Fintech firms expect business as usual by July, says FACE survey

 These 20 firms combined serve 6.5-million-plus customers, of which 46 percent are 'new to credit customers.

The second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic may not be as devastating for financial technology (fintech) firms as the first wave, revealed a survey of top 20 firms by the Fintech Association for Consumer Empowerment (FACE).

"It is interesting to note that the Covid-19 impact is different this time, compared to the same situation last year. While most players expected business to normalize by July, some aspects of the business are expected to be impacted for a longer period,” stated the online survey, taken by 100 senior executives of the top 20 fintech firms.

These 20 firms combined serve 6.5-million-plus customers, of which 46 percent are ‘new to credit customers.

However, the lockdown, alongside the moratorium announcement by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), has "led to a lot of uncertainties in the lending business”, it observed.

“Digital lenders also borrow from debt markets, primarily from banks. It will defeat the purpose if that ' lender of lenders’ look negatively at Covid-based relief (if any) provided by digital lenders, even if the collections don’t suffer or non-performing assets are provided for," said Srinath Sridharan, member of governance council, FACE. He said if there was a regulator-provided framework for Covid relief, the "randomness or subjectivity of any such decision could have been avoided”.