These processes are often conducted as per predetermined standards, with little scope for customization. Customization and tailor-made services are only available for customers who bring the quantum or the volume of transactions. Small business owners and customers requiring standard banking products often get caught in the lengthy processes and get a raw deal. Due to the cumbersome process, small business owners often rely on informal routes to fulfill their banking needs and end up accepting usurious and unfavourable terms for their financial needs.

This is the gap neobanks are trying to fulfill. They promise to serve the underbanked communities, by redesigning and simplifying the banking services, with the specific focus on robust grievance resolution, and constant guidance for the customers throughout their banking journey. These banks are concentrating on providing seamless banking services to each of their customers, by building user-friendly banking portals with the help of technology. In addition to simplifying the process for traditional banking services, neobanks are also providing various technology-driven tools to their customers for maintaining books (including financial statements), tax filings, invoices, and other relevant services which are requisite in the financing universe.

Neobanks are bringing the banking services to the door of the underbanked community of small businesses. This is being done without compromising on the sanctity of the process and ensuring that appropriate tools are provided to ease up the process and facilitate compliance. Neobanks are able to deliver on such promises because of the reset of their priorities and utilization of all their resources towards achieving this goal.

In India, there is a growing misconception that fintech companies are one and the same as neobanks. The critical difference is that fintech companies do not have their own banking license and they provide online banking services in collaboration with traditional banking partners. Neobanks will have the ability to lend and will meet the objective of financial inclusion.

The existing regulatory regime needs some evolution for licensing and operating a neobank in India. Although the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has not issued guidelines on the subject of operating a neobank, its various existing guidelines for operating banking institutions reflect the mindset of traditional banking institutions, that is, requirement on physical branches. In order to facilitate the rapid growth in the digital banking infrastructure and to supervise and regulate the foray of new entrants into a sensitive banking industry, it is critical that the RBI considers issuing guidelines for the operation of a neobank in India. This can probably operate under the ‘Regulatory Sandbox’ model as the next cohort.

It would be interesting to witness how a neobank in India (without leveraging on the brand name of its traditional banking partner) is able to serve underbanked areas without any physical presence. Serving underbanked areas will not only require behavioural change but will also require a change in the mindset of the customers, especially those who are habituated to a symbolic presence of a building to repose their trust and who do not have access to the internet or are unable to trust the internet for their financial dealings. Given that change is indeed the only constant, it is probably time that neobanks become a reality and there may not be a better time than the recovery from a pandemic to test the waters.

This article was originally published in Financial Express on 18 July 2021 Co-written by: Veena Sivaramakrishnan, Partner; Yugal Jain, Senior Associate. Click here for original article

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