 "Need to convert Fintech initiatives into Fintech revolution: PM Modi")
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday underlined the need for converting fintech initiatives into a fintech revolution to ensure financial empowerment for every citizen.
The fintech industry has achieved huge scale and found acceptability among the masses, he said while inaugurating the Infinity Forum, organised by International Financial Services Centres Authority (IFSCA) and Bloomberg.
"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," the PM said.
Stressing that technology is bringing a big shift in finance, he said mobile payment last year exceeded ATM cash withdrawals.
Citing another example, he said, fully digital banks without any physical branch offices are already a reality and may become commonplace in less than a decade. “As humans evolved, so did the form of our transactions. From barter system to metals, from coins to notes, from cheques to cards, today we have reached here”, he said.
Observing that India has proved to the world that it is second to none when it comes to adopting technology, he said transformational initiatives under Digital India have opened doors for innovative fintech solutions to be applied in governance.
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Sharing India's financial inclusion drive led by technology, Modi said from less than 50 per cent of Indians having bank accounts in 2014, India has almost universalised it with 430 million Jan Dhan accounts in the last seven years. He also listed initiatives like 690 million RuPay cards, clocking 1.3 billion transactions last year, UPI processing around 4.2 billion transactions last month, and almost 300 million invoices being uploaded on the GST portal every month.
Emphasising that financial inclusion is the driver of the fintech revolution, he said it’s resting on four 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,” Modi said.
The PM said the common Indian has shown immense trust in the ecosystem by embracing digital payments and such technologies.
“This trust is a responsibility. Trust means that you need to ensure that the interests of the people are secure. Fintech innovation will be incomplete without fintech security innovation,” he noted.
"Our digital public infrastructure solutions can improve the lives of people around the world. Tools like UPI and RuPay provide an unparalleled opportunity for every country. It’s an opportunity to provide a low-cost and reliable 'real-time payment system' as well as a domestic card scheme and fund remittance system," he said.
Observing that finance is the lifeblood of an economy and technology is its carrier, Modi said both are equally important for achieving ''antyodaya and sarvodaya''.