Next-gen banking: from anywhere, any app

A few years down, you could probably open a bank account on an ecommerce app. A taxi driver might decide to buy insurance from a cab aggregator’s platform. And a shop owner might prefer to borrow working capital from their digital storefront provider.

These platforms aren’t turning into banks, of course. What’s happening is that a clutch of fintech startups—Open Technologies, Setu, and Zeta, among them—is working to create the software links connecting banks to online consumer platforms. 

So there would be no need to hop onto net banking websites or apps; transactions can originate on non-banking apps as well. Something traditional banks find difficult to fathom.

The transformative benefits are obvious: wider reach, wider distribution, affordable services, and on apps that typically are way more intuitive and easier to use than online banking platforms. Most important is the treasure of data that would be generated, allowing for the right set of banking products to be channelized to the right customers.