D91 Labs—our vision
Build an open source community to provide resources for fintech and financial inclusion
D91 Labs conducts in-depth research to empower fintech creators, developers and designers to build high-quality financial products for Indians.
Usually, financial services are built for people with steady incomes, who are accustomed to digital products and can be onboarded with ease. This, however, does not represent all of India.
Many Indians are still part of the informal economy. They earn variable incomes, undertake mostly cash-based transactions and depend highly on informal sources to service their financial needs. We are yet to understand their lives and design better financial solutions for them.
And so, D91 Labs is dedicated to understanding how Indians—especially, the underbanked and unbanked—use tech to achieve financial goals, safeguard against shocks and improve their standard of living.
A brief history of D91 Labs
April, 2019
D91 Labs founded
Dharmesh BA launches D91 Labs on its the journey towards financial inclusion.
August, 2019
First article series published
The start of on-ground research on the financial lives of Bharat's working class.
October, 2019
First workshop conducted
A workshop with selected fintechs in the city, to examine opportunities for inclusive design.
February, 2020
“Future of Data Sharing” published
A UX playbook, built with TTC Labs, for consented data sharing using Account Aggregators.
December, 2020
“Personal Finance Survey, 2020” released
A survey of the financial choices made by Indians—around income, expenses, credit and insurance.
May, 2021
New leadership ushered in
Monami Dasgupta joins us as Head of Research. Her previous workplaces include IDBI bank, Dvara Research and the Bharat Inclusion Initiative by CIIE-IIM (A).
July, 2021
“Inner circle” launched
A space to collaborate on the shared goal of achieving financial inclusion.
October, 2021
“Covid and fintech” series released
A study of the changes and challenges faced by fintech firms during the Covid-19 pandemic.
January, 2022
“Banking on women” launched
Exploration of financial journeys of women in Bharat—on managing money, using digital services and making financial decisions.
May, 2022
Launched D91 Labs on Youtube
Started D91 Labs Idea Series - conversations around financial innovations with founders and researchers
September, 2022
ONDC—Revolutionizing e-commerce for last-mile merchants
Research on how ONDC can change the e-commerce experience for merchants in Bharat.
October, 2022
Digital payments for the next half billion
A study on exploring the opportunities and challenges that innovations in digital payments offer to the next half-billion.
November, 2022
Deceptive Designs in Fintech Apps
A study on identifying the deceptive UX patterns in fintech apps
Who we research for
All our research and design insights are open source, to support the work and efforts of various stakeholders in the fintech ecosystem—
Fintech and financial institutions
User researchers and designers
Regulatory and industry bodies
Last mile customers
What we publish
Contextual user research
Snapshots of the financial lives of people across India—for fintech creators, developers and other stakeholders—to build empathy for a wide array of end consumers.
Industry insights
Opinions from industry experts and enthusiasts who bring their practical knowledge to all things fintech, and suggest better UX practices for all cohorts of Indians.
Fintech playbooks
Playbooks to develop and design fintech products for inefficiently-served, under-served and unserved Indians, which address concerns discovered through all our research.
Know more about our work or collaborate with us—
Email us
Reach out on d91@setu.co
Collaborate with us
Join the Inner circle
Subscribe to our blog
Check Tales of Bharat, for write-ups on financial inclusion, fintech, and the financial journeys of Indians