India has scale, talent for competitive edge in GCCs: Walmart's Bodugum

Tamil Nadu Round Table 2023: Puneet Gupta of Kaleidofin said that these entities are driving financial inclusion in India, and biometrics will become key to security of online payments

India has the scale and the talent pool required to give it a competitive advantage over other countries in the Global Capability Centres (GCCs), Prashanti Bodugum of Walmart said at the Business Standard Tamil Nadu Round Table 2023 in Chennai on Monday.

She said that growth is not always a key parameter for a GCC and they focus more on value creation. "It comes from creating global roles, sitting where you are," she said in a panel discussion on "Rising Stars: GCC & Fintech Driving Innovation".

Adding to this, Sunil Kumar of the World Bank said that the institute set up its GCC in Chennai in 2001 and has been successful. Currently, it has 1,400 employees and is the biggest such centre outside its headquarters in Washington DC. 

Kumar said that the reason they chose Chennai was the vast talent availability and the presence of top universities in the city.

Mathangi Sri Ramachandran of Yubi added that the talent pool is one of the major advantages Chennai offers. However, there is a need to focus on regional languages to improve the reach of the products.

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For fintech, Puneet Gupta of Kaleidofin said that these entities are driving financial inclusion in India. The key lies in making the payments faster as compared to the cash payments. On security, he said that biometrics will play a key role.

"We are a country where a large number of people are first-time smartphone users. Our key differentiator will become biometrics. It's unique to you. As long as we decide to create a very strong sense of protocols on how our biometrics can be used and stored by different apps, it will be the best opportunity forward," he said.

Fintechs are also proving beneficial for traditional banks. At the discussion, Shanti Lal Jain of Indian Bank said, "Fintechs are useful for us."

"With the support of fintechs, we are providing value-added services to the customers. If we depend totally on core banking, we will not be able to provide all the services customers want," he added.

B Ramkrishnan of BRK Soft highlighted that there is a need to put more focus on case studies and setting up "financial labs" in order to train the students better.