Sudhir has 35 years of Industry experience in Senior and Middle level leadership positions. He is a keen follower of Mahatma Gandhi. He is pursuing PhD in Management from Uttarakhand Open University, India.
The citizens are moving from rural and smaller towns towards urban cities for better livelihood, ... more The citizens are moving from rural and smaller towns towards urban cities for better livelihood, healthcare, education and infrastructure. Smart cities are urban planned developments to address the faster pace of urbanization by creating sustainable infrastructure. Smart cities leverage advanced technologies to build infrastructure and solutions to enhance the quality of life of their citizens and promote sustainable development. Digital finance or fintech firms use emerging technologies to deliver innovative banking and financial products and services using smart connected devices. The terms fintech, financial technology and digital finance are used interchangeably and have the same context. Both, digital finance and smart cities use modern information and communication technologies to deliver innovative solutions. Digital finance integration in smart city technology is important for the seamless delivery of services associated with a financial transaction. The smart city framework has sustainability as one of the main principles and is achieved using sustainable practices like green buildings, green spaces, renewable energy, waste recycling, intelligent transportation, smart grids, etc. The United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), lays importance on the coexistence of economic growth, social equity, and taking care of the environment. The principles of Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) were proposed in 2004 to assess & evaluate sustainability, and the ethical impact of business on the environment. The concept of green finance refers to those financial products that promote environmental sustainability, such as climate change projects, and sustainable infrastructure like transport systems, energyefficient buildings, etc. Digital finance integration in smart cities promotes the delivery of seamless financial services and enables transparency and sustainability. The timely availability of funds, coordination between stakeholders, cyber threats, financial scams, digital literacy and financial literacy are some of the key challenges to the success of a smart sustainable city. There are opportunities to use blockchain technology for transparency in property transactions and 2 land records. Both digital finance and smart city are new emerging domains, and one can expect innovations in digital finance, to be useful for smart sustainable cities.
Purpose: This paper studies the impact of digital financial literacy on financial technology prod... more Purpose: This paper studies the impact of digital financial literacy on financial technology product adoption by banking customers. The paper attempts to measure the impact of digital and financial literacy on fintech adoption using the TAM model.
Research Design & Approach: Customers of public and private sector banks in Uttarakhand, India, were surveyed to measure digital literacy, financial literacy and perceptions of fintech adoption. The purposive sampling method is used to collect data from 546 bank customers. The study tries to measure the effect of digital literacy and financial literacy on fintech adoption. SmartPLS 4 software was used for data analysis. The measurement model was used to establish reliability and validity, while the structured model was used to test the hypotheses and to establish model explanatory power, effect size and predictive power for future observations.
Findings: The study observes that there is a significant effect of digital literacy and financial literacy on fintech adoption. The dependent variables viz. financial ease of use, perceived usefulness and relative advantage have a high degree of model explanatory power. The independent constructs of digital literacy and financial literacy have a strong effect on all three dependent variables. The study establishes a high degree of predictive relevance for future observations.
Originality/value: This research attempts to contribute to fintech adoption by attempting to use PLS-SEM to understand the level of digital literacy and financial literacy and the perception of fintech adoption with Indian data consisting of public and private sector banks in India. The study will provide insights to banks, financial institutions and fintech firms to develop strategies for improving fintech adoption.
Keywords: Digital literacy, Financial literacy, Financial technology, Fintech, Adoption, Digital finance
The covid-19 pandemic forced society and businesses to adapt to a new way of life by embracing di... more The covid-19 pandemic forced society and businesses to adapt to a new way of life by embracing digital online channels using internet technology on smart mobile phones, laptops, desktops, notebooks or other smart devices. Financial technology or fintech firms use newer technologies to innovate the banking and financial domain by offering easy-to-use products and services, by transforming processes, products or services, with a material impact. The initial fintech wave was led by startups or large e-commerce companies, who were offering financial products, but were not financial companies, and were using banking systems at the backend. However, Covid-19 forced all businesses to be digital, and banks were in catch-up mode with fintech startups. Most of the banks have online websites and banking apps. During Covid-19, whenever the lockdown was relaxed for a few hours, there were long queues of customers outside banks and post offices, waiting for their turn to complete financial activity. This paper is a study of the adoption of financial technology by customers of the three largest public sector banks in Uttarakhand viz. State Bank of India, Bank of Baroda and Punjab National Bank. The study observes that although all customers have smart mobile phones, along with the internet, and use social media, however, when it comes to online financial transactions, especially payments and transfers, they prefer to use third-party apps in place of their bank app. The banks need to make their apps easy to use, win the trust of customers, and increase awareness of digital banking.
Key Words: Fintech; Financial Technology; Banks; Digital Banking
Fintech in simple terms is leveraging technology to deliver banking and financial solutions to in... more Fintech in simple terms is leveraging technology to deliver banking and financial solutions to individual and enterprise customers. This is one of the fastest-growing sectors in both developed & developing countries with India amongst the top three fintech startups globally. Blockchain, Cryptocurrency, AI, Data Analytics, Machine learning, Big data, Robotics, and Cloud are some of the top technologies leveraged by fintech firms to deliver products. Domestic & global broadband connectivity setup by telecom service providers made available basic infrastructure needed for fintech growth. One of the early fintech innovations was the installation of the first ATM by Barclays Bank in 1967. Post global financial crisis in 2008, many ex-employees of financial firms came up with innovative fintech products. The objective of this paper is to identify globally emerging fintech trends. The Qualitative research methodology was used relying on a review of literature, discussion with the professionals and researchers. The emerging trends include IMF focus on leveraging fintech for cross border payments using distributed ledger technology, Augmented reality for customer satisfaction, Digital insurance, Digital invoicing, Crowd-funding, Crowd investing, Robotics investment advisory, Future relationships between Banks and Fintech firms, Central bank regulatory role. It also came out that although there are many research papers on fintech globally, however, there is not much research work carried out on fintech in India and there is an opportunity for further research on innovation and growth of fintech in India.
Sentiments are mental attitudes and play an important role in forming opinions. Sentiment and emo... more Sentiments are mental attitudes and play an important role in forming opinions. Sentiment and emotion are interchangeably used, however have different meanings. The sentiment is a mental attitude or a thought influenced by emotion and has an important role in forming opinions and influencing future decisions of others. Employees are knowledgeable assets for any organization, and their sentiments about their organization, managers, co-workers, etc. create an opinion. The emotional well-being of employees has a direct relationship with the performance of the organization. The World Health Organization declared COVID-19 as a pandemic on March 11, 2020. Many countries declared lockdowns, with unimaginable restrictions to control the spread of this pandemic. This resulted in organizations swiftly adapting to work-fromhome methods, almost overnight. This paper studies the sentiments and emotional wellbeing of employees during the COVID-19 pandemic. The study was conducted undertaking a review of the literature and adopting a framework for sentiment analysis and emotional wellbeing. The study shows that employees have mixed sentiments of feeling excited, positive, anxious, angry, and negative. Most of the participants with positive and excited sentiments believe that this pandemic has created a challenge as well as an opportunity.
Employee emotions have a direct relationship in achieving objectives of the organization and have... more Employee emotions have a direct relationship in achieving objectives of the organization and have an important role in the overall growth and sustainability of both employees and the organizations. Covid-19 was declared as pandemic on March 11, 2020 by the World Health Organisation, and most companies have adapted work from home on very a short notice. This paper studies the emotional wellbeing of private sector employees working from home during Covid-19. A detailed review of the literature was undertaken, and the PERMA framework was used for measuring the emotional wellbeing of employees. The study shows that employees' emotions were mildly positive along with mixed sentiments of anger, sadness, and loneliness. There are recommendations for employers to have a process and governance framework in place for work from home, be prepared for such uncertainties in future, followed with recommendations for employees. The study additionally shows that there were some positive outcomes of working from home, such as a cleaner environment and a better work-life balance.
Banking and financial services are essential services for all organizations including government,... more Banking and financial services are essential services for all organizations including government, public, private, academic, and not-for-profit organizations. The need for all government and non-government businesses to be digital businesses is on the increase, especially due to the situation arising during the COVID-19 pandemic. Organizations were forced to provide online service, even though the complete ecsystem like internet connectivity, smartphones, technology to deliver, or workforce readiness was not completely available. Robotics is a multidisciplinary branch that designs machines that can emulate and replicate human actions, saving time and cost and improving the quality of service. The RPAs in banking and financial services can reduce costs, strengthen compliances, streamline operations, reduce operational risks, and can improve customer services. This study describes in general the emergence of robotics and studies robotics in banking and financial services.
The citizens are moving from rural and smaller towns towards urban cities for better livelihood, ... more The citizens are moving from rural and smaller towns towards urban cities for better livelihood, healthcare, education and infrastructure. Smart cities are urban planned developments to address the faster pace of urbanization by creating sustainable infrastructure. Smart cities leverage advanced technologies to build infrastructure and solutions to enhance the quality of life of their citizens and promote sustainable development. Digital finance or fintech firms use emerging technologies to deliver innovative banking and financial products and services using smart connected devices. The terms fintech, financial technology and digital finance are used interchangeably and have the same context. Both, digital finance and smart cities use modern information and communication technologies to deliver innovative solutions. Digital finance integration in smart city technology is important for the seamless delivery of services associated with a financial transaction. The smart city framework has sustainability as one of the main principles and is achieved using sustainable practices like green buildings, green spaces, renewable energy, waste recycling, intelligent transportation, smart grids, etc. The United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), lays importance on the coexistence of economic growth, social equity, and taking care of the environment. The principles of Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) were proposed in 2004 to assess & evaluate sustainability, and the ethical impact of business on the environment. The concept of green finance refers to those financial products that promote environmental sustainability, such as climate change projects, and sustainable infrastructure like transport systems, energyefficient buildings, etc. Digital finance integration in smart cities promotes the delivery of seamless financial services and enables transparency and sustainability. The timely availability of funds, coordination between stakeholders, cyber threats, financial scams, digital literacy and financial literacy are some of the key challenges to the success of a smart sustainable city. There are opportunities to use blockchain technology for transparency in property transactions and 2 land records. Both digital finance and smart city are new emerging domains, and one can expect innovations in digital finance, to be useful for smart sustainable cities.
Purpose: This paper studies the impact of digital financial literacy on financial technology prod... more Purpose: This paper studies the impact of digital financial literacy on financial technology product adoption by banking customers. The paper attempts to measure the impact of digital and financial literacy on fintech adoption using the TAM model.
Research Design & Approach: Customers of public and private sector banks in Uttarakhand, India, were surveyed to measure digital literacy, financial literacy and perceptions of fintech adoption. The purposive sampling method is used to collect data from 546 bank customers. The study tries to measure the effect of digital literacy and financial literacy on fintech adoption. SmartPLS 4 software was used for data analysis. The measurement model was used to establish reliability and validity, while the structured model was used to test the hypotheses and to establish model explanatory power, effect size and predictive power for future observations.
Findings: The study observes that there is a significant effect of digital literacy and financial literacy on fintech adoption. The dependent variables viz. financial ease of use, perceived usefulness and relative advantage have a high degree of model explanatory power. The independent constructs of digital literacy and financial literacy have a strong effect on all three dependent variables. The study establishes a high degree of predictive relevance for future observations.
Originality/value: This research attempts to contribute to fintech adoption by attempting to use PLS-SEM to understand the level of digital literacy and financial literacy and the perception of fintech adoption with Indian data consisting of public and private sector banks in India. The study will provide insights to banks, financial institutions and fintech firms to develop strategies for improving fintech adoption.
Keywords: Digital literacy, Financial literacy, Financial technology, Fintech, Adoption, Digital finance
The covid-19 pandemic forced society and businesses to adapt to a new way of life by embracing di... more The covid-19 pandemic forced society and businesses to adapt to a new way of life by embracing digital online channels using internet technology on smart mobile phones, laptops, desktops, notebooks or other smart devices. Financial technology or fintech firms use newer technologies to innovate the banking and financial domain by offering easy-to-use products and services, by transforming processes, products or services, with a material impact. The initial fintech wave was led by startups or large e-commerce companies, who were offering financial products, but were not financial companies, and were using banking systems at the backend. However, Covid-19 forced all businesses to be digital, and banks were in catch-up mode with fintech startups. Most of the banks have online websites and banking apps. During Covid-19, whenever the lockdown was relaxed for a few hours, there were long queues of customers outside banks and post offices, waiting for their turn to complete financial activity. This paper is a study of the adoption of financial technology by customers of the three largest public sector banks in Uttarakhand viz. State Bank of India, Bank of Baroda and Punjab National Bank. The study observes that although all customers have smart mobile phones, along with the internet, and use social media, however, when it comes to online financial transactions, especially payments and transfers, they prefer to use third-party apps in place of their bank app. The banks need to make their apps easy to use, win the trust of customers, and increase awareness of digital banking.
Key Words: Fintech; Financial Technology; Banks; Digital Banking
Fintech in simple terms is leveraging technology to deliver banking and financial solutions to in... more Fintech in simple terms is leveraging technology to deliver banking and financial solutions to individual and enterprise customers. This is one of the fastest-growing sectors in both developed & developing countries with India amongst the top three fintech startups globally. Blockchain, Cryptocurrency, AI, Data Analytics, Machine learning, Big data, Robotics, and Cloud are some of the top technologies leveraged by fintech firms to deliver products. Domestic & global broadband connectivity setup by telecom service providers made available basic infrastructure needed for fintech growth. One of the early fintech innovations was the installation of the first ATM by Barclays Bank in 1967. Post global financial crisis in 2008, many ex-employees of financial firms came up with innovative fintech products. The objective of this paper is to identify globally emerging fintech trends. The Qualitative research methodology was used relying on a review of literature, discussion with the professionals and researchers. The emerging trends include IMF focus on leveraging fintech for cross border payments using distributed ledger technology, Augmented reality for customer satisfaction, Digital insurance, Digital invoicing, Crowd-funding, Crowd investing, Robotics investment advisory, Future relationships between Banks and Fintech firms, Central bank regulatory role. It also came out that although there are many research papers on fintech globally, however, there is not much research work carried out on fintech in India and there is an opportunity for further research on innovation and growth of fintech in India.
Sentiments are mental attitudes and play an important role in forming opinions. Sentiment and emo... more Sentiments are mental attitudes and play an important role in forming opinions. Sentiment and emotion are interchangeably used, however have different meanings. The sentiment is a mental attitude or a thought influenced by emotion and has an important role in forming opinions and influencing future decisions of others. Employees are knowledgeable assets for any organization, and their sentiments about their organization, managers, co-workers, etc. create an opinion. The emotional well-being of employees has a direct relationship with the performance of the organization. The World Health Organization declared COVID-19 as a pandemic on March 11, 2020. Many countries declared lockdowns, with unimaginable restrictions to control the spread of this pandemic. This resulted in organizations swiftly adapting to work-fromhome methods, almost overnight. This paper studies the sentiments and emotional wellbeing of employees during the COVID-19 pandemic. The study was conducted undertaking a review of the literature and adopting a framework for sentiment analysis and emotional wellbeing. The study shows that employees have mixed sentiments of feeling excited, positive, anxious, angry, and negative. Most of the participants with positive and excited sentiments believe that this pandemic has created a challenge as well as an opportunity.
Employee emotions have a direct relationship in achieving objectives of the organization and have... more Employee emotions have a direct relationship in achieving objectives of the organization and have an important role in the overall growth and sustainability of both employees and the organizations. Covid-19 was declared as pandemic on March 11, 2020 by the World Health Organisation, and most companies have adapted work from home on very a short notice. This paper studies the emotional wellbeing of private sector employees working from home during Covid-19. A detailed review of the literature was undertaken, and the PERMA framework was used for measuring the emotional wellbeing of employees. The study shows that employees' emotions were mildly positive along with mixed sentiments of anger, sadness, and loneliness. There are recommendations for employers to have a process and governance framework in place for work from home, be prepared for such uncertainties in future, followed with recommendations for employees. The study additionally shows that there were some positive outcomes of working from home, such as a cleaner environment and a better work-life balance.
Banking and financial services are essential services for all organizations including government,... more Banking and financial services are essential services for all organizations including government, public, private, academic, and not-for-profit organizations. The need for all government and non-government businesses to be digital businesses is on the increase, especially due to the situation arising during the COVID-19 pandemic. Organizations were forced to provide online service, even though the complete ecsystem like internet connectivity, smartphones, technology to deliver, or workforce readiness was not completely available. Robotics is a multidisciplinary branch that designs machines that can emulate and replicate human actions, saving time and cost and improving the quality of service. The RPAs in banking and financial services can reduce costs, strengthen compliances, streamline operations, reduce operational risks, and can improve customer services. This study describes in general the emergence of robotics and studies robotics in banking and financial services.
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Research Design & Approach: Customers of public and private sector banks in Uttarakhand, India, were surveyed to measure digital literacy, financial literacy and perceptions of fintech adoption. The purposive sampling method is used to collect data from 546 bank customers. The study tries to measure the effect of digital literacy and financial literacy on fintech adoption. SmartPLS 4 software was used for data analysis. The measurement model was used to establish reliability and validity, while the structured model was used to test the hypotheses and to establish model explanatory power, effect size and predictive power for future observations.
Findings: The study observes that there is a significant effect of digital literacy and financial literacy on fintech adoption. The dependent variables viz. financial ease of use, perceived usefulness and relative advantage have a high degree of model explanatory power. The independent constructs of digital literacy and financial literacy have a strong effect on all three dependent variables. The study establishes a high degree of predictive relevance for future observations.
Originality/value: This research attempts to contribute to fintech adoption by attempting to use PLS-SEM to understand the level of digital literacy and financial literacy and the perception of fintech adoption with Indian data consisting of public and private sector banks in India. The study will provide insights to banks, financial institutions and fintech firms to develop strategies for improving fintech adoption.
Keywords: Digital literacy, Financial literacy, Financial technology, Fintech, Adoption, Digital finance
Key Words: Fintech; Financial Technology; Banks; Digital Banking
Research Design & Approach: Customers of public and private sector banks in Uttarakhand, India, were surveyed to measure digital literacy, financial literacy and perceptions of fintech adoption. The purposive sampling method is used to collect data from 546 bank customers. The study tries to measure the effect of digital literacy and financial literacy on fintech adoption. SmartPLS 4 software was used for data analysis. The measurement model was used to establish reliability and validity, while the structured model was used to test the hypotheses and to establish model explanatory power, effect size and predictive power for future observations.
Findings: The study observes that there is a significant effect of digital literacy and financial literacy on fintech adoption. The dependent variables viz. financial ease of use, perceived usefulness and relative advantage have a high degree of model explanatory power. The independent constructs of digital literacy and financial literacy have a strong effect on all three dependent variables. The study establishes a high degree of predictive relevance for future observations.
Originality/value: This research attempts to contribute to fintech adoption by attempting to use PLS-SEM to understand the level of digital literacy and financial literacy and the perception of fintech adoption with Indian data consisting of public and private sector banks in India. The study will provide insights to banks, financial institutions and fintech firms to develop strategies for improving fintech adoption.
Keywords: Digital literacy, Financial literacy, Financial technology, Fintech, Adoption, Digital finance
Key Words: Fintech; Financial Technology; Banks; Digital Banking