A New Zealand digital fin-tech company is making a significant splash in India – and has signalled its excitement about future opportunities while travelling on the Prime Minister’s business delegation this week.
Founded by Carmen Vicelich, Valocity Global first started in New Zealand, then expanded to Australia and eventually on to India.
“They pretty much say, ‘if you can do it India you can do it anywhere,’” Vicelich said.
Valocity combines digital workflows with advanced data insights on property valuations ultimately allowing banks to review and approve lending for customers.
Valocity is currently working with over 20 banks in India.
“Union Bank of India has 160 million clients and through the clients and the platform we impact a billion people,” she said.
“India has given us tremendous credibility across the region, so it means we’re now live in UAE, we can go to all the other surrounding markets.”
Vicelich said before her company entered India it had been heavily reliant on manual processing.
“Every bank in the world has to validate the value of a property before they can lend money on it and we help them do that digitally and better and faster than ever before,” she said.
“It’s the fastest growing economy in the world and it was totally manual,” she said.
She said in the past a valuer would need to go into a bank branch and collect a hard copy of the property information and then visit the property itself, only to return to the office to key in all of the data.
“At the same time there was no data to validate whether that was right or wrong because India is a very unbanked society, it’s a very cash society, many people don’t have a credit score, so for the bank to say yes they really have to rely on the data and the information about the property,” she said.
NZ Prime Minister spends a day soaking up Indian sights as trade negotiations grind on. (Source: 1News)
Travelling in India as part of the Prime Minister’s business delegation, Vicelich said it was exciting.
“It brings credibility to New Zealand companies, and this is such an amazing opportunity for us, it’s the fastest growing economy, so there’s no better place to be,” she said.
India’s economy is worth $4 trillion and is set to become the third largest economy in the world.
Reviewing visa requirements
Visas are also being looked at, with critics arguing they’re currently onerous and complex.
PM Luxon said: “Yeah, I mean, we’re up for removing, as I say, the barnacles off the boat, you know, and if that’s one of the things that’s frustrating access into New Zealand then we’ll continue to look at those things.”
With 1.4 billion people Indian tourists aren’t the only focus.
Also featured on the trip was Te Kapa Haka o Te Whanau a Apanui.
“Every time I’ve gone overseas I’ve tried to take a kapa haka team with me, because I actually think that really unlocks, actually, a lot of the relationship,” Luxon said.
Leader of the kapa haka Tamati Waaka agreed there’s plenty to gain.
“Culture and custom go hand in hand with business and everyday life, I think it’s just natural and normal to not separate them,” Waaka said.
Asked for his response to critics who would argue that Māori culture was more valued by his Government when it’s on the global stage as opposed to back home, Luxon disagreed.
“Look at the investment we put into Te Matatini, look at the success of it this year.
“We struggle at home and we have disagreements, but on the world stage we’re one kaupapa (purpose) and that’s the betterment of all people,” Waaka added.
Air NZ exploring direct flights
The airline announced a partnership with Star Alliance partner Air India with the goal of boosting air connectivity between the two countries. (Source: 1News)
Air New Zealand has also signalled its interest in the region – and announced a partnership with Star Alliance partner Air India to introduce direct flights by 2028.
The two airlines signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the objective of “boosting air connectivity” between India and New Zealand.
In a statement, Air New Zealand said the 2028 deadline would be “subject to new aircraft deliveries and approvals from relevant government regulators”.
In the meantime, the two airlines also announced a new codeshare partnership which would provide “more choice and convenient access” between the two countries.
Passengers will now be able to travel from the Indian cities of Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru and Chennai on Air India. They will then connect at Sydney, Melbourne or Singapore onto Air New Zealand-operated flights to Auckland, Christchurch, Wellington and Queenstown, Air New Zealand said.
Along with the goal of improving ease of access for travellers, it also aimed to increase the visibility of both markets for tourism destinations.
Air New Zealand Chief Executive Greg Foran said India represents a “key growth market” for New Zealand.
“We are excited about the opportunity to enhance connectivity for travellers between our two countries. This codeshare agreement is an important first step, offering more options for customers while we work to understand what a direct service could look like.”
