Fintech industry to grow with digital expansion: MobiKwik's Upasana Taku

MobiKwik Co-Founder Upasana Taku says India's fintech sector holds vast growth potential, with innovation, inclusion, and diversification driving the next decade

India’s fintech sector is expected to grow strongly over the next 10 to 20 years, with huge potential to expand digital payments and offer more financial services such as credit and insurance, especially for those who are currently underserved, said MobiKwik Co-Founder Upasana Taku.

 

At present, only about 10 per cent of people in India use several financial products. This means the remaining 90 per cent represent a massive opportunity for growth and innovation, she explained.

 

"So I think the overall market opportunity is still very large, and next 5-10-20 years, is going to be a growth story when it comes to fintech or financial services, given India's goal of financial inclusion for everyone...As a fintech entrepreneur, I am very excited about what the future holds," Taku told PTI in a recent interview.

   

Taku believes this is a great time to be part of India’s fintech industry. "There is a lot of opportunity, a lot of mindshare from the government and policymakers, as well as from the regulator, they want to see the system grow, products reaching the last mile user... Within fintech, yes, there is a lot of competition, but everyone has their own mainstay," she pointed out.

 

Innovation and governance at core

 

MobiKwik’s parent firm – One MobiKwik Systems – went public in December. Although its shares dropped over 14 per cent after the IPO lock-in ended, the company continues to push forward. With more than 170 million users and 5 million merchants on board, it is now focused on boosting profits and expanding further in the 2025-26 financial year.

 

"Our mainstay is going to be differentiation on the back of innovation of product, very high bar on governance and that tight -rope of high growth and profitability," said Taku.

 

She said the company’s long-term goal is to grow 10 times over. "On a long-term basis, the aim of the company, promoters and management is to create ten-fold growth, I think the opportunity is immense. This is the first year of being listed. I am excited to think that from 2009 to 2025, we will reach here, from 2025 to, say, 2035, where will we reach and how much can we grow by then, can we grow 5X or 10X, those are the things we are thinking about," she said.

 

Taku mentioned signs of recovery in the lending space and expects all types of loans to grow. She also expects more Indians starting to save, invest, and buy insurance, calling it a big opportunity.

 

"It is an exciting time to be in fintech in India. In digital payments, we have done really well, UPI is reaching more and more people...But even today roughly 400-500 million Indians are actively paying digitally, everyone else is still on cash...that is the starting point, then there are financial products, be it credit, insurance, investing...10 per cent of India has access to multiple financial products, but 90 per cent of India does not," Taku said, showing optimism about reaching more people with digital payments and financial products.

 

Role of AI

 

She also spoke about the role of AI, saying that personalisation, automation, and better use of data will help create new products and improve services.

 

When asked about the impact of global economic shifts, Taku admitted that trade and tariff changes worldwide can affect India too. But she said MobiKwik is resilient and quick to respond.

 

"I am the least politically-inclined person, but as an entrepreneur I am forced to understand what happened today in America, Canada or China, because as a reaction to that there will be chain of events that will impact business, because it will impact millions of Indians...And so even with all these different types of macro changes or headwinds, local or global, one has to keep charging ahead," she said.

 

She believes that having a mix of different products and services is key to handling uncertainty.

 

"Instead of being in denial, we try to be early observers and adapt to change quickly," she said.

 

Q3 loss, but revenue growth continues

 

It’s worth noting that One MobiKwik posted a consolidated loss of ₹55.28 crore for the quarter ending December 2024, compared to a ₹5.27 crore profit a year earlier. Revenue, however, went up by 18 per cent, reaching ₹269.47 crore from ₹228.93 crore.

 

"In the first two quarters (FY25), we were profitable but not in the third quarter. While we have done exceptionally well on payments, and margins are holding...towards the second half of 2024 calendar year we saw some headwinds in the unsecured lending space, some of it driven due to regulatory notifications on pricing etc. and so there is tightening in the market," she explained.

 

This issue affected not just MobiKwik, but other banks, NBFCs, and fintech companies as well.

 

"The ramification of that is that in our third quarter we are negative, because we have done so little disbursal as compared to last year at the same time, that it has an effect on EBITDA. But now we've learned from that, and the way we are trying to build our business is to de-risk from one product or one line of business, and have enough lines of business," she said.

 

Beyond payments, the company also distributes financial products—starting with credit, then savings and investments, and now insurance. "We have bill payments, wallets, UPI, and the payment gateway business," she said.

 

"One key learning is that we can’t depend solely on distributing credit products. Second, we can’t rely only on unsecured lending. If we’re distributing credit, we must offer both secured and unsecured options. And importantly, we should also distribute savings products, which carry minimal risk—because Indians are inherently inclined towards saving," she said.