'Leadership Is About Alignment And Clarity Of Direction', Says IPO-Bound Kissht’s Shwetha Iyer

Fintech is a relatively young industry, but leadership pipelines still reflect older financial institutions where women historically had lower representation. The issue is less about capability and more about visibility and early access to decision-making roles.

Personally, I don’t see my journey through the lens of having to prove myself twice. In high-growth environments, credibility tends to come from impact. When you are accountable for outcomes like growth, revenue, and customer experience, the conversation quickly shifts from who you are to what you deliver.

My focus has always been on building functions that drive real business outcomes. When that happens, the rest tends to take care of itself.

I think the difference is often overstated. High-growth environments reward clarity, speed, and the ability to make decisions under uncertainty. Those qualities are not gendered.

What does matter is diversity of perspective. When leadership teams bring different experiences and viewpoints to the table, the quality of decisions improves. In sectors like fintech, where customer behaviour and technology evolve quickly, that diversity becomes especially valuable. Ultimately leadership is less about style and more about alignment and clarity of direction.

There are some interesting behavioural patterns. Women borrowers tend to be more disciplined in repayment and often borrow with a clear purpose. In many cases, the credit is directed toward household needs, education, or other practical priorities.

The bigger gap, however, is not behaviour but access. Many financially responsible women still have limited formal credit history. At Kissht, we see this often. There are users who demonstrate strong financial discipline through digital transactions or spending patterns but remain invisible to traditional credit systems.

Fintech has the opportunity to bridge that gap by recognising real financial behaviour rather than relying only on legacy signals.

The first step is designing products around how people actually manage money rather than how traditional systems expect them to behave. Many women may not have long credit histories, but they often show strong financial discipline through savings habits, digital payments, or household budgeting.

Financial products can sometimes feel intimidating or overly complex. When the experience is simple, transparent, and predictable, participation naturally increases. Expanding financial inclusion is not just about giving access to credit. It is about building confidence in how that credit works.

The regulatory tightening is actually healthy for the industry. It helps distinguish credible, compliant platforms from opportunistic players.

For companies like Kissht, credibility comes from consistency. Customers should clearly understand pricing, repayment schedules, and how the product behaves over time. Responsible collections practices are equally important. The way a company treats customers during difficult moments often defines its brand far more than acquisition campaigns.

Over time, trust builds when the experience consistently matches the promise.

The biggest shift has been moving from purely acquisition-driven marketing to building a stronger narrative around responsible credit and financial empowerment.

In the early stages of fintech growth, performance marketing tends to dominate because scale is the priority. But as the category matures, trust becomes equally important. Over the past year we have expanded our focus toward brand storytelling, partnerships, and content that explains how credit can actually enable progress in people’s lives.

The pivot was not just about marketing channels. It was about broadening the conversation beyond transactions.

Those metrics are important, but the deeper question is whether we are acquiring the right customer.

If a product reaches people who genuinely benefit from it, the downstream metrics usually take care of themselves. Acquisition becomes more efficient, retention improves, and lifetime value grows.

Yes, consumers today are more intentional about borrowing. During the pandemic, credit often acted as a short-term bridge during uncertainty.

Now there is a stronger emphasis on planned borrowing. Customers look for flexible products, transparent repayment structures, and smaller ticket credit that fits into monthly financial planning. At Kissht, we have seen increasing demand for products that integrate smoothly into everyday financial behaviour rather than feeling like a one-time loan.

In many ways, the customer has become more financially aware, which is a positive shift for the entire ecosystem.

What excites me most is that fintech is moving from being purely transactional to becoming more integrated into people’s everyday financial lives.

The next phase of growth will not just be about faster lending or better technology. It will be about building financial tools that feel intuitive, transparent, and genuinely useful. At Kissht, we see marketing as playing a role in that transition by helping customers understand how financial products can support their ambitions rather than simply promoting credit.

When marketing helps build trust and clarity, it becomes part of shaping the future of the category itself.