Digitisation, health insurance for all going to be new normal for fin services sector: Experts

Digitisation, cybersecurity and health insurance for all are going to be new normal and will shape the domestic financial services industry going forward as the coronavirus pandemic has thrown newer challenges, industry experts said on Tuesday.They said that the new normal will keep evolving post-COVID, as there would be a huge change in customer preference.

Speaking on ”India’s Financial sector: Re-plotting the new normal” at CII annual meeting, Amit Chandra, Managing Director, Bain Capital Private Equity said three megashifts will be shaping the financial services sector broadly.

KKR India CEO Sanjay Nayar said balance sheets of the financial sector remain weak.

A classification of good and bad bank would support financing growth going forward, Nayar said, who also chairs CII”s National Committee on Private Equity & Venture Capital.

Abhimanyu Munjal, Co-Chairman, CII Forum on NBFCs & HFCs said that the current situation comes as an opportunity for the NBFC sector.

“For NBFC’s I see it as an opportunity to re-imagine completely their operating model. The new normal will keep evolving post COVID, as we would see a huge change in the customer preference and for that new normal we will need to adapt to the customers’ needs.”

Krishnan Ramachandran, Managing Director & CEO, Max Bupa Health Insurance Co. Ltd suggested that in the new normal the country needs to raise its healthcare spending. He stressed on mandating health insurance for all in the country.

Banking growth in India is massive and the various steps like building pool of local finance, proper planning, focus of self-reliance in the financial system would help in building a sound and resilient banking system and help in kickstarting the economy, said Sanjiv Bajaj, Chairman, CII National Committee on Insurance & Pensions and Chairman & Managing Director, Bajaj Finserv Ltd.

The participants also underlined the need for one time restructuring and unification of regulators in the financial sector. – PTI