Underlining the Reserve Bank of India’s commitment to deepening financial inclusion in the country, RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das, on Thursday, said recent developments in fintech have given a fresh impetus to the process, but noted that they also raise challenges for central banks across the globe.

“In view of the growing significance of fintech innovations and their interface with the financial sector as well as financial sector entities, the Reserve Bank is strengthening its surveillance framework and has also issued draft guidelines on enabling framework for regulatory sandbox,” said Das during his opening remarks at the 17th CD Deshmukh Memorial Lecture.

The RBI had issued a draft proposal on April 18 on regulatory sandbox for the fintech sector. “The recent emergence of fintech or digital innovations in finance is potentially a strong transformative force to shape the financial sector globally,” said Das, adding that while these have helped expand financial outreach in a cost-effective manner, there are also regulatory and supervisory challenges that central banks across the globe need to address. He, however, noted that recent developments in fintech have given a fresh impetus to the financial inclusion process in the country.

“The Reserve Bank is continuously aligning its regulatory and supervisory framework so that the evolution of fintech can be leveraged to widen and ease the financial access by the excluded population,” he said, adding that policy efforts have been directed in recent years to put in place a state-of-the-art national payments infrastructure and technology platform.

Meanwhile, Agustín Carstens, General Manager, Bank for International Settlements, said that central banks and financial authorities can support and promote financial inclusion by pursuing their core objectives of watching over price stability, ensuring financial stability, and reinforcing trust in the financial system and its institutions.

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