Monami Dasgupta

#11 Pragati | Investing in a brighter future

I invest to have a better lifestyle. I am trying to stabilize my career as I want to become financially independent and early retirement is an aspiration for me.

#15 Dimple | Inspiring hope for rural business women

To be honest, in the initial phase of my journey a lot of people have tried to fool me for the simple reason that I am a woman.

#2 Tara

As solo entrepreneurs, we should always fix the cost of our effort because if we were to hire somebody else, they would have also taken their share.

#5 Ritika | From teaching kids to learning business

Initially, most of my investments were for my children, but now they're old enough and don't need it. Since that money and my Guwahati flat rent had accumulated, my brother suggested that I invest it.

#1 Rachana

In my life, I have learned the hard way about the value of financial knowledge and so I am educating my daughter about finances at a young age itself.

#8 Bhakti | Re-entering the workforce after 12 years

In my house, though I am the most comfortable with digital payments, somewhere my decision-making becomes weak when it comes to financial matters because I have been dependent on my husband till now.

Mapping consumer-led frauds in digital lending

Digital lending fraud is rising rapidly. This blog maps fraud risks across lending stages and explores how lenders can balance trust, innovation, and risk mitigation.

#18 Farah | Silver lining of cloud kitchens

I am not aware of how to do things online, so I rely on my husband to manage my finances. But with the right guidance, I hope to change that for myself soon.

Has UPI Lite solved for small-value transactions in India?

In our first blog for the Digital Payment for the Next Half Billion series, we explain the UPI Lite model, and its various use cases along with design suggestions for payment apps offering UPI Lite.

#6 Preksha | Investing in kids, at home and at work

Not everybody is from the banking sector, so a platform to help bridge the financial knowledge gap will make it much easier for the masses to grasp things without feeling like we are lacking.

#7 Sandhya | From IT to agri-entrepreneurship

If my parents hadn’t told me the importance of investing, I probably wouldn’t have started. Having a service that increases awareness about finances will definitely benefit everyone.

#20 Arundathi | Chief of all trades

No matter how much I have studied, the environment in a village is such that most of us are not very technologically savvy and are unaware of how to transition to the digital age without assistance.

Bridging the credit gap with 'Buy now pay later' products

'Pay Later' products have the potential to provide small-ticket loans to customers who are new to credit or do not own a credit card. Read to know how

Do people prefer financial advice generated by ChatGPT over certified human advisors?

Can AI-generated financial advice compete with traditional human advice? Our survey findings reveal a shifting preference!

Why do we need ONDC for e-commerce?

This blog is a quick introduction to the ONDC model and its intended purpose of providing better e-commerce access to the merchants of Bharat

International Women’s Day webinar

On the occasion of International Women’s Day, this webinar looks at women’s access to and usage of traditional / digital financial products and services.

#9 Anupama | From being digital first to digitizing other women

So what happens in villages is that people really try to fool you when you are a woman and think that you don't understand what has to be done in terms of financial matters.

Can no-code and low-code applications boost digitization and financial inclusion?

Applications that empower small businesses and institutions in building a digital presence without detailed know-how in software development.

Outsmarting Fraudsters in Digital Lending: Detection and Mitigation Strategies for Lenders

Part 2 of our blog series maps how digital lenders are using AI, analytics, and collaboration to combat fraud, ensuring security while maintaining seamless UX in a rapidly evolving threat landscape.

Embedded Finance - 101

This blog articulates the meaning, mechanisms and business motives behind offering embedded finance solutions.

#16 Mary | Carving out a niche for herself

Sure you need money to do things, but thinking about personal development is also important and money is not the only factor that comes into play.

Tricked by Design: Deceptive Patterns in Indian Fintech Apps

We conducted an audit of popular fintech apps and assessed for deceptive design used by them. Here's what we found.

Designing digital financial products for last-mile users

In this episode of D91 Labs Idea Series, we have with us Kanika Kumar and Anukriti Kedia from IDEO. Under the Last Mile Money program and based on the insights from 100+ financial products across the world, they have built a design guide to inspire teams to build financial products for new internet users. Are you a fintech or a financial institution that is building digital financial products for underserved last-mile users? Then this is an episode you don't want to miss!

'Bridging' the data gap one consensual data transfer at a time.

What Jigneshbhai's daily life and activities tells us about account aggregators!

#4 Bhavana | One Mandala at a time

Initially, it hurts to pay for investments every month because that money cannot be used for other things, but eventually when you see your money grow, it feels great.

D91 Labs Idea Series - #4 Sasidhar Thumuluri

Our guest for the 4th episode of the D91 Labs Idea Series is Sasidhar Thumuluri, MD and CEO of Sub-K impact solution. Sub-K is a digital finance (Fintech) company that offers affordable, accessible, and scalable financial and payment services to the underserved segment. In this extensive interview, we ask Sasidhar some hard questions about digitizing the decades-old business model of cash-based MFI loan repayments. Sub-K has witnessed steady growth in the number of digital repayment made by its borrowers. This interview could be relevant to MFI institutions and researchers.

Financial report card of the people of India (Assets)

We have parsed through the All India Debt and Investment Survey (2019) to map where Indians stand in terms of accessing and using financial products and services.

#10 Zainab | Building structures to building narratives

I believe that in case an emergency arises, we should be in a financially stable position to fight that. I never want to be in a situation where I have to go to someone else and ask for money.

The future of microloans—Part 2

Can tech aid in the implementation of the RBI's proposals?

D91 Labs Idea Series—#2 Sonal Agrawal

Sonal Agrawal, COO and co-founder of Lakshya inclusion services, talks about innovative and suitable financial solutions for the financially underserved segment.

Can WhatsApp drive financial inclusion in Rural India?

For the 8th episode of the D91 Labs Idea Series, we have with us Pooja Haldea and Vartika Shukla, from the Centre of Social and Behaviour Change (CSBC) at Ashoka university.

D91 Labs Idea Series - #3 Mahavir Chopra

Mahavir Chopra is the Founder and CEO of Beshak.org. He has 17 yrs of experience in digital insurance distribution before it was called Insurtech and previously worked at Coverfox. In this interview, we have discussed some of the challenges in building and distributing suitable, tailored, and unbiased insurance-related services.

Decentralising e-commerce—Anup Pai on ONDC & eSamudaay

Our guest for the 5th episode of the D91 Labs Idea Series is Anup Pai, Founder, and CEO of e-Samudaay. E-samudaay is a collective aiming to empower entrepreneurs with DIY digital tools which can enable them to run digital businesses, serve their communities, and spark grassroots local innovations In this interview, we ask Anup about his journey of building e-Samudaay and what that means for small-scale sellers in India. Anup is building e-Samudaay for Tier 3,4 and 5 cities and has already demonstrated it's potential for the sellers of Udupi. In recent times, Govt. is testing the Open Network for Digital commerce (ONDC) which aims to improve discoverability for small sellers and decentralize the e-commerce experience for them. Anup shares with us e-Samudaay's plans to participate in ONDC and offer a revolutionary experience for the millions of sellers in Bharat.

Pagdi rent system — 101

What if we told you that you could live in South Bombay and pay a rent of Rs. 500. Would you believe me? Well, you can. Read to know more

Covid-19 pandemic and the Fintech industry — An introduction

An introduction to the “Covid and Fintech Industry” series, that present key takeaways from our research through existing literature on this subject and interaction with members of the fintech community.

#12 Anjali | Coping with a chequered life

The general financial advice anybody would give you is to have six months worth of your salary in liquid cash, but that is not the case for me.

#3 Susan

For me, trust and confidence in the institution is of utmost importance when taking financial decisions such as loans because there are a lot of swindlers who try to extract money from a debtor.

Chit Fund 101

How is a standard chit fund product designed and what makes this instrument so attractive

#13 Priya | Tailoring her financial future

Whenever I want to make an investment, I talk to my husband as he is very supportive or even my father-in-law sometimes because according to me male members have a lot of knowledge about these things.

Covid-19 pandemic and the Fintech industry — Key takeaways, Part I

The first blog of our 3 part series. In this, we discuss the fintech industry’s commitment to expanding business through new customers, new products, and reimagined services.

Understanding digital payment journeys of new to UPI users

For the 9th episode of the D91 Labs Idea Series, we have with us Beni Chugh and Srikara Prasad from Dvara Research’s Future of Finance initiative In this interview, we will delve deep into understanding the new-to-UPI user’s experience where our guests will share the findings from a behavioural study with 262 respondents from Kerala and Uttar Pradesh.

#14 Deeksha | Credit in the time of Covid-19

In order to be able to move forward with finances, it is important to be able to trust the system or the person who is willing to guide you.

#19 Raksha | Mastering the hustle culture despite setbacks

Several times, irrespective of my skill sets, organizations have decided not to move forward with me because I don’t have the right qualifications on paper.

#17 Pavitra | The power of starting small

I am happy where I currently am because there have been many ups and downs in my life before. Therefore, I feel as long as things are going smoothly, it’s fine.

The future of microloans—Part 1

How RBI's new consultation paper provides impetus to innovate and places customers at the core of the sector.

Digitizing Small and Micro-Merchants in India - What’s missing?

Our first blog of this series explores the current landscape of small and micro-merchants in India and the potential for digitization to improve business outcomes.

Can digital payments increase the access to capital for a small business?

Using proprietor data from the Indifi - a lending fintech, this research paper highlights the positive relationship between digital payments and fintech lending in India.

Banking on women

Introducing a series chronicling the financial journeys of the women of Bharat