Gabriel Budi Sutrisno · · 5 min readCan Indian stock trading apps reignite user growth?
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IN FOCUS
In today’s newsletter, we look at:
- Indian stock trading companies face stagnating user growth after a Covid-19 boom
- Indonesia’s financial services authority’s new guidelines on the use of AI in fintech
- A new crop of players entering the digital banking sector in Southeast Asia
Hi there,
Over the weekend, I binge-watched the show Dumb Money, which was inspired by the real-life GameStop short squeeze in early 2021. While the show reinforced the notion that stock trading carries significant risks, I also learned a valuable lesson: investments – like any commitment – demand time, patience, and persistence.
The same seems to apply to running stock trading apps in India. Like Robinhood – a platform that rose in popularity propelled by GameStop – companies like Zerodha in India experienced a surge in trading activity during the pandemic.
Zerodha’s growth, however, has plateaued since.
Nithin Kamath, CEO and co-founder of Zerodha, even anticipates a 40% decline in his company’s revenue by 2024, as Prabhu Mallikarjunan writes in this week’s Big Story.
Zerodha and another Indian stock trading app, Groww, collectively make up around 40% of the total active user base across India’s investment industry. Faced with stagnant growth in stock trading, Zerodha has recently begun diversifying into mutual funds.
Meanwhile, in the Hot Take, I explore the new guidelines issued by Indonesia’s financial services authority on the use of AI in the country’s fintech industry. Regulating AI is certainly complex, but is regulation what’s needed right now?
— Budi
THE BIG STORY
Is India’s online trading boom facing a reality check?
Image credit: Timmy Loen
Amid the new normal, Indian investment platforms are facing tighter competition, sluggish user growth, and volatile market conditions.
THE HOT TAKE
NEWS YOU SHOULD KNOW
FYI
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