A lighthearted chat between Kotak 811 co-head Jay Kotak and Zerodha co-founder Nikhil Kamath came into the spotlight recently as the duo sat for a panel discussion at the Global Investors Meet 2025 in Bengaluru on Tuesday.
During a conversation at the event, Kotak jokingly made a remark about Zerodha and other financial firms’ rising influence on the fintech sector of India.
“You’ve already disrupted the broking business, please don’t come after us,” Kotak told Kamath, as the audience burst into laughter.
Kamath however was more serious in his response, while highlighting the restraints that companies like Zerodha have to face if they want to enter the banking business.
“We won’t get a licence even if we wanted,” he said.
Fintech firms who want to venture into banking often face strict regulations from entities like the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI).
Zerodha, founded in 2010 by Nikhil Kamath and his brother Nithin, changed the stock trading landscape in India, which was not as popular as it is now. With its low-cost, tech-driven strategies, the company created a shift in the country’s broking industry without spending any money on advertising.
It introduced features like zero brokerage on equity investments and flat fees for trades, attracting millions of users on its platform.
Till October 2023, Zerodha remained the top brokerage firm in India before its competitor Groww took away the rank.
However, the company has still maintained its presence in the brokerage landscape of India, expanding into the financial education segment with ‘Varsity’. It has also introduced a platform named ‘Coin’ for direct investments in mutual funds.
‘Banks not empathetic enough’
Meanwhile, in his address at the panel discussion named “Leading the Charge: Young Innovators Shaping India’s Future”, Jay Kotak highlighted the gaps that exist in India’s banking system.
According to him, the Indian banking system is “lightyears behind” from where it actually needs to be.
“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 and quality of our mobile apps. We are light years behind where we need to be and where our competitive fintechs are right now,” he said.