Fintechs must drive financial inclusion: Financial services secretary

NEW DELHI: Fintech companies should go beyond urban markets and play a role in driving financial inclusion across the country by developing offline payment systems, voice-authorised tools, improving connectivity as well as cross-border payment capabilities, enhancing cybersecurity and integrating AI and better app safety for user convenience, a top official said on Monday."Fintech will drive financial inclusion, which in turn is a key driver of growth and poverty alleviation," M Nagaraju, secretary of department of financial services, told a fintech summit. He highlighted role of India's Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) such as Aadhaar, UPI, India Stack, ONDC, Digilocker, CBDC, and more as a USP which leapfrogged financial inclusion. Nagaraju emphasised critical role of fintechs in advancing financial inclusion and consumer protection.