BW Businessworld is set to host the BW Festival of Fintech 2026 on 10 July 2026 at Taj MG Road, Bengaluru, bringing together leaders from across banking, technology, regulation and capital markets for a full day of sessions, panel discussions and award recognitions. The event will be organised around the theme 'Embedded by Design: The Invisible Future of Finance | From Products to Experiences', which looks at how financial services are increasingly being built directly into apps, platforms and everyday products rather than offered as standalone services.
What the Conference Is About
Finance is no longer something people go looking for. It shows up inside the platforms and products they already use, whether that is a buy-now-pay-later option at checkout, insurance built into a ride-hailing app, or credit scoring that runs quietly in the background.
The Festival of Fintech 2026 will examine what this shift means for companies, consumers and regulators alike.
Sessions will cover:
- Embedded payments
- Contextual lending
- API-driven financial products
- AI-based personalisation
- Digital public infrastructure
- Building customer trust when financial services become invisible
The conference will open with a keynote by Shri T. Rabi Sankar, Former Deputy Governor of the Reserve Bank of India, and conclude with a keynote by Ms. Praveena Rai, Managing Director & CEO, Multi Commodity Exchange (MCX).
Speakers and Panellists
Confirmed speakers include:
- Gautam Arora, Director & Area Head, Global Payments Solutions (South India), HSBC Bank
- Prabhas K. Rath, Chief General Manager, Department of Economic and Policy Analysis, SEBI
- Aditi Jain, Head of Strategic Network Engagements, Razorpay
- Abhishek Lahiri, Head of Government Affairs (South Asia), MasterCard
- Shirish Mathur, Head of Digital MSME Lending & Payments, Aditya Birla Capital
- Vipul Saini, Assistant Vice President, Startup Product, HDFC Bank
- Ashish Aggarwal, Vice President & Head of Public Policy, Nasscom
- Antriksh Parmar, Vice President, Financial Services, ONDC
Additional speakers include:
- Pallavi T. Madhok, Women's World Banking
- Sai Sudha, India Fintech Foundation
- Ranganath Sadasiva, Hewlett Packard Enterprise
- Tanya Naik, Pine Labs
- Vamsi Madhav, Finvu AA
- Pawan Kumar Choudhary, Zinnia Digital Services
- Prasanth Ramdas, Khaitan & Co.
- Vinod G., South Indian Bank
- Prasanna Lohar, India Finance Network & Finnovation Lab
- Aakarsh Naidu, B-FAIR Labs
- Bertram D'Souza, Digital Infrastructure Leade
- Samar Rushi Kagalwalla, CSB Bank
- Shashank Sharma, ScoreMe Solutions
Panel discussions will be moderated by:
- Sharat Chandra, EmpowerEdge
- Prithwish Sinha, PwC India
- Avantika Gode, Startup Policy Forum
- Vipul Saini, HDFC Bank
- Dr. Vaibhav S. Joshi, Tableturn Tech
- The Fintech Awards 2026
Alongside the conference, the Fintech Awards 2026 will recognise companies and individuals making significant contributions to India's financial technology ecosystem.
Award categories include:
- Digital payments
- Digital lending
- Insurtech
- Wealthtech
- Blockchain
- Artificial Intelligence
- Cybersecurity
- Founders
- Policymakers
- Institutions driving digital banking
The awards aim to provide industry recognition while creating opportunities for engagement with investors, regulators and potential business partners.
The Bigger Picture
The BW Festival of Fintech, launched in 2021, has grown into one of India's leading fintech events.
The 2026 edition comes at a time when embedded finance is moving beyond a niche concept and is reshaping how businesses across e-commerce, mobility, healthcare and other sectors design products and deliver financial services. |
