K. Rajaraman, Additional Secretary, Investment and IER (International Economic Relations), in the Department of Economic Affairs, India, says that the country’s private sector should work cooperatively with the government to further improve and expand the Fintech ecosystem.
Rajaraman said Fintech has enabled greater financial inclusion in India and that the government acknowledges that digital transformation can streamline business operations.
Rajaraman, whose comments came during a webinar on the ‘‘Future of Fintech in Light of Covid-19,” claims that India’s financial technology sector has won the confidence of global investors.
He said that he’d like India’s Fintech industry participants to take part in inter-ministerial committee meetings, which are led by the DEA (Department of Economics Affairs) Secretary and highlight the challenges the financial sector is currently facing.
Rajaraman confirmed that the DEA is working cooperatively with the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDAI), non-bank financial companies (NBFCs), ministries, banks, and other industry participants, in order to develop innovative Fintech solutions.
Rajaraman remarked:
“Covid-19 has created a temporary disruption for businesses and the government has come out with a number of liquidity measures for businesses and is also providing cash and employment support to vulnerable sections of the society.”
Sudhakar Ramasubramanian, Chair, FICCI Fintech Committee, stated that the Coronavirus crisis has led to changes in consumer behavior, which includes an increase in the use of digital platforms to conduct payments.
Arundhati Bhattacharya, the former Chair of the State Bank of India, recently argued that banking service providers in the country must become more data-driven and also more digital.
In a recent interview with Livemint, Bhattacharya said that Indian banks must adapt quickly to disruptive changes, following the COVID-19 outbreak.
Banks and other financial institutions must improve their decision-making processes by using the latest technologies and should focus on their digital transformation strategies, Bhattacharya recommended.
WhatsApp Payments, an in-chat payment feature that lets customers perform transfers through the messaging app to anyone in their contact list, may finally be on track to achieve mass adoption in India.