MUMBAI, SEPTEMBER 20, 2022 (GPN): Shri Shaktikanta Das, Governor, Reserve Bank of India, in his address
to the Global Fintech Fest marked the theme of his talk as ‘Fintech as a Force Multiplier’. “Technology, innovation and fintech are working in tandem and contributing to the dynamism of the
sector. In our journey towards higher level of sustainable development and financial inclusion these forces morphed into force multipliers,” Shri Das said.

“We see lot of opportunities not only for enhancing the scope and depth of all that is happening in the fintech sector, but the way it can deepen financial inclusion, enhance and broad base its
footprint in the journey of our country towards 2047. I think there is a lot of potential and if the regulator and the fintech players work together, we can create several milestones in our journey towards India at 2047,” He explained.

“The next decade of finance will be more focused on two central themes – sustainable development and technology-led innovations transforming the lives of the common people,” Shri Das added.

“The total number of broadband internet users in India stood at 80.7 crore at the end of July 2022.
Similarly, with more than 46.5 crore Jan Dhan accounts and 120 crore mobile connections, new opportunities are opening up for implementing innovative ways of integration and development.

This is reflected in the emergence of 100 unicorns in the country, with a record of 44 unicorns established only during the last year,” he underlined while talking about the exponential growth India has witnessed in recent years.

Talking about RBI’s initiatives, the Governor added, “The RBI for the first time organized a global hackathon ‘Harbinger 2021’ to make retail payments more innovative. We received 363 proposals including 22 from countries like the US and the UK.”
Shri Das concluded his speech by sharing his views on responsible innovation and risk mitigation,
“RBI is looking at enhanced customer protection, better cybersecurity and resilience, managing financial integrity, and strong data protection.”

The RBI Governor was joined by Shri Kris Gopalakrishnan, Chairman, GFF 2022 Advisory Board, Chairman, Axilor Ventures and Co-founder, Infosys.
Organised and presented by the Department of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance, Government
of India, Reserve Bank of India, International Financial Services Centres Authority (IFSCA), National Payments Council of India, the Payments Council of India (PCI) and the Fintech Convergence Council (FCC), the Global Fintech Fest aims to demonstrate India’s fintech ecosystem to the world, creating
solutions for 6 billion global consumers and driving financial inclusion adoption for the 1.4 billion unbanked adults at an even higher pace. Pre-event festivities began virtually on September 19, 2022.

This is the third edition of the Global Fintech Fest, and the first one where domain experts are participating from across the globe in-person and virtually.
GFF 2022 is being supported by the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), National Investment Promotion & Facilitation Agency (Invest India), Startup India, Reserve Bank Innovation Hub (RBIH) and ONDC. Special Partners of GFF 2022 are World Bank Group, United Nations Capital Development Fund, BIS Innovation Hub, KNOMAD, Better Than Cash Alliance and International
Finance Corporation (IFC).
About Fintech Convergence Council (FCC) Setup in 2017 as a fintech committee, Fintech Convergence Council was later converted into an
independent council with its independent governing board, with over 70 members. The FCC represents various players in the fintech, banking, financial services, and technology space. The FCC works towards the penetration of financial services with the aim of financial inclusion and moving towards a digitally empowered country. It creates opportunities for collaboration and convergence
among various players in the financial services domain. Committees under FCC are Lending, Wealth Management, Insurance, Neo-Banking and Regtech.
About Payments Council of India (PCI)
The Payments Council of India (PCI) was formed in 2013 catering to the needs of the digital payment industry. The Council was formed inter-alia for the purposes of representing the various regulated non-banking payment industry players, to address and help resolve various industry level issues and barriers which require discussion and action. The council works with all its members to promote
payments industry growth and to support our national goal of ‘Less Cash Society’ and ‘Growth of Financial Inclusion’ which is also the vision shared by the RBI and Government of India. PCI works closely with the regulators i.e. Reserve Bank of India (RBI), Finance Ministry and similar government, departments, bodies or Institution to make ‘India a less cash society’.