In a meeting held today in New Delhi, Shri M Nagaraju, Secretary of the Department of Financial Services (DFS) under the Ministry of Finance, met with key partners from the fintech ecosystem. The meeting was attended by senior officials from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU-IND), Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), and around 60 founders and co-founders of various fintech companies and associations.
The purpose of the meeting was to encourage an open exchange of ideas and foster collaboration to elevate India’s fintech sector to a global standard. The discussions emphasized the importance of fintech companies continuously innovating and providing solutions to the financial services industry, while also ensuring strict regulatory compliance.
Shri M Nagaraju highlighted the government’s efforts to create a supportive environment for fintech companies. He mentioned that initiatives like Aadhaar, Unified Payments Interface (UPI), and Aadhaar-enabled Payment System (AePS) have played a significant role in enabling the growth of the fintech sector. Additionally, frameworks such as the Regulatory Sandbox, Fintech Repository, and the Self-Regulatory Organization (SRO) Framework for fintechs have further facilitated the ecosystem in India.
RBI officials also shared their efforts to support the fintech sector. They mentioned the development of an Emerging Tech and Fintech Repository to securely capture baseline information. They also discussed the launch of the Unified Lending Interface (ULI) and encouraged Non-Banking Financial Companies (NBFCs) to join the ULI platform. Furthermore, RBI is working on video-based Know Your Customer (KYC) projects within their regulatory sandbox framework.
Shri Nagaraju acknowledged the rapid growth of India’s startup and fintech sectors, particularly over the past decade. He emphasized the importance of digital payment infrastructure in supporting this growth. He also noted the need to improve digital payment systems in rural areas and the northeastern regions of India, especially through UPI. Moreover, he called for more lending opportunities for Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) based on digital footprints.
This meeting served as an important step in strengthening India’s fintech ecosystem and ensuring its continued growth on the global stage.
