Lagatar24 Desk
New Delhi, Sept.29: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Wednesday has said that India has the highest Fintech adoption rate of 87 percent, compared to the global average of 64 percent. This indicates that India is a top destination for digital payments and activities.
Digital payment transactions have increased dramatically, from Rs. 2 trillion in 2019 to Rs. 4 trillion in 2020, according to the finance minister. From January to August 2021, the digital ecosystem gained even more traction, with digital transactions totaling Rs six trillion and individual transactions totaling Rs 355 crore, demonstrating active participation from people, industry, and the government, she said.
Sitharaman was speaking at the Global FinTech Fest, organised by Fintech Convergence Council (FCC) and Payments Council of India (PCI), the two Councils of Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI), along with National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI).
“Fintech startups are altering and remodelling themselves to futuristic technologies for making India the Fintech destination. India has a combination of Fin Techs innovating at a rapid pace with user’s eager to adopt digital platforms,” she said.
Sitharaman also launched the United Nations Principles for Responsible Digital Payments, stating that the UN Principles are timely, especially as countries compete to reach their largest population with technology. “India has democratised financial services and accelerated the deployment of digital public good infrastructure that promotes financial inclusion and progress towards sustainable development goals,” she added.
The UN Principles mention the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) as an example of how providing secure and contactless payments through an open, inclusive, and interoperable digital public good infrastructure can lead to greater economic participation by society, particularly women, in the most vulnerable times of crisis. The research focuses on consumer protection best practises that place consumers at the heart of payment digitization, particularly women and those living in rural regions, which are more likely to be outside of the formal financial system. The principles mentioned in the report are: safeguarding of data; recourse; transparency on pricing, interoperability within a digital payments ecosystem that treats everyone fairly; prioritizing women; ensuring products are designed ,or user needs; providing choice; and ensuring accountability to deliver on these vital tenets of responsibility.
“The UN principles on digital payments have come at the right time and will serve as an important resource to all stakeholders in delivering digital payments based on the principles of trust, consent, privacy, transparency and choice for the end user,” she added.
