YES FINTECH Accelerator: Co-creating innovative solutions and providing startups with access to over a million customers

As a developing nation and one of the fastest growing economies in the world, India has a comparatively evolved banking system in place, in contrast to some other developing countries. That said, despite changing market conditions and advancements in technology, there are challenges galore. Of the many challenges, ranging from impact of regulatory norms, and capital adequacy, to the banks’ asset quality, two significant challenges are raising consumer expectations and keeping pace with technology.

An approach to innovation and growth that has created several industry firsts

Indian Banks are constantly evaluating and innovating solutions to address these challenges. While every bank has derived its own strategy, YES BANK has taken the ART approach - Alliances, Relationships and Technology (A.R.T.). As part of this strategy, YES BANK has partnered with some of the best Fintech firms to deliver unique, innovative banking and financial solutions to its customers. Rana Kapoor, MD & CEO, YES BANK notes,

" The financial services industry is on the tipping point of a digital revolution and leading this change are financial technology startups. YES BANK has been actively collaborating with Fintech startups through our A.R.T. model, to provide innovative Banking Solutions to our customers.”

In fact, YES BANK was one of the first banks to commence Unified Payments Interface (UPI) services by partnering with 50 businesses, to catalyse one of the biggest payment innovations in the banking universe with an aim to make fund transfer easier and move towards a cashless economy.

Partnerships with Fintech startups

In the last one year, YES BANK has partnered with over 100+ Fintech startups across different verticals including payments, regulatory technology, and wealth management, among others.

Through its partnership with Phonepe, a Payments App from Flipkart, the bank aims to replace Cash on Delivery (CoD) with digital payments for some of India’s biggest e-commerce companies like Flipkart and its group of companies. The bank has also partnered with Fintech startup NiYO to revolutionise the employee benefits ecosystem in India. NiYO features an integrated solution comprising a multi-pocket card, a mobile app, and a digital account with multiple wallets. The solution leverages the latest in mobile technologies, and builds on the IndiaStack initiatives including eKYC by UIDAI and Unified Payments Interface (UPI) launched by NPCI.

Recently, in the first week of January 2017, YES BANK partnered with Gupshup, a leading bot platform, to launch ‘YES mPower’ - a banking chat bot for its loan products. Currently active on Facebook Messenger, YES mPOWER helps customers get information about Loan Products offered by YES BANK and instantly assesses loan eligibility, enabling customers to get the information they need quickly and easily. YES BANK plans to incrementally release more services through the chat bot, making YES mPOWER the one-stop shop for all loan requirements. This utility is a first-of-its-kind in the retail lending industry backed by the cutting-edge technology of bots, and YES BANK is presently said to be the only bank to offer this feature in the market place for a loan product.

In summary, India’s fifth-largest private bank, YES BANK, is building strategic alliances with Fintech companies, and trying to match up to customer expectations. The partnerships with smaller and larger Fintech players have enabled a digital banking experience that is innovative, simple, contextual, and cross-channel.

They have helped Fintech startups develop new products within weeks by providing access to technology, helped to navigate the complex compliance and regulation landscape successfully, and made it easier to go-to market. See what the Fintech startups have to say about partnering with YES BANK, and how together they are bringing to the forefront new services and solutions to millions of customers.

YES FINTECH

Taking the A.R.T. model forward, YES BANK has now established a Fintech-focused Business Accelerator programme - YES FINTECH.

“YES FINTECH Accelerator provides startups a platform for creating sustainable and market-ready products. This is a truly one-of-a-kind programme that provides startups access to YES BANK’s digital banking infrastructure as well as our robust customer network, while requiring zero upfront equity commitment from startups,” says Rana Kapoor.

T-Hub – India’s largest startup engine, Anthill Ventures- a venture capital firm, and LetsTalkPayments are three key industry partners of the accelerator programme, making YES FINTECH an excellent opportunity for Fintech startups to co-create innovative solutions and partner in taking the solution to YES BANK’s 2 million plus retail and corporate customers.

The intensive 15-week programme will provide startups with 2 clear advantages:

• Guaranteed Enterprise Client at the end of the program as well as the opportunity to set up a customer network of 2 million + YES Bank Customers for Fintechs to take their solutions to
• Funding via Anthill Ventures and other partners, with zero upfront equity sought from startups. This provides startups the unique opportunity of getting access to funds while not committing equity upfront.

This accelerator is not residential with only 3 of the 15 weeks structured in Hyderabad and Mumbai. Hence, Fintechs who are part of the program can continue to work on their core business while receiving the benefits of the accelerator.

Click here to know what’s instore for the startups part of the YES FINTECH cohort.

Prasad Vanga, Founder and CEO, Anthill Ventures, believes that it’s time for startups who have revenue and customers, to build processes and design ways to scale up rapidly.

“A key focus of the programme is to enable such startups to show quick growth and open up new channels of distribution.”

Explaining further, Jay Krishnan, CEO, T-Hub says, “YES FINTECH will be a great opportunity for participating startups to scale and take their business to the next level. T-Hub's extensive reach in the startup ecosystem including academia and industry will benefit the programme by not only bringing in the right startups, but also by providing them with the necessary direction, mentorship, and necessary support. This programme will give startups a chance to co-create innovative solutions for YES Bank’s customers, while also giving them access to expert mentors, a global network of investors and VCs, and guidance on ways to scale up their venture."

Applications for the YES BANK FINTECH accelerator programme is now open. Learn more about how you can apply for the programme here.

Apply for the YES BANK FINTECH accelerator programme today.