In conversation with Law, Bhasin talks about his quarter-century career shift from the world of consumer goods to the financial services giant. Bhasin, who spent 25 years at Unilever working with globally recognised brands, took on the challenge of bringing a fresh, consumer-centric perspective to the banking sector. This move was motivated by the fact that finance represents the biggest opportunity in India, given the country's profound under-penetration across various investment products.
While working with Kotak, Bhasin noted that traditional banking typically operates from a supply-side perspective, asking: "We created this product; who do we sell it to?". In contrast, effective marketing, which he learned from FMCG, demanded a demand side of thinking. This involves starting with the consumer's needs, building the right product to solve those needs, and articulating how the product is superior to the competition. Fundamentally, all successful brands are created with the purpose of solving a genuine consumer problem and maintaining significant relevance in their lives.
ActivMoney: Turning Savers into Active Investors
One product Bhasin holds close to his heart is ActivMoney, born from a key consumer insight that Indians, having grown up in a scarcity phenomenon, often keep large sums of money in savings accounts for fear of emergencies. Despite interest rates on Fixed Deposits (FDs) being very high in recent years, money was found lying inactive in savings accounts because people needed that safety net.
The solution provided by ActivMoney was simple. It offered FD returns on savings accounts while retaining the liquidity of a savings account. This meant customers did not have to withdraw money from their accounts but still received FD returns. Kotak subsequently launched a campaign that featured brand ambassador Ranveer Singh, targeted salaried customers, encouraged them to convert their accounts so that the salary remaining in the account would now earn FD interest.
The Second Income Plan for the Affluent
Recognising the rapid growth of the affluent population in India, Bhasin’s team developed the program. The core insight gathered from salaried affluent customers was that while salary is the defining point of life, it is also the biggest source of worry, as all future goals are built around it.
The bank aimed to help these customers create a second source of income equivalent to your salary, providing a feeling of great liberation. This led to the launch of the Second Income Plan Aspire SIP. The product allows customers to decide on a desired monthly income (e.g., ₹1 lakh at age 40). They then invest via a Systematic Investment Plan (SIP) until that age, at which point they switch to a Systematic Withdrawal Plan (SWP) to automatically withdraw the target income every month, while the original corpus continues to compound.
The Struggle for Financial Literacy in India
Bhasin highlighted the stark disparity in adoption, noting that categories like soap have 90% penetration. In contrast, a SEBI survey of 90,000 households found that while over 80% are aware of investing, less than 10% have made any investment. Penetration levels remain critically low, mutual funds are under 10%, term deposits are 15%, and insurance is only 2%.
The main reasons for this gap was that products were seen as too complicated or misunderstood. Financial institutions must repeatedly educate customers to build relevance, linking products to life goals rather than just stating returns. For example, Bhasin argued that everyone taking a home loan should buy term insurance equivalent to the loan value. This additional expense protects the family’s dream by ensuring the insurance pays off the remaining loan if the borrower passes away. He noted that pure term insurance penetration is low because of the local belief that one should get something back when the insurance ends, leading to a preference for savings-led insurance products.
Leadership Mantras and Investment Advice
Bhasin shared three pieces of advice for young professionals:
Identify Your Passion: Find the work for which you can answer the question: "If I don't have the fear of failure, what work would I do?". That answer will reveal your true mission, leading to happiness and success.
Define Leadership by Followers: Instead of focusing on your own traits, ask: "Why should your team want you to lead them?". This reveals true leadership qualities.
Invest Before You Spend: Reverse the common habit of spending first. Decide how much to invest e.g., 60% of salary and only spend the remainder. He stressed the importance of starting early and investing for the long term in equities, which has proven to be the best-performing asset class over the last 10, 20, and 25 years.
Bhasin concluded by advising young people to embrace cultural immersion, including living in a different country if possible, and noting that activities like watching movies and checking Instagram are vital sources for gaining cultural insights and understanding the real pulse of the country. The industry’s ultimate goal remains transitioning Indians from a country of savers to a country of investors.
