Making Meaningful Impact Globally: Cedar-IBSi Banking Summit and IBSi Awards 2023

By Puja Sharma

Mumbai, December 4th, 2023: The Cedar-IBS Intelligence Digital and Core Banking Summit was held on November 24, 2023, to explore the varied viewpoints of global industry experts on topics like Digital Banking, Open Banking, Core Banking Modernisation, and Cloud Adoption.

To initiate the event, Ramkumar Venkataraman, Senior Partner at Cedar, shared valuable insight into the global banking landscape and provided a strategic perspective on Indian banking. He explored how international banks align with and adapt to India’s dynamic payments and digital banking realm.

The event, divided into two halves – bankers participating in the first and FinTech representatives in the second – created a collaborative environment for meaningful connections.

The event, featured a series of panel discussions exploring a variety of topics, including: The Future of Banking; NextGen Core: The Key to being Future-ready; Embracing NextGen Technologies; and Digital Lending and Financial Inclusion. These discussions were moderated by senior experts from Cedar-IBSi, including Partners V. Ramkumar and Amit Jain, Research Director Nikhil Gokhale, and Managing Editor Robin Amlôt.

The event brought various viewpoints to the fore, shedding light on the industry’s evolution and the latest advancements in the technology space. It empowered leaders in the financial sector to take control of product enhancement and increase functionality for a more streamlined experience.

IBSi GFIA and NeoChallenger Banking Awards 2023

The Global FinTech Innovation Awards (GFIAs) and Neo Challenger Bank Awards were announced by IBS intelligence on the same day to recognize and celebrate the outstanding achievements of banks, financial institutions, and technology companies globally.

The GFIA acknowledged the most innovative and impactful projects across 30 categories around the world, including Best BankTech Implementation Awards; Best Core Banking Implementation; Best CRM System Implementation; Best BankTech Implementation Awards; Best Core Banking Implementation; Most Effective Compliance / RegTech Deployment, Most Effective Cybersecurity Deployment; and Most Effective Bank-FinTech Partnership, among others.

Cedar-IBSi uniquely bridges the gap between bankers and tech vendors, acting as an avenue for purposeful collaboration to foster financial innovation. Fifteen such events are held throughout the year, enabling banks and technology innovators worldwide to share insights, foster valuable interactions and expand their networks.

Parag Bhise, CEO at Nucleus Software, which bagged awards in two categories, Best Digital Lending Implementation Award and Most Innovative Use of Process Automation, said, “The GFIA is an excellent initiative by IBS Intelligence. I want to thank IBSi for such a long and promising partnership with Nucleus Software. It has been instrumental in making Nucleus Software visible in the technology ecosystem and giving our work the desired visibility. It is imperative to recognise the excellent work by the financial institutions, banks, and technology providers because financial implementations are overly complex, and a lot of hard work is expected from either implementor.”

Amit Bhapat, Portfolio Owner at Reserve Bank Information Technology, also shared, “FinTech events such as the GFIA function as an oil; they are catalysts that bring people from different backgrounds together, whether they are people from public or private sector banks, FinTechs, or Regulators. It is always important for people to collaborate, share ideas, and indulge in the experience. It is indeed a learning opportunity for everyone.”

Concluding the Cedar-IBSi Global Banking Summit, Sanjiv Anand, Chairman of Cedar Consulting, emphasised the pivotal role of MSMEs in job creation (50-60% of jobs); he underscored the need for a digital lending model tailored to this sector, especially in emerging markets. Sanjiv highlighted the potential of cooperative banks as equivalents to community banks in the Indian context, urging the exploration of digital disruption through affordable technology.

Simplicity emerged as a focal point, advocating for streamlined solutions on mobile apps and real-time lending models, prompting a reflection on the readiness of banks’ organisational structures for such transformative shifts.