HDFC Bank’s Digital Innovation Summit (DIS), is the bank’s annual conference which allows
fintech and start-ups from across the globe to pitch their ideas to the bank. This year, the Bank has joined hands with Startup India in its endeavor to harness the start-up and fintech ecosystem and get access to innovative ideas for potential application and deployment.
DIS is also the platform where the Bank unveils marquee innovative products or services to the
world. In 2017, the Bank showcased its Humanoid, IRA (Intelligent Robotic Assistant) at DIS
2017. This year as well the bank will unveil its latest digital initiative at DIS 2018, which will be
held on November 28-29 in the capital city.
Over 150 entries from startups and fin-techs were received for the summit over the past few
months. Out of this, 40 entries have been shortlisted not just from India, but also from
Germany, Israel, UK, Singapore and Canada. These startups and fin-techs will get an
opportunity to present their ideas to juries comprising of senior management from the Bank
over two days. The top 5 ideas selected by the jury will then be further evaluated for potential
partnerships and deployment.
The innovative ideas will be introduced in the areas such as Mobile Banking, Customer
Experience, Cyber Security, Social Banking, Payments, Branch Automation, and Operational
Efficiency. The last two editions of DIS enabled the Bank to identify start-ups and fin-techs who
work on technologies like AI, ML, Automation, Internet of Things, and Emerging Payments etc.
Senseforth, Niki.ai and Absentia VR are some of the winners from DIS 2016 and 2017. HDFC
Bank’s chatbot EVA, which has already handled more than 8 million queries since launch last
year is powered by technology offering from Bengaluru based AI start-up Senseforth
Technologies, one of the winner from DIS 2016. Similarly Niki.ai enabled the bank to introduce
Facebook on Chat, a conversational chatbot.
“DIS has become one of the important platforms for HDFC Bank to partner and work with the
startup and fin-tech ecosystem, not just from India, but globally. This year, we have also
partnered with Startup India to further reinforce our commitment towards encouraging and
nurturing startups and fin-techs. DIS is a marriage of disruptive technologies from startups and
Bank’s domain expertise and customer focus. The innovative ideas emerging from DIS enables
us to develop and deploy products and services that helps enhance efficiencies and give an
experience to our customers. For the startups and fin-tech, their ideas find a market place
through the Bank’s huge customer base. At the end, it’s a win-win for all,” said Nitin Chugh,
country head – digital banking, HDFC Bank.
Evaluation is done on the following four parameters:
1) Uniqueness,
2) Business Potential,
3) Usability and Scalability,
4) Compatibility with HDFC Bank’s business and technology platforms.
In the 3rd edition, entries have been in the following categories: Internet of Things (IoT), Virtual Reality (VR), Artificial Intelligence (AI), Blockchain, Risk & Fraud Detection and Analytics