Data protection and privacy are the forefront with the recent guidelines on digital lending from the RBI and impending Digital Data Protection Bill. To help understand this crucial area better, in our fourth episode in this collaboration with the Digital Lenders Association of India (DLAI) on the occasion of the #DLAIFintechConclave23, we caught up with Prashanth Ramdas and Supratim Chakraborty, Partners, Khaitan & Co. In addition to discussing the whitepaper “Interplay between Data Protection and Digital Lending” that was co-authored by DLAI and Khaitan & Co, we also discussed: What Data Protection and Privacy means Implications of recent guidelines by the RBI Overview and salient features of the draft Digital Data Protection Bill What Fintechs can do be ahead of the curve on compliance And more … Join us for this very timely conversation on data protection and privacy as we wrap up the DLAI Fintech Conclave 2023 Contact Prashanth Email: prashanth [dot] ramdas [at] khaitanco [dot] com LinkedIn Website Contact Supratim Email: supratim [dot] chakraborty [at] khaitanco [dot] com LinkedIn Website Contact DLAI Website LinkedIn Twitter

In our third episode in this collaboration with the Digital Lenders Association of India (DLAI) on the occasion of the #DLAIFintechConclave23, we caught up with Anurag Jain, Founder of KredX and Executive Committee Member, DLAI, We discussed: What integrated or embedded finance means Use cases and value pools for integrated finance The role played by digital public goods Policy and regulatory support needed And more … Join us for this interesting conversation as we wrap up the DLAI Fintech Conclave 2023 Contact Anurag Email: anurag [at] kredx [dot] com Website LinkedIn Contact DLAI Website LinkedIn Twitter

In our second episode in this collaboration with the Digital Lenders Association of India (DLAI) on the occasion of the #DLAIFintechConclave23, we discussed the very important topic of financial inclusion and what it means for both consumers and small businesses. We caught up with Sucharita Mukherhjee, Co-founder and CEO, Kaleidofin and Manish Lunia, Co-founder Flexiloans as we discussed: What financial inclusion means for consumers and businesses How fintechs are helping address financial inclusion Challenges faced while addressing financial inclusion Impact on the next 100 million Join us for this interesting conversation as we count down to the DLAI Fintech Conclave 2023 tomorrow Contact Sucharita Email: sucharita [at] kaleidofin [dot] com Website Contact Manish Lunia Email: manish [at] flexiloans [dot] com Website Contact DLAI Website LinkedIn Twitter

We are kicking off 2023 with a special series collaboration with the Digital Lenders Association of India (DLAI) on the occasion of the DLAI Fintech Conclave 2023. In the first episode in the series we caught up with Sashank Rishyasringa, co-founder of axio and President of DLAI on what's in store for digital lending in 2023. We discussed: What happened in 2022 Themes and trends for 2023 Wishlist for the regulator Top predictions for 2023 Join us for this interesting conversation as we count down to the DLAI Fintech Conclave 2023 !!! Contact DLAI Website LinkedIn Twitter

This year has been a roller coaster ride for Indian Fintech. Join us as we take a look back at the Year that was with our special guest, Osborne Saldanha from EMVC. In the episode we discuss: Funding and the funding environment Regulatory changes in the year M & A, new fintech ideas and the macro environment Our views on what 2023 holds for Indian Fintech Take a walk down memory lane with us as 2022 draws to a close. And a very happy new year from India Fintech Diaries !!! Contact Osborne LinkedIn Twitter Newsletter Email: os [at] em [dot] vc Contact EMVC Website LinkedIn Twitter Email: hello [at] em [dot] vc

Over the last five years UPI has revolutionised how Indians pay digitally. Last month, UPI actually crossed 7 billion transactions in a single month !!! This week we have Anup Nayar, CEO - Domestic, In-Solutions Global to discuss the meteoric rise of UPI and how firms like In-Solutions Global (ISG) are playing a key role in that journey. In our conversation with Anup we discuss: Anup's background and overview of ISG Overview of UPI Factors leading to UPI's growth New UPI innovations like UPI credit and UPI Lite Role played by ISG in the ecosystem Do listen to this episode to get an insider's view on the UPI journey. Contact Anup LinkedIn Contact In-Solutions Global Website LinkedIn Twitter Facebook Instagram

Continuing in our series on Fintech Investing we caught up with Melissa Frakman, CEO & Founding Partner of Emphasis Ventures. In this episode with Melissa, we discuss : Melissa's background and long standing links with India Her views on the evolution of Indian Fintech Interesting comparison & contracts with US Fintech Her approach to early stage venture investing Her views on the road ahead for Fintech in India Do listen to this episode to get a fresh take on Fintech investing in India. Additional Reading Raghuram Rajan Committee (2007), A Hundred Small Steps Contact Melissa LinkedIn Twitter Contact EMVC Website LinkedIn Twitter Email: hello [at] em [dot] vc

A lot changed in the Indian Fintech world as new regulations were introduced by the RBI in the past few months. To decode the impact of these changes and understand the way forward, we caught up with Mathew Chacko, Partner - Spice Route Legal. In our conversation with him we discuss : Impact of regulations on various models like PPI, BNPL, Digital lending Deep dive into Digital Lending Guidelines Some potential solutions to meeting regulatory asks Do listen to this episode to get a nuanced understanding of the impact of recent regulations. Contact Mathew LinkedIn Twitter Website