Financial services are evolving and transforming at a rapid rate because of new digital technologies and innovations by Fintech companies, Insurances and even B2B platforms. Businesses are now understanding that traditional means of borrowing are no longer the sole mechanisms available in the market and there a plethora of new ways by which they can ensure sustainable cash flows and working capital. Under this context India's leading Fintech companies and financial institutions converged to enlighten enterprises on the future of finance at the The Bengal Chamber's and LIC's first-ever "Fintech and Credit Expo 2022 - Connecting Finance to Business" (in association with HSBC) - on 9th September at the Williamson Magor Hall in the Bengal Chamber.

Major Fintechs and Financial institutions who took part in the expo included Invoicemart, CredAble, Biz2X, CDAC, L&T Sufin, Bank Of Maharashtra, HSBC Bank, IDFC First Bank, LIC India, Tally, NSE and Moglix.

While speaking at the inaugural session, Mr Aditya Kumar Sinha, Director C-DAC Patna (Ministry of IT and Electronics) said, “Digital Transformation is a state of mind. Every individual and every business is challenged in new ways. We need to rethink product and service engagement models by leveraging AI for customers.”

Riddhi Gupta, Head of Strategy & Alliances, Invoicemart was present at the event. She said, “At the centre of the vibrant Indian economic landscape lies the MSMEs. There is a lot of opportunity to ensure that MSMEs grow into an even more powerful engine given that the contribution of MSMEs to GDP is still lower than that in countries like USA or China.” In her presentation she pointed out that Invoicemart has been substantially financing the Micro and Small enterprise segment which are usually devoid of financing from the formal financial institutions and as Trade Receivables Discounting System (TReDS) picks up momentum they aim to ensure that the benefits of TReDS percolate to each and every MSME. 

Mr. Arpan Nangia, Country Head of Sales, Commercial Banking, Global Liquidity and Cash Management, HSBC Bank  said that they believe in partnering with Fintechs to deliver enhanced value to their customers and have already done the same via their Corporate Cards by which they help MSMEs manage  their working capital more effectively. 

Arjun Passi, Vice President, Business Development Upscale, Credable talked about how Credable is helping SMEs get credit, connect with large entities and other SMEs with whom they can do business with and get softwares to manage their business. Through their Upscale product, SMEs can get offers from multiple financial institutions within the right time in one attempt, thereby raising the probability of them getting approved and receiving funds.

In one of the B2B sessions  on E-Procurement , Mr Partha Basu, State Head, L&T Sufin made a presentation on "Automation and Streamlining of Supply Chain". He said that SMEs through digital listing of products on their B2B platform create a marketplace for buyers from different parts of the country which they can then take advantage of.

Mr. Kailash Rathi, Director, Moglix said that with the advent of supply chain finance platforms such as Credlix, vendors can see which of his invoices raised on corporates are eligible for discounting and can raise a request for the same and get the necessary financing. 

Shri Saket Jha, Project Engineer, C-DAC, Patna gave a presentation on "Cyber Resilience in the Fintech ecosystem". In the context of Fintech replacing traditional financial services, he elucidated on how to make MSMEs cyber resilient so that their data is not breached, funds are not affected and their brands are not damaged.  

The Expo saw the active participation of over 400 MSMEs physically and digitally.