Strategic ingenuity: Insights on sustaining tech excellence and innovation in Fintech Sector

In the rapidly evolving landscape of fintech, achieving and sustaining technological excellence and innovation is paramount for companies to remain competitive. This demands a strategic blend of ingenuity that not only meets customer expectations but also pushes the boundaries of what's possible. Fintech companies need to exemplify this notion by employing a multifaceted approach that incorporates customer-centricity, robust technological architectures, and forward-thinking practices. Along the same lines, Prasad Pathapati, head of engineering, mPokket recently spoke to Dataquest.

DQ: mPokket operates in a highly competitive market. What strategies does the engineering team employ to maintain a competitive edge and continually improve the company’s technology offerings?

Prasad Pathapati: Operating in a highly-competitive market, we employ various strategies to stay ahead and continuously enhance our technology offerings. One key aspect is Customer Channel Offerings, where the Company focuses on maintaining a strong digital presence and channel strategy, as it is essential for a mobile app-based lending company such as mPokket. Customer empathy and research play a crucial role in identifying new product opportunities and technology enables quick experimentation to determine product-market fit and expansion strategies.

Another vital strategy is Digital Transformation, as the ability to adapt to rapid changes is crucial in a competitive and regulated industry. Modern Technology Architecture is emphasized, ensuring that the Company’s systems are scalable, efficient and capable of handling increasing demands. Data Science and AI/ML play pivotal roles in optimizing processes, enhancing underwriting models and driving customer engagement.

Furthermore, compliance is a critical focus area, ensuring that we meet all regulatory requirements while providing innovative financial services. Having the right people is the secret. Individuals who are motivated, skilled in solving complex problems and eager to explore new technologies and make a difference to Indian customers are essential assets to maintain a competitive edge.

DQ: What are some of the challenges that fintech companies face while scaling the technology infrastructure to handle increasing transaction volumes? How can companies overcome these challenges while maintaining high performance and system reliability?

Prasad Pathapati: Scaling technology infrastructure to handle increasing transaction volumes can be a daunting task for fintech companies. One significant challenge is selecting the right Infrastructure and Cloud Strategy. Being strategic in choosing a cloud provider while avoiding complete lock-in. Depending on the requirements, a hybrid cloud strategy may be employed, which presents challenges in terms of DevOps, SecOps and FinOps complexities.

To ensure high performance and system reliability, software must be designed for Horizontal Scalability, allowing components to scale dynamically based on the load. Performance testing environments are crucial to understanding how the software will perform in production and identifying potential bottlenecks.

Databases often become the biggest bottleneck, so careful selection of databases based on usage patterns and utilizing micro-services architecture principles can mitigate these challenges. Creating a separate Data Lake/Warehouse for reporting and analytics purposes is essential and data retention policies must be defined to manage data effectively.

Cost efficiency is a continuous concern, even in the cloud environment, and fintech companies must enforce infrastructure cost policies to prevent unexpected spending. Resiliency across partner organizations is also emphasized, as fintechs rely heavily on other partners, fintechs and banks to perform various operations such as KYC, disbursal of funds and collection of payments, so technology teams must build resilience across partners for stability, performance and growth.

DQ: The payments industry is continuously evolving with the introduction of new technologies and changing customer preferences. How does mPokket stay at the forefront of these industry developments, and what steps are taken to ensure the company remains adaptable and innovative in a rapidly changing landscape?

Prasad Pathapati: mPokket’s core business is in lending, so partnering with multiple payment gateway providers with superior customer experience and choice of payment options will help our customers to leverage payment options of their choice to make repayments on time. We also constantly evaluate the trends in this space to ensure we are meeting customers’ preferences. We have built our systems in a way that new payment gateways or choices can be integrated into existing systems.

DQ: What are some of the key factors that have contributed to mPokket’s achievements and innovation in the payments space?

Prasad Pathapati: Several key factors have contributed to mPokket’s achievements and innovation in the payments space. First, the company’s razor-sharp focus on serving the underserved, particularly college students and young professionals with limited credit footprint, has driven its success. Second, mPokket nurtures a culture of fearless and aggressive experimentation, enabling a deep understanding of its target segment’s needs and building products tailored to them.

Investments in AI and ML have been crucial in continuously improving underwriting models and enhancing customer engagement. Modernizing technology stacks has resulted in increased performance and scalability, directly improving user experiences. Finally, our team of highly-motivated individuals, guided by the vision of empowering the country’s youth, has played a significant role in the Company’s achievements.

DQ: Looking ahead, what technological advancements or developments can we expect from mPokket, and how will the engineering team contribute to the company’s future growth and success?

Prasad Pathapati: Looking ahead, we plan to leverage digital transformation through modular micro-service-driven architecture. This approach will enable our technology teams to develop and launch new products and capabilities rapidly, supporting the Company’s future growth. Advanced technologies such as Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence will be employed for various use cases, including smart underwriting and augmenting operational teams to provide superior customer experiences.

Moreover, we aim to explore the potential of Language Learning Models and AI automation to streamline trivial and repetitive tasks, such as creating code or enhancing customer service, contributing to further efficiency gains and overall growth and success. With these strategies in place, mPokket seeks to remain at the forefront of the fintech industry and continue making a positive impact on the lives of customers.