Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday said while the common Indian had placed immense trust in digital payments, it is now the responsibility of the Fintech ecosystem to ensure that the interests of people are secured.
Inaugurating InFinity Forum, a thought leadership conclave on FinTech, the Prime Minister stressed the importance of trust in fintech in the light of the wide acceptance of these innovations among the masses. The common Indian has placed immense trust in our Fintech ecosystem by embracing digital payments and such technologies, he explained.
“This trust is a responsibility. Trust means that you need to ensure that the interests of people are secured. Fintech innovation will be incomplete without fintech security innovation,” PM Modi said.
The Prime Minister emphasised that now it is time to convert these fintech initiatives into a fintech revolution. “A revolution that helps to achieve financial empowerment of every single citizen of the country.”
Explaining how technology has also catalysed financial inclusion, PM Modi pointed out that from less than 50% of Indians having bank accounts in 2014, India has almost universalized it with 430 million Jan Dhan accounts in the last 7 years.
He also listed achievements like 690 million RuPay cards clocking 1.3 billion transactions last year and UPI processing around 4.2 billion transactions in just last month. Almost 300 million invoices are uploaded on the GST portal every month, despite the pandemic, about 1.5 million railway tickets are getting booked online every day and last year FASTag processed 1.3 billion seamless transactions, he explained.
The Prime Minister also pointed out that the history of currency shows tremendous evolution. He informed that last year, in India, mobile payments exceeded ATM cash withdrawals for the first time. Fully digital banks, without any physical branch offices, are already a reality and may become commonplace in less than a decade.
He stressed that financial inclusion is the driver of the Fintech Revolution. Explaining further, he said, Fintech is resting on 4 pillars: income, investments, insurance and institutional credit.
“When income grows, investment becomes possible. Insurance coverage enables greater risk-taking ability and investments. Institutional credit gives wings for expansion. And we have worked on each of these pillars. When all these factors come together, you suddenly find so many more people participating in the financial sector”, the Prime Minister elaborated.
The Prime Minister commented on the wider applicability of India’s experience in the fintech area. He stressed India’s tendency to share experiences and expertise with the world and learn from them as well. “Our Digital Public Infrastructure solutions can improve the lives of citizens around the world”, he added.
The Prime Minister remarked that GIFT City is not merely a premise, it represents India. It represents India’s democratic values, demand, demography and diversity. It represents India’s openness to ideas, innovation and investment. GIFT City is a gateway to the global fintech world.
The Prime Minister concluded by saying “Finance is the life blood of an economy and technology is its carrier. Both are equally important for achieving ''Antyodaya and Sarvodaya ''
The InFinity Forum event is being hosted by International Financial Services Centres Authority (IFSCA), under the aegis of the Government of India in collaboration with GIFT City and Bloomberg on December 3 and 4, 2021. Indonesia, South Africa and the U.K. are partner countries in the first edition of the forum.
Over 70 countries are participating in InFinity Forum. The event will bring together the leading minds of the world in policy, business, and technology to discuss and come up with actionable insight into how technology and innovation can be leveraged by the FinTech industry for inclusive growth and serving humanity at large.
