'Please Don't Come After Us': Jay Kotak To Zerodha’s Nikhil Kamath — Here's Why
Speaking at Global Investors Meet 2025, Kamath said that new-gen players may not be ready to disrupt the banking business even if they wanted, pointing out the regulatory barrier in the space.
The fintech landscape in India has drastically changed over the last decade. New-gen startups like Zerodha have revolutionised how people manage their finances. Traditional players have been forced to innovate for survival in this changing landscape. But is it time for new players to enter the banking space? According to Zerodha co-founder Nikhil Kamath, it may not be easy.
Speaking at Global Investors Meet 2025 in Bengaluru, Kamath said that new-gen players may not be ready to disrupt the banking business even if they wanted, pointing out the regulatory barrier in the space.
Kamath's comments came in response to a light-hearted remark by Jay Kotak, co-head of Kotak 811, during a panel discussion titled 'Leading the Charge: Young Innovators Shaping India’s Future,' about the growing influence of fin-tech firms like Zerodha.
"You've already disrupted the broking business, please don't come after us," Kotak said while commenting on gaps in the financial sector and whether startups could build solutions around them.
"We won't get a licence even if we wanted," Kamath said noting the regulatory barriers that traditional banking space has in India.
Zerodha, founded in 2010 by brothers Nithin Kamath and Nikhil Kamath, has been at the forefront of driving change in stock trading. The platform made stock trading more accessible to people with a low-cost, technology-driven model that offered zero brokerage on equity investments and flat fees for trades.
Zerodha was the top brokerage firm in terms of active users until October 2023 before fintech startup Groww surpassed it to become India's leading brokerage.
Speaking on the changing banking metrics in India, Jay Kotak said that the entry of UPI and Aadhaar has been a game changer in the space, which until 8 or 10 years ago was just running on the ancient model.
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"UPI has completely streamlined small ticket transactions, eliminating the need for cash. Aadhaar has changed the concept of KYC and made it so much more frictionless. Demonetization and COVID together changed mindset, and the handset and telecom revolution changed the availability in people's hands. I think that has fundamentally transformed banking and all financial services," Jay added.
According to Kotak, banks in their current shape and form 'best be worried'.
Kotak said that the banking system in India needs to be more 'empathetic' towards its customers in order to survive amidst the growing influence of fin-tech startups
"I think from a banking system level we are not empathetic enough towards our customers...We need to do much better in terms of how we treat our customers. In terms of telecalling, brand experience, quality of our mobile apps. We are light years behind where we need to be and where our competitive fin techs are right now," Kotak said at the Global Investors Meet, Invest Karnataka event 2025 in Bengaluru," he said.
The discussion took place at the Invest Karnataka event 2025 in Bengaluru on Wednesday, Feb. 12.
