From Finserv to Fintech | Vikaas M. Sachdeva | Engati Engage — Engati Blog

In this episode of Engati Engage, we are joined by Vikaas M Sachdeva to talk about developing the mindset to move from being a Finserv to a Fintech.

Vikaas Sachdeva is the Chief Executive Officer of Emkay Investment Managers. With over 25 years experience, he is an expert in marketing and distribution of financial products, working as the CEO for Edelweiss and ENAM. He was a former member of Mutual Fund Advisory Committee (MFAC), and has chaired the ETF committee of the Association of Mutual Funds of India. His work has been quoted by many newspapers and publications.

Summary of “From Finserv to Fintech”

This section will contain a quick summary of our interview with Vikaas.

Let’s start with an open question- what have been the biggest learnings from your career?

Vikaas’ learnings can be summarized into a few points:

One has to be a student and that’s been his biggest learning

Vikaas has had a background in marketing and sales and is running a Financial Services, or Finserv company. It wouldn’t have been possible if he wasn’t a continuous learner and a student. Vikaas has had to read often, interact with people, and learn.That has been one of the passions.

Being a good listener

According to Vikaas, these days, a lot of people hear, but they don’t listen. If we all just calm down and listen to what people are trying to tell you. Without judgments, without putting context to things, it really helps. It helps with developing your empathy, which helps you connect with customers, colleagues, friends, and family.

Having a sense of extreme ownership

Essentially, it’s saying-

Nobody is responsible for my actions except me. Tweet this!

Vikaas says this is something that one is born with, but anyone can develop this trait. It’s taking full responsibility for your actions. Not blaming others- if something needs to be done, you cannot depend on anyone but yourself. This aspect of complete ownership pushes you to learn more, read more, and listen more. It’s extremely important.

Do you believe banks need to be more aggressive in adopting new-age technologies and embrace digital transformations more wholeheartedly?

There’s no easy answer to this question. Especially if we’re asking about banks as a generic entity. However, if we were to look at banks as service providers, there’s been a fair degree of evolution.

There’s no “one size fits all” model in terms of banks adapting to technology and innovation. For example- people often talk about public sector banks not being tech-savvy enough.

An example to follow for tech-savvy banks are SBI (State Bank of India), or Bank of Baroda- whose cutting edge technology connects customers across the country or globally.

But on the other hand, you have to realize that public sector banks are also dealing with customers that are not tech-savvy. They have to cater to the technologically-impaired. This is where having too much technology acts as a drawback.

People come to banks because they trust banks. They trust banks because banks lend comfort. When it comes to the technologically-impaired, comfort comes in the form of human interaction. Too much technology will scare customers off. Vikaas currently believes there’s a judicious amount of technology in banks. Having said that, he also believes that this is something that is continuously evolving.

This is where lots of private sector banks team up with Fintechs and give them sandboxes to operate in, to then adopt that technology. Yesbank is a great example of this. Where Fintech has been the primary source for their growth. They’re adopted Fintech. And they’ve given them the clearance, and the required cybersecurity to help them grow their business.

In a nutshell, when required, banks are adapting and evolving well. On the other hand, banks have to continue to adapt and evolve because they don’t have a choice- customers are demanding this growth. But one has to realize that customers depend on that human interface so really, it’s all about striking that balance.

Did you like the insights shared by Vikaas?

Read the whole interview here.