Tech at the Helm: Clix Capital’s Strategy for a Competitive Edge

Technology is the enabler, and we are the partners to the business to make it happen. Right from customer onboarding until the loan gets closed, technology plays a vital role in the entire cycle—from sourcing to servicing and closure, shared Vijay Kumar Ramakrishnan, Chief Technology Officer, Clix Capital, in an exclusive interaction with Srajan Agarwal of Elets News Network (ENN).

As Clix Capital operates in diverse financial sectors, including digital lending and consumer finance, how does your organization leverage technology to offer customers a seamless digital experience and stay competitive in the market?

So, technology is the enabler, and we are the partners to the business to make it happen. Right from customer onboarding until the loan gets closed, technology plays a vital role in the entire cycle—from sourcing to servicing and closure. We’re working on a sales management application for the pre-login stage, handling everything from lead generation to the credit journey. Our credit journey is fully digitised on our LOS platform, which then integrates with our robust parent loan management system—a core services sales solution similar to a core banking solution. This system then integrates with our Oracle Ledger general ledger.

This year, I’m adding a few layers, including the digitisation of the sales management application. We also plan to introduce a treasury and asset liability management applications. Despite being seven years old, we faced challenges during the two years of COVID-19, but now we are making a profit. We’re digitising our process by implementing the right applications and API integrations to achieve 100% digital operations.

What strategies does Cliz Capital employ to ensure data security and privacy, especially as cybersecurity becomes increasingly crucial and digital innovations continue to advance? How do these strategies influence your operations and customer interactions?

We believe in fostering growth within a controlled environment, ensuring the protection of the CIA triad of cybersecurity: confidentiality, integrity, and availability. To achieve this, we have established four key gateway securities covering various products, such as data leakage prevention and digital rights management.

Our security measures include:

• Email Gateway
• Web Gateway
• Endpoint Gateway
• Network Gateway

Each of these gateways is continually evolving as we implement new projects annually. While we have not pursued formal certifications, we are upgrading our security standards to comply with ISO 27001.

This year, we are enhancing our security measures by integrating AI for real-time threat detection and prevention. This ongoing commitment ensures we meet all necessary security parameters.

Could you provide some insights into how technological initiatives or partnerships are taken by Clix Capital to expand its digital from footprint, improving risk management practices, or enhancing the product offerings?

On the sales management application front, we have partnered with a startup called Up Only. We’re conducting a proof of concept (POC) for one of their products and leveraging Penant’s robust platform for healthcare equipment, hospital loans, and school loans. The chosen solution will become our enterprise-level sales management application.

Previously, our loan origination system was implemented on a small scale, but we are now scaling it up to an enterprise level. We are collaborating with Penant and Up Only, as well as Quantum Finance for treasury management and asset liability management applications, given our AUM size of over 6000+.

For chatbot integration, we have partnered with the award-winning Yellow AI, ensuring our bots are fully digitized with AI capabilities. This year, we plan to enhance our API integrations with a new- age digitized provider and have recently partnered for advanced AI/ML screening, UCIC with group exposure, and golden profiles.

Our approach involves multiple 360-degree partnerships. Despite having a lean team, we operate efficiently with one-fourth the budget and one-fifth the team size compared to our peers.

Drawing on my 30 years of experience—20 years in banking and 10 years in IT as CIO of Bandhan Bank, CTO of Yes Bank, CEO Tech of Deutsche Bank, and CISO and CEO of Comtech— I’ve learned the importance of focusing on five key domains:

• New to Business: Implementing new projects.
• Change the Business: Continuously evaluating and updating current parameters.
• Grow the Business (GTB): Rolling out new digital initiatives and expanding growth branches with automated MIS dashboards.
• Run the Business: Ensuring high uptime for business operations, with an average uptime of 99.6-99.7%.
• Secure the Business (STB): Providing comprehensive 360-degree security, including cloud, app, database, and middleware security.

These strategies help us maintain a strong, secure, and innovative operational framework.

As you know, the RBI has recently launched e the digital currency or eRupee. So what are your views on the CBDC?

Currently, we are adopting a wait-and-watch approach, closely monitoring developments before taking action. However, we plan to participate actively in the future. Initiatives like Udhyam are proving highly beneficial for MSMEs, and we are supportive of these efforts. We will be leveraging their lending platform to extend credit to many MSMEs.

Additionally, we have partnered with a major multinational company to provide loans for solar and renewable energy projects. This aligns with our strategy to expand our product range, including school loans from kindergarten to grade 12.

Following discussions with our board, we intend to extend our reach to undergraduate colleges and AI courses within the education sector. This will also apply to hospital loans, medical lab loans, and unsecured business loans. In the direct-to-customer (D2C) unsecured loan segment, we rank third after Bajaj and Tata through our incubated company. Our BLDSA division is experiencing significant growth.

Also Read | The Digital Lending Revolution: How Fintech Innovations Are Changing the Game

Recently, we achieved a milestone by completing one of the industry’s first co-lending integrations with Karnataka Bank. This state-of- the-art integration, a first in the bank’s hundred- year history on the corporate side, was widely celebrated on LinkedIn.

We are embracing extensive API integrations and leveraging cutting-edge technology. The future of lending is centralized and digital, incorporating both physical and digital elements—phygital. This hybrid approach is the way forward, and we are fully committed to it.