Executive Interviews

GATS India Ltd. is a family owned company, established in 2002, with 35 employees that provides consulting and financing services. Besides technical consultancy, we also deal with non-performing asset management, debt management, Direct Sales Agent, foreign exchange (Forex), tour and travel, digital payments (GATS Pay), private equities, business correspondence models, distress funds, and trade factoring. We were the first company in India to be registered as a securitization company.

 

One of our main products, GATs Pay, is a digital payment system. It is primarily used by customers who live in remote areas of the country. Currently, more than 50% of the Indian population is still unbanked, so we have developed a program called “GATS Money Kendras” for villages. There are around 12,500 villages in the state of Punjab. Through this program, we provide 50+ services to people in rural areas, including banking, insurance, tour and travel, Forex and so on, without having them travel miles to a bank. Our products are creating financial literacy and independence as well as self-employment.

 

Our group company, The Gats Urban Cooperative Thrift and Credit Society Limited (GUC), was established in 2008. GUC provides banking services to unbanked customers. We gather deposit at a higher rate and also lend at a higher rate. Four branches out of GUC’s 13 branches are only targeting the rural areas.

Finding talented and skilled human resources is our challenge. We used to change our management strategy on a monthly and quarterly basis. The reason behind this was that my company had just started to expand in 2017, and putting a lot of pressure on our employees was sometimes needed as far as our industry was concerned, but what is more necessary now is to balance the pressure and their performance. GATS always focuses on and puts much value on retaining a good team. Teamwork is the utmost strength for an organization like GATS, in which every team member is working exclusively to let the company grow. The crux of our human resource development policy is to bind the team with GATS. GATS is always in search of the best personnel to unite the team and this needs a lot of patience and consistency.

 

We motivate employees by giving them appreciation and monetary benefit. We have also established a management hierarchy. According to their performance, employees can get promoted and extra compensation. They also take part in training programs inside and outside of the company. Human resources should be improved day by day like technology. Our main objective is to let our team grow.

 

Meanwhile, we really need time to make customers understand our company and policies and feel comfortable with them. We are expanding very slowly but cautiously and appropriately. Currently, there are a number of companies in India that are recognized at an international level, but few of them are ethical companies. We, GATS, are maneuvering into becoming an ethical company that is known by our own standards instead of others.

India is currently under the leadership of Mr. Narendra Modi who has been rigorously focusing on revamping the economy since his inauguration in 2014, and is bringing sturdy and smooth changes especially in banking and finance. Hence, there is a lot of scope for these sectors in India. With the emergence of new technologies and innovative techniques in these fields, we can expect that more and more entrepreneurs will show up in these fields with more fintech or technology-driven policies. There is also a scope for huge, healthy and collective competition, enabling the end user to obtain the swiftest, easiest, and most convenient services. We also see a lot of finance-related schools are being established recently in India.

 

At the same time, there is a challenge that we have to face: The cost of fintech infrastructure is quite high. Prime Minister Modi is working on applying Blockchain technology with the sturdiest and smoothest regulations. As an individual, I understand the need of the Blockchain technology, since many developed countries have already introduced it for their operations. Despite its high cost, GATS is always looking for the best for the Blockchain technology upcoming in the near future.

As our business in the global market, GATS is working on trade or finance activities and providing consulting services for global trade while actively cooperating with ASEAN countries, MEWANA countries (Middle East, West Asia, North Africa), and Indian sub-continent countries.

 

In India, there is diversified business culture. Corporate culture is shifting to more global practices. Medium-sized entrepreneurs and unorganized sectors are tempted to defy the government norms. As OEMs, small industries and other cottage industries are trying to keep up with ethical practices. Before 2014, the financial system was so easy and flexible to people, but now, since Mr. Modi has been searching for rigidness and perfectness, more people in the financial business find it difficult to adjust to the new practices. However, to step into the global market, they have to change their mindset and overcome the drastic change in India.

 

GATS is always focusing in developing business relationships with the best brains in the world. As the creator of the Blockchain technology, Japan is one of the counterparts we are looking for to bring growth to both countries.

My main focus while attending the AOTS program is to study and understand the Information and Communication Technology being used by Japanese companies, which has enhanced their productivity. So far, I have already felt the Japanese ICT is further ahead. I take this opportunity to replicate it in GATS.