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Below the Quote on Year Ending by Ramki Gaddapati, Co-Founder, APAC CEO & Global CTO, Zeta

“2025 has been a strong year for India’s fintech ecosystem, and 2026 is set to be a defining phase of evolution. We’re already seeing traditional boundaries blur- payments, lending, embedded finance, and banking capabilities are coming closer together as players look to build more integrated and efficient models. While payments continue to be powerful for driving access and engagement, long-term value will come from combining scale with operational efficiency across the financial stack. 

Regulatory clarity will be central to how this next phase plays out. With DPDP Act coming into effect and the RBI’s move toward stronger, multi-factor authentication for digital payments, the industry will spend a lot of time strengthening governance, data responsibility, and security. This shouldn’t be seen as a constraint; it’s an opportunity to build deeper trust and resilience across the ecosystem. 

2026 will also bring sharper focus on where profitability truly lies, along with more thoughtful platform strategies and disciplined technology choices. Not everything needs to be built in-house, and collaboration between banks, fintechs, and technology providers will matter more than ever. 

AI will act as a major catalyst, especially across servicing, collections, underwriting support, and operational efficiency. Customer-facing adoption will follow with the right safeguards in place. At the same time, improvements in KYC, authentication, and fraud prevention will continue to expand access and confidence in digital financial services. 

That said, 2026 is shaping up to be an important inflection point, where scale meets sustainability, innovation aligns with regulation, and the ecosystem moves toward long-term, inclusive growth.”

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