Building Digital Bharat with New-Age BFSI

The continuous drive for ‘Digital India’ has been a significant factor in shaping the Indian payment landscape. From cash-dominated transactions, we have seen a steady shift toward digital payments. In Worldline RISE 2022, a discussion was conducted in collaboration with ET BFSI on 10th November 2022 to evaluate the scope of building a digital Bharat with a modern BFSI system. The discussion revolved around how technology can be used to make the payments ecosystem more accessible in rural parts of India, which are still untouched by digital transformation.

The discussion saw participants from the BFSI industry who discussed how technology could drive financial inclusion in India and transform the lives of millions. The webinar, moderated by Mr. Amol Dethe, Editor of ET BFSI, saw the active participation of key leaders from the BFSI and fintech ecosystem, including Kavitha Subramanian, Co-founder, Upstox, Alok Mittal, Co-founder and CEO, Indifi Technologies, Nitya Sharma, Co-founder & CEO, Simpl, Dhruv Jain, CEO, CASHe and Aditya Chatterjee, SVP-Enterprise Sales, Worldline India.

The lack of financial inclusion in the rural sector has a severely detrimental impact on economic growth and development, as these individuals are not able to benefit from monetary tools that could provide an effective pathway out of poverty. Despite great strides being made in terms of access to traditional banking networks and microfinance institutions, the penetration of such services and products is still lagging in this part of the country. The speakers also explored different strategies that banks and other financial institutions can use to accelerate digital payments adoption and make banking services easily accessible for all-rural or urban.

Some of the strategies the speakers highlighted include financial literacy, strengthening the value of trust, curating products that especially resonate with rural interests, etc., which can help bring in greater inclusivity for the rural BFSI sector.

Financial inclusion has the potential to provide a significant boost to the development of rural India. Without access to financial services, those living in smaller villages and towns have limited opportunities to start small businesses and take advantage of economic growth opportunities. Needless to say, the payment sector in India is undergoing rapid transformation, ushering in the next wave of innovation and disruption, and facilitating greater financial inclusion. This shift will not only impact how financial services are being delivered to citizens, but also provide pathways for greater financial inclusion. Impenetrable structures formerly only available to High-Net-Worth individuals will soon be available to all.

The system of digital payments and banking that was formally siloed, non-compliant and fragmented is now being mitigated as user experience at product interfaces become more seamless and friendly. A fully cashless economy might still be far from reality, but many exciting avenues await people as financial service companies dig deeper into the Indian consumer psyche with their innovative offerings. Whether the retail industry or the BFSI sector, businesses that have already adapted to this new reality will benefit immensely in the long term. Those who haven’t must now evaluate their strategies and determine how they can take advantage of the changing payment landscape in India.

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