Digital Lending and the COVID-19 Fallout

The outbreak of novel Coronavirus has emerged as a formidable challenge for businesses and governments globally. Fintech firms too, especially the new-age digital lending platforms, are feeling the pressures from the changed realities amidst the transforming dynamics. While many of these fintechs have been effectively filling the credit gap that was left unaddressed by the traditional banks, specially in the unorganized and/or MSME sectors, COVID-19 has given rise to an unprecedented situation globally. In this context the issues at hand are:

• What measures are digital and traditional lenders adopting to contain the contagion of COVID-19 on their businesses and at the same time serve their customers in a fair and transparent manner?
• Apart from forbearance on loan repayments, what are the other initiatives that providers can consider rolling out to help their clients and for their own business continuity?    
• The opportunities arising for digital lending in a post-COVID situation where uptake may naturally see growth and wider adoption
• Can COVID-19 be a game changer for traditional providers and their clients to overcome their reliance on physical channels and adopt digital channels more rapidly? 

Panelists

• Achin Bansal, SVP & Head, Digital Finance, M-CRIL (moderator).
• Alok Mittal, Co-founder & CEO, Indifi Technologies (India).
• Loïc Nigay, Co-founder & Director, i-Finance Leasing (Cambodia).
• Jagadish Ramadugu, MD & CEO, Vaya Finserve (India).

M-CRIL will summarize the key discussion points/takeaways in a note to be circulated to all participants and published more widely, within a week of the webinar.